Managing your energy to realize your true leadership potential: Deliberate intercessions for healthcare executives

The new reality of the healthcare terrain is now more challenging than ever, leaving many executives evaluating decompression methods and recognizing their limits. Professional stressors can have both a positive and negative effect on your performance. (Urban, 2020) asserts negative consequences for extended periods of stress to include; lack of listening, overanalyzing, failure to make decisions, and erratic/fearful/angry emotional judgments. While tactical approaches for self-care go beyond the quantum physics implications, there is a distinct desideratum to find creative ways to maintain optimal energy levels.?

Monitor your inputs

Working long hours, battling unreasonable commutes, competing commitments, and late nights can lead to poor eating choices or relying on convenience food as your primary source of diet. These decisions often include consuming options high in sodium, large amounts of trans-fat, and are typically calorie-dense. A lack of nutritional value can deplete your energy, impact your overall health and wellness, and have a long-lasting impact on your body. Consider prepping meal options, taking a pre-planned approach to what you eat, and consulting a dietician about healthy/affordable snack options. Other alternatives might include incorporating supplements into your daily regimen. Engaging your primary care physician to find the right dose/multi-vitamin can provide additional balance and give you that extra boost you need to tackle any obstacle that comes your way. Inputs are not always edible. Monitoring your psychological energy is imperative; think about the shows you watch on television or the individuals you have contacted throughout the day. How often have you turned on that tear-jerking mini-series, action-packed sci-fi movie, or horror film that left you feeling sad/anxious/or adrenaline-induced? What about that one colleague you have who sucks the energy out of every interaction and chips away at your energy reserves? Consider the sensory inhibition theory, where your perception of observations, either visual or auditory, activates neurons that afflict emotions or cause harm to your body and prevent you from accomplishing your lofty goals.?

Set Parameters around Energy?

Most productive healthcare executives have learned to master their daily routines in increments. The day might start at 5 am, begin with physical exercise, a cup of coffee, a brief meditation, or a quick read to stay current on the latest news event. Perhaps, you progress toward designing time on your schedule to focus on email, attend daily huddles, round with your leaders, or organize your calendar to prioritize your day. As much as we attempt to place structure around the day, an unplanned emergency or impromptu meeting is looming around the corner and managing the logistics of all the moving pieces requires skill and flexibility. Do you evaluate your cycles of energy? It is critical to pay close attention to what times of the day are you most active, know how your body reacts to certain foods, and stay in tune with when your body's fuel is on empty, or your attention span starts to dwindle. Consider mapping the timed activities of your day around your state of energy. The short read "Eat that Frog" is a self-development book to help leaders manage procrastination (Tracy, 2007). One of the most significant themes in the book is to start with the most challenging tasks first. To evolve this concept, try aligning your turbulent tasks to your energy cycle and measure your productivity to determine if this method works for you.

Listen to your local Energy Coach.?

Several workplace archetypes exist in the healthcare space; One, in particular, observes your every move and appoints themselves to be your Key Energy Indicator?(KEI). This individual will comment on your facial expression, new shoes, hairstyle, weight loss, food choice, gray suit, temperament in a meeting, leadership style, and is brave enough to tell you the perception that your energy gives off. In addition, they are masterful to use the cues that you emote and assign an energy score to it. It may sound like, "You were on a roll today Chief," or "What were your thoughts about that meeting"? Suggesting that on a Likert scale of 1 through 5 that you were at your highest level of constructive feedback, you may have been quick to point out any deficiency, and or the audience struggled to keep up with your energy. If you are still not clear on who this person is, consider the following scenario: Dr. Business Savvy, after careful evaluation of the new reimbursement structure, learns the calculation of the RVU's for a particular surgical procedure, yields an unfavorable impact to his profit margin. He comes to your door to discuss the impingement to the bottom line, and you have to tell him Finance intends to deny the new robot that has been on the horizon for the last two years for the third time. When the meeting is over, you walk down the corridor, recapping the recent events in your head, and someone stops you and says, "You appear to be a little flushed like you just ran a marathon ." It's safe to say your energy meter is alarming, and you have just met your Key Energy Indicator.?????

Works Cited

Tracy, B. (2007).?Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.?San Francisco: Berrett Kohler Publishers.

Urban, E. (2020, February 21). Seven self-care strategies of successful leaders.?Forbes Coaches Council, pp. 1-3.