How to Prioritize Wellbeing as a Leader

While facilitating a workshop on wellbeing for a diverse group of women working at Microsoft SE Europe, a few things became apparent:

It’s hard prioritizing wellbeing
This is especially hard when you love your job and when demands are constantly high. Add to this external challenging circumstances or other life events, and it becomes a minefield.

Women leaders don’t take time for themselves
Many of us are experiencing difficulty in expressing and honoring our needs, often feeling guilty when making choices that support greater balance.

Wanting to do it perfectly
Even when it comes to taking care of wellbeing or mental health, many leaders aim for perfection, which often results to failure because life rarely goes according to plan.

4 Tips for effectively prioritizing wellbeing and mental health:

Aim for consistency, not perfection
Many of us go for 100% and invariably fail when something happens and our plans are overturned. We need to remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint, establishing healthy routines and backup plans for when things don't go our way, being flexible and remembering that we can always begin again. For example, if you missed your workout in the morning, make one of your conference calls a walking meeting.

Self care is health care
Understand that taking care of yourself is not a luxury, but a necessity. In fact, there's a great quote from the Dalai Lama: “if you can’t take care of yourself, you’re not qualified to take care of anyone else”. People are always at the heart of any organization, so when you take time to take care of yourself, you are actively investing in your health and essentially your team. When you are in doubt, remember you need to put your oxygen mask on first!

Your wellbeing is part of your responsibilities as a leader
Your wellbeing is an important part of your role, especially if you are a leader. You are responsible for your own physical and mental health and when you feel balanced, nourished, supported, you have a higher capacity to navigate change, communicate more effectively, manage adversity and make wise decisions for your team and your organization. A burnt out leader does everyone a disservice. When you feel that you don't have time to take care of yourself, approach caring for your wellbeing as part of your role.

What gets measured gets improved
Especially for brainy types, this helps a lot. Try to quantify your wellbeing and set measurable goals. Hold yourself accountable like you would for any other work-related project.