Self Care and Leadership

And the needs of your people…

There is no ‘off the shelf’ Coaching programme: we build our work around the experience, expertise and personality of your Leaders – and decide with you which outcomes you want to achieve. We look at the culture your people are already working within, and the specific goals and ambitions of each individual as well as the organisation as a whole.

We use tools like 360 Assessments, which give an accurate picture of the strengths of your Leaders, and where the team feel they could improve, and create a strategic plan for your Coaching process.

The Coaching is an intensive process, and can be challenging; listening to every person in your team, you will grow both individually and as a group.

How to bring self-care into your Organisation

There are some easy ways that Leaders can  build self-care into the working day: let’s look at a few suggestions.

Breaks and down time

Burnout is a real danger in many corporate environments; in order to perform well we all need proper breaks from work.

Breaks improve your physical and mental health, and can also give you space from especially challenging or stressful projects, giving you some clarity and perspective you can’t have if you’re too close to it.

Proper breaks – by which we mean leaving your desk (and ideally the office entirely, getting some time outdoors if you can) are vital. If you spot team members who aren’t taking appropriate time away from their work, encourage them to take a proper rest, and move around.

Monitor their working hours: make sure that nobody is working too many hours, or responding to work emails late at night when they should be switching off!

Refreshments and nutrition

Not many organisations provide lunches for their team, but you should offer team lunches as a perk from time to time for bonding and relaxation or celebration – but it’s always important that your team have access to somewhere suitable to eat and drink properly, away from their desks.

You should also provide some of the most vital refreshments – a water filter, some tea and coffee, and perhaps a fruit bowl stocked with healthy snacks, will all encourage your team to stay hydrated and eat well.

Suitable and healthy work spaces

It’s a legal requirement to carry out the proper workstation assessments, which make sure people are sitting properly, that their screens and desk are all positioned in a way that doesn’t cause discomfort or injury, and that a proper health and safety review of the office is always up to date…but don’t just do the legal minimum!

You should also provide additional items that will help with these set-ups – from better, adjustable chairs to screen protectors that reduce eye strain for those working on computers a lot. You can supply things like standing desks, additional perks like gym membership – some organisations even bring professional massage therapists in regularly, offering free massages to your employees, which is an excellent bonus for sedentary office workers.

Delegate and work together

Some (bad) leaders tend to stride around their office, dishing out orders and commands, putting huge stress and pressure onto their employees; this is never going to work out well in the long-term, and will see your staff turnover increase.

To protect your team t’s important to check that people can maintain their workload, to share tasks among the team equally, and to delegate some tasks if someone is feeling overwhelmed. Working as a team means work and targets being equitable – which isn’t the same as demanding the same thing from everyone…

Let your team know that you’re a safe place to come when they do feel like they’re smothered in work – listen to their needs and concerns, and identify which tasks can be shared with colleagues if they’re behind.

This gives your team a cooperative, supportive culture that supports their well-being, and helps you to get a more accurate measure of what people can (or can’t) cope with, so that you’re able to plan your projects strategically, and identify if and when you need to recruit more people to keep things moving.

Be sociable and build relationships

With many of us spending up to 70% of any weekday in our workplace it’s not uncommon for people to make lifelong friendships, or even romantic relationships, with colleagues – but some workplaces actively discourage that!

It’s natural for everyone to want to work with people they get along with, but if your office culture is focused entirely on ‘heads down, work work work’ they won’t have any opportunity to build those vitally important relationships with each other.

Your working day needs to give everyone plenty of opportunities to chat, to make conversations about things other than work, to build friendships and connections with each other, and to get to know each other as more than simply desk neighbours. You can also plan fun events, days out, activities and trips for your team – far more than just one Christmas party – that help to build those bonds and secure relationships in the team.

This not only helps people to be happier in their work, it also gives you more opportunities to learn about the people in each team, and what other experiences, skills, hobbies or interests they might have that could be helpful to the organisation – or just in building better, happier teams.

Invest in their development

Always remember that it’s the responsibility of any good leader to support the professional and personal development of every employee.

This means listening to what they want and need, as well as offering L&D opportunities that will help them to grow, develop their professional skills, and progress in their careers. Stagnation is the enemy of professional success, so focus on the L&D strategy in your organisation, to protect against losing your best talent!

If you want to know more about the ways executive coaching can improve your leaders, the teams they lead, and the culture in your organisation, just ASK!