High Performance and a Flourishing Culture
Cognicent | 28, March, 2024 | Newsletter
Recently I was approached by a senior leader, new to their role, and dealing with common challenges that come with a new role such as learning how the organisation works, the different personalities and capabilities of their team, and of course, learning how to navigate the expectations that come with the new gig. We had also been talking about fatigue and the different ways to manage fatigue at an individual level. During a quick break, he asked an important question. What if the expectations for leaders are so great, that workload gets in the way of prioritising their physical health and wellbeing? If long hours are the expectation and the norm, rather than the exception, how do we manage that?
The reality is that when we are experiencing high levels of fatigue, overwhelming stress, or simply struggling to cope with workloads, we are unlikely to be performing at our best. Our decision-making, problem-solving, and quality of communications all suffer, potentially triggering a downward spiral in our overall performance, and increasing our workloads even further. If we acknowledge that a leader’s primary role is to influence the performance of their team, then we should probably acknowledge that central to their ability to do this, is the level of energy and focus they bring to the table.
Consider high performance in the sporting arena. In days gone by, it was common for athletes to be pushed to their absolute limits, with coaches driving the mantra of ‘always do more than the others’ if you want to succeed. We have been told tales of the heroic efforts of our sporting icons and their marathon training sessions, the endless hours where they were the first to arrive and the last to leave, showing us the path to success. The sad reality is that for many of the athletes trained under this approach, the outcome was a broken body and a loss of passion for the sport they once loved, rather than glory. To be clear, success in any area of life doesn’t happen without effort, focus and discipline, but long gone are the days of punishing athletes with gruelling training sessions, instead, we’ve come to recognise that recovery is equally, if not more important than the hours on the training track. Athletes need to be healthy and well if they are to perform at their best. The same is true for leaders, and their teams in any organisation.
Driving a culture of high performance where people are safe, well and productive, needs to go beyond what we do as individuals, and include how we influence those around us. Consider how you are going against the points below:
What’s my part to play?
Self-Care Strategy: You’ll know the line from any plane trip you’ve taken: fit your oxygen mask before assisting others! Ensuring that we are doing things that help us to manage stress and that build our energy and capacity to perform, increases the likelihood that we can effectively lead a team.
Manage the voice in our head: Being aware of our internal dialogue and what we are telling ourselves each day. Is it helping me to maintain my health and energy, or is it presenting a self-defeating barrier? Are we running a script that tells us we are too busy? Or one that links our worth to our hours worked?
Prioritise Recovery: We know the importance of sleep as it relates to our brains and our bodies functioning, and more broadly, the investment we make in recovery is just as important. Having periods of intensity is ok, but continually ‘red-lining’ yourself, pushing through without stepping away, is not only bad for your health, it’s bad for the business. Take the time to step away, refresh, refocus and regain some energy.
What’s our part to play?
Do as I do: There’s an old saying that ‘what interests my boss absolutely fascinates me’. Leaders set the tone for those around them. How we manage our time, our workloads and our hours can influence how those around us do these things. It goes a little further though. People don’t just watch what we do, they watch what we like. They notice the people that you admire, like or respect, and they learn from that, what they are expected to do.
Respect people by respecting their time: If one of the most precious resources we have is time, then the greatest harm we can do to someone struggling to manage their workload is to waste their time. Whether it’s pointless meetings, casual interruptions over the desk, failing to respond to emails or calls, or coming to a meeting unprepared, there are many ways we can waste time, and equally, many opportunities to maximise it.
Challenge outdated beliefs: At a cultural level, there are engrained attitudes and beliefs, whether spoken or unspoken, suggesting that good leaders put in the hours. A quote from Armand Hammer is a great example of where this can go wrong. Hammer was quoted as saying “when I work fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, I get lucky“. If you are wondering who Armand Hammer is, he was the chairman of Occidental Petroleum in 1986 when the Piper Alpha disaster occurred in the North Sea. A clear mind is far more likely to make effective decisions than one in a state of exhaustion.
We hope you have a safe, well and productive rest of your week.
– The Cognicent Team