Well-being and the power of hitting pause: it's hard but worthwhile

“Energy, not time, is our most precious resource.” This opening from the book The Power of Full Engagement (by Toni Schwartz and Jim Loehr) couldn’t be timelier. As leaders, the tone we set and the energy we bring significantly shapes the outcomes our teams can achieve.

This is even more true during a time when most of us are working from home in isolation. That is why we must find systematic ways to re-energize personally so that others can follow the examples we set. Easy, in theory, but every leader knows how hard it is to disconnect. Yet, it is very worthwhile.

We recently published the Work Trend Index report, which draws insights from 30.000 people across 31 countries as well as signals from Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn. The data paints a clear picture.  

As lockdowns and working from home continue, the number of meetings is increasing. Inboxes are filling up. Workdays are getting longer. All while we worry about loved ones, home schooling our children and coping with disconnection and loneliness. Productivity might be high, but for many it’s come at the expense of their mental health.  

The research shows that leaders are generally faring better than their teams. In fact, 61% of leaders say they are “thriving” – 23 percentage points higher than those without decision-making authority. A reminder that our reality can be very different from people in our teams. 

Leaders have a significant role to play in this time of prolonged uncertainty and we need to lead from the front. As a runner, I understand the importance of recovery and breaks to re-energize, but that doesn’t mean it comes easy to me in a business context, especially when you have the feeling that lots of things are still in motion.

That is also why the most powerful thing we can do to help people disconnect and hit pause is to do it ourselves and this is something I want to get better at myself.  

From personal experience, I know that hitting pause is hard – especially when you have people counting on you. But I remind myself: if I don’t protect and maintain my energy levels, I can’t be the person I want to be for my team, for our customers, or my family.

For me, this means talking to team members openly about the trade-offs you‘re making to maintain balance, like declining meetings after a set time so that you can have dinner with your family. If you’re taking time off, be clear with people that you will not be online. This gives others “permission” to make similar choices. Again, there is no one size fits all as everyone’s situation is different.

Well-being, how to improve it, and the optimal balance you’re able to achieve at any given time in your life is different for each person. There is no one size fits all. Talking openly about well-being as a business priority is hugely important. At Microsoft, we’re giving each employee five days of incremental time to underscore how important this issue is.  

As I am in the rather difficult position of being apart from my wife and sons for most of the past year, I used some of my wellbeing days to see them in Asia. I tried to disconnect from work and caught up on many missed conversations and connections.

I started every day without a wakeup call and my new morning routine is to start the day with a tea in hand. With a great Soul mix playlist, I read news and got to go beyond the latest pandemic updates.

One day, after family time, I visited the Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine which got me ready for a great run. Towards the end of one run I got caught in one of the biggest rain showers ever, which felt great. My fellow runners will know the feeling of being able to end a run in the rain.

We closed one day with wonderful, but simple, Chinese food with the family, something we hadn’t done in months.

It’s easy to feel guilty about not being immediately accessible for your colleagues. But I know that this self-care will enable me to be at my best for my teams in the long run. And it shows team members the importance of balance and the power of hitting pause.