As leaders the spotlight is always on you, with those you lead and others looking to you as a gage on culture, acceptable and promoted behaviours, approach, language/ communication and overall body language. Whether it is as subtle as a yawn in a meeting, a glance upwards during a discussion, checking your phone in a one-on-one (with no apology/ explanation) the little things matter and are seen.
‘When you are in a less than positive mindset (whether you think so or not), people will see signals/ pick–up on subtle signs and react accordingly’.
Self-awareness and self-care is therefore critical in leadership, to ensure you recognise the signs at the earliest opportunity and are able to take positive steps to address negative mindset / the creeping in of a lack of investment, motivation or energy levels.
‘Leaders are human and we all go through up’s and down’s, however the ability to recognise when we are, to react and to turn the boat around is key here’.
So what can you do to Assess and Act?
1. Recognise/ Acknowledge : Make regular time to check in with yourself and check your mood (there are apps to help with this) and give yourself time to reflect daily/ weekly on how you are energised, feeling and engaging at work and with those around you.
2. Get Perspective : Ask yourself and others you trust, how you are projecting and ask for an ear, support and advice as needed. Ask yourself what is impacting your mood, motivation, energy and overall mindset and what the real barriers are for you at this time?
3. Make a Plan/ Take Action: Plot out the things in your control and those which are not. Set yourself daily activities/ goals that will impact your mindset positively and diarise/ commit to these. (This may include time for yourself to reflect and think, exercise/ an activity that energises you and it may also include removing stressors within your control or areas and tasks which are holding you back and expending unnecessary energy and brain power).
4. Circle back with yourself/ Reflect & Review Regularly Don’t leave things to chance and schedule mindful time to review and reflect, keep working on how you maintain positive mindset as this is an ever-evolving cycle and requires work (just like any relationship/ goal attainment). There are some great tools that can also be used to engage with your team in team and one on one sessions to assess how your people are doing on a regular basis
5. Last but not Least – Be kind to yourself and realise that maintaining a positive mindset is work too and requires ongoing commitment and support sometimes from others, as needed. We all have bad days and moments and ensuring we recognise and self-manage (wherever possible) to ensure this does not affect our teams, trust and relationships is critical as leaders. This does not mean that at times we need to be vulnerable and we maintain authenticity, just that we do not project and negatively affect others in the process.
Check out the following links for more information/ resources:
https://sites.google.com/view/leadershiponline/best-apps
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joyceearussell/2021/05/29/positive-leadership-it-makes-a-difference/
https://mantle.co.nz/tips-for-developing-a-leadership-mindset/
