Stepping Away from the Redline for Work-Life Balance

Dear Readers,

Summer is fully upon us, in all its scorching glory. Tis the season for backyard barbecues, silver queen corn on the cob, and coolers full of tasty beverages at the beach. Most people get to squeeze in a little downtime during the summer too. As I pen this quick note, I’m doing so from a vacation rental on Lake Keowee in South Carolina.

Getting time away from work is important for doing great work. One of the best things you can do to refresh your brain is to occasionally flush work out of it. Not thinking about work helps you open your mind up to other experiences and priorities. Today I’ll be zipping around in a speedboat, towing my teens on a big ‘ole tube for some rip-roaring fun. I’m sure I’ll get a turn too. I’m also sure that I won’t be thinking about work. I do way too much of that as it is.

In my new book,?Leadership Two Words at a Time, I talk about the dangers of “redlining.” I coined the term after working with a group of new leaders at a communications company in Arizona. All of them were excited about working for a fast-growth company where they were poaching work from larger competitors, but many of them worried that they were revving their engines too much. Their RPMs were in the red zone. In my book, I define redlining as “an unsafe, unhealthy, unsustainable condition whereby a leader and/or team are overworked and under-resourced for unreasonable amounts of time.”

In the same way, it’s important to maintain your car engine with regular oil changes and tune-ups, it’s important for all of us to step off the work assembly line and give ourselves a good break. You are the real machinery of work. If you break down, so too does your livelihood, well-being, and happiness.

It’s time for me to close my laptop, throw on my swimming shorts, and give my work engine some downtime. How about you? What will you be doing this summer to give your work engine a rest? Summer is the time to step far away from the redline!

Stay courageous,

Bill?

KNOWING YOURSELF AND LEADING OTHERS

A good leader knows who they are. They understand their fears, they’re courageous, and they can relate to others. Occasionally, emotions get in the way of sound judgment. It’s how we handle and respond to our emotions that allows us to be the best leaders we can be. We are flawed, but it’s those flaws; the “bad”, that allow us to understand others and become stronger leaders. When you are self-aware as a leader you have the opportunity to look at a situation subjectively. It’s through this step that we’re able to become stronger, more aware, and more effective at leading others.

GLC enjoys wowing our leadership development clients with top-notch speakers, which include, among others, the former chief hostage negotiator of the FBI, a Navy SEAL officer, a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, and a legendary mountain climber who has summited Mt. Everest 7 times. In fact, in July Giant Leap brought in Clint Hurdle, a pennant-winning MLB coach, to speak with a cohort of leaders. These leaders are going through a?leadership development program?that GLC has contributed to for over 15 years. Clint regaled the leaders with stories from his days as a professional player and coach, including all the ups and downs that one would expect from a career in the big leagues.

GLC recently conducted a leadership workshop on motivation for one of our valued leadership development clients. Motivating yourself and the people you lead is a key leadership essential. Prior to our motivation workshop, GLC administers the DiSC behavioral profile. It’s one of the world’s most widely used behavioral profiles in corporate settings.

It’s a great tool for helping individuals understand what makes people tick, and what ticks them off. Participants receive a 40-page detailed report about their own behavioral disposition and specific tips for working more effectively with those they are leading. Giant Leap would be happy to discuss the DiSC profile and how it can be used with your company’s leaders and teams. Check out all the ways you can use the DiSC profile?here.?

"The Leadership Essentials Academy helps you weave through a web of self-doubt, lack of self-confidence, and new responsibilities to remind you to get out of your own way and embrace your success."

Download this?one-sheet?to learn more about Bill Treasurer's Leadership Essentials Academy or visit the?website?to learn more about bringing the Academy to your organization.?

In Bill's recent article for Leader to Leader from the Wiley Online Library, he shares that leaders should focus on the timeless essentials of leadership, rather than chasing newfangled ideas. Read it?here.?