Lead May 31, 2018

This month, I want us to look at some very important aspects of leadership—including why leaders fail. But I also want to try and equip you with some lessons I have learned over the years, about being a leader. For this reason, every Thursday this month, I will share one of my leadership tips. If you are just beginning your leadership journey, it is my hope that these will give you some practical help in fully embracing your current role. Or, if you’ve been leading for a while that they will assist you as you begin empowering others to lead.

“These two threads that run through our life—one pulling us into the world to achieve and make things happen, the other pulling us back from the world to nourish and replenish ourselves—can seem at odds, but in fact they reinforce each other.”

― Arianna Huffington, The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time

Leadership Tip #7: Take a Break

Do you want to lead for five years? Or do you want to lead for twenty or thirty? If you choose the latter, then you need to take a break. I don’t care if those around you—or even those you follow—are living and working at break-neck speed. If you want to be an effective and long-lasting leader in your profession or community, you need to take time to rest.

Think about it this way. Say you were a gardener with a large garden. But you didn’t have a long enough hose to reach it, and you only had a bucket with enough water to cover a few rows of plants. Every time you emptied your bucket, you would have to stop and refill before moving on to the next set of rows. If you didn’t stop to refill, most of your garden wouldn’t grow.

As much as we don’t like to admit it, it is the same with us. We as human beings have a finite amount of resources within us, that no amount of energy drinks or espresso’s can make up for. The more nights we go without enough sleep, the more time goes by without a day off, all of our abilities to produce, create, and lead, dry up. And it isn’t pretty when we are leading from an empty bucket.

The reason the journey of a leader is so often compared to “a marathon and not a sprint,” is because it is true. None of us can accomplish all that we know we are capable of, in a few all-nighters. The impact we long to make as leaders can only be done over the long hall. And if we want to make it to the finish line, we need to take time to rest.