Business

Take a break, your wellbeing and leadership depend on it

Overhead Shot Looking Down On Woman At Home Lying On Reading Book And Drinking Coffee
Overhead Shot Looking Down On Woman At Home Lying On Reading Book And Drinking Coffee Overhead Shot Looking Down On Woman At Home Lying On Reading Book And Drinking Coffee

"RENEWAL is the principle—and the process—that empowers us to move on an upward spiral of growth and change, of continuous improvement. "

Wise words from Dr Stephen Covey, the famous author of 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders'.

There is no doubt that at the moment, we need continuous improvement, things are extremely challenging and many of us have been flat out since March.

Back in March we all thought we were looking at two, maximum three months of a total new environment.

Who knew we would be still in a state of unprecedented change and challenge 22 long weeks later.

Even now we sit in fear of a second wave of Covid-19, this continued state of heightened alert and delivery is unsustainable and without a break, we will break.

Dr Covey explored the need to sharpen the saw; which means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have: You.

It means having a balanced program for self-renewal, it means if the saw is blunt it won’t work very well.

A recent survey from Aviva revealed that the UK’s workforce is at risk of burnout due to being unable to switch off from work, even at the weekends. The research found that 72 per cent are checking their emails outside of work hours in what should be downtime.

As we grow increasingly more connected through technology and social media, it is becoming more and more difficult to separate work from our personal lives.

It is commonplace to check emails at all hours, take business calls outside of hours and work on our laptops on weekends. No big surprise there but it has to stop or we will all become more and more 'blunt'.

It is our responsibility to look after ourselves, but even more so our leaders, we need them performing at their very best now, making timely, decisive and clear decisions.These are decisions which will impact us all. So, look around and support and encourage people to take a proper break.

August is typically the busiest month for holidays, and due to current Covid-19 travelling restrictions, the majority of us will now be opting for a much well-deserved staycation on the beautiful island of Ireland instead of a trip abroad. This means closer to the home office than originally planned and an increase in temptation when it comes to opening the laptop to check in with the team.

We must take the timeout from work that allows us to rejuvenate and refocus, and we must stop ourselves from crossing the very thin line between a work and life.

It is tough for everyone in this fast-paced, on-the-button business world to disconnect and there is no perfect answer or solution.

Business leaders need to lead by example, they should take their two weeks break, they should leave their work phone at home and their 'out of office' messages should include a note advising that emails received during the annual leave dates will not be reviewed or will be deleted.

Any message that is important enough will be resent when you are back.

Work is about achieving results, however, if you don’t allow yourself to relax and unwind in your off time, these results will feel far less achievable.

All our jobs and roles require us to be present and productive, all of our jobs and roles are important, it’s not money that makes the world go around, it’s people... So take a break!

Roseann Kelly is chief executive of Women in Business (www.womeninbusinessni.com)