How to be a happy leader?
13 June 2014
Read by 4064 persons
How do those who manage to lead with serenity do it? What is the secret of the zen, productive and efficient leader?
Nowadays, many leaders feel overwhelmed by information, emails and tasks to accomplish. Head down, they don't have time to take a step back and take stock, whereas, on the contrary, to be productive and efficient, it is necessary to ask themselves "how can I achieve my objectives while keeping time for myself"? Only in this way is it possible to maintain balance and stay on course. So how can this be remedied?
By doing less but better!
The essential thing is to set achievable and ecological goals for oneself. Those who succeed without stress are those who set fewer goals but concentrate their energy on achieving them. Learning to set your own limits is helping yourself to lead successfully.
By setting your own limits
Today our society encourages the culture of "always more": more turnover, more performance, more missions to carry out... but our time, on the other hand, is not unlimited. Doing many things at once can lead to stress or even burnout. It is therefore necessary to learn to keep only the essentials and to set limits. You will thus gain in productivity, well-being, performance, time management and efficiency.
By working on the essentials
Focusing on the essentials will allow you to obtain maximum results using minimal resources. Define achievable, measurable objectives that are important to you and that are relevant to you and your business. After clearly identifying the objectives you would like to achieve and that you can achieve in the year, plan all the tasks to be accomplished and the time needed to achieve them. Among the list of tasks you have defined, identify and work on the high-impact tasks, i.e. those that will bring you long-term benefits.
To do this, ask yourself the right questions: Why is this objective important? Which task will have a long-term impact on my objective? How will it change my work or my personal life?
By eliminating, postponing or delegating what is not essential
Once you have determined the most important tasks on your list, a maximum of five within a defined time frame, it is advisable to delete, delegate or postpone all those that are not essential or that take up too much of your time. Delegating tasks for which you are not an expert saves time and money. Then learn to say "no", your entourage will appreciate your honesty and will doubly trust you when you accept a commitment.
By cultivating the "single-tasking" culture
Doing one thing at a time allows you to be more focused, more efficient and faster. This allows you to avoid sources of error and stress. By working on one objective at a time and the tasks one after the other, you will gain in performance. On the contrary, playing the firefighter will make you lose a lot of time and energy.
By changing your habits for lasting evolution
To change, it is useful to get rid of your old habits. Choose to modify one habit per month and create a new behavior. Depending on your objective, this could be to arrive 20 minutes earlier at work, to manage to take breaks, or even to meet a new person every day.
In conclusion, to lead without stress and achieve your goals, write your action plan including the completion of tasks and the modification of habits. Regularly review your progress and, once a month for example, celebrate your successes! You will then join "the community of happy leaders", zen, productive and efficient, so it's worth trying, isn't it?
Philippe Montant
Chief Executive Officer of ReKrute
Nowadays, many leaders feel overwhelmed by information, emails and tasks to accomplish. Head down, they don't have time to take a step back and take stock, whereas, on the contrary, to be productive and efficient, it is necessary to ask themselves "how can I achieve my objectives while keeping time for myself"? Only in this way is it possible to maintain balance and stay on course. So how can this be remedied?
By doing less but better!
The essential thing is to set achievable and ecological goals for oneself. Those who succeed without stress are those who set fewer goals but concentrate their energy on achieving them. Learning to set your own limits is helping yourself to lead successfully.
By setting your own limits
Today our society encourages the culture of "always more": more turnover, more performance, more missions to carry out... but our time, on the other hand, is not unlimited. Doing many things at once can lead to stress or even burnout. It is therefore necessary to learn to keep only the essentials and to set limits. You will thus gain in productivity, well-being, performance, time management and efficiency.
By working on the essentials
Focusing on the essentials will allow you to obtain maximum results using minimal resources. Define achievable, measurable objectives that are important to you and that are relevant to you and your business. After clearly identifying the objectives you would like to achieve and that you can achieve in the year, plan all the tasks to be accomplished and the time needed to achieve them. Among the list of tasks you have defined, identify and work on the high-impact tasks, i.e. those that will bring you long-term benefits.
To do this, ask yourself the right questions: Why is this objective important? Which task will have a long-term impact on my objective? How will it change my work or my personal life?
By eliminating, postponing or delegating what is not essential
Once you have determined the most important tasks on your list, a maximum of five within a defined time frame, it is advisable to delete, delegate or postpone all those that are not essential or that take up too much of your time. Delegating tasks for which you are not an expert saves time and money. Then learn to say "no", your entourage will appreciate your honesty and will doubly trust you when you accept a commitment.
By cultivating the "single-tasking" culture
Doing one thing at a time allows you to be more focused, more efficient and faster. This allows you to avoid sources of error and stress. By working on one objective at a time and the tasks one after the other, you will gain in performance. On the contrary, playing the firefighter will make you lose a lot of time and energy.
By changing your habits for lasting evolution
To change, it is useful to get rid of your old habits. Choose to modify one habit per month and create a new behavior. Depending on your objective, this could be to arrive 20 minutes earlier at work, to manage to take breaks, or even to meet a new person every day.
In conclusion, to lead without stress and achieve your goals, write your action plan including the completion of tasks and the modification of habits. Regularly review your progress and, once a month for example, celebrate your successes! You will then join "the community of happy leaders", zen, productive and efficient, so it's worth trying, isn't it?
Philippe Montant
Chief Executive Officer of ReKrute
