One of the important dilemmas every leader face is that of what to do and what not to do while leading his or her team. As a leader, I have faced this dilemma countless times. There are times when you have done all you know how to do and sitting back, it just seems as though you have done nothing at all. And there are also times when you choose to not do anything and still fear that such an act will be your team’s undoing.

If these situations seem familiar to you, I would like you to take a deep breath for help is here for you. In this post, I will be sharing with you the three most important things you need to take care of as a leader, leading your team, your business or your organization. In it, you will learn that some of the things you have focused on taking care of, before now, are the reasons why you feel unfulfilled in your leadership and you feel burnt-out easily. When you learn to take care of the things you need to take care of as a leader, every other thing will take care of itself.

Changing Situations and Circumstances

As a leader, one of the things you have to accept and make peace with from the start of your leadership is that situations and circumstances are dynamic. They are not carved in stones; they will always change with time. And just like they will always change, the people whom you lead, that is your team members or employees, will always change. Every situation around you as a leader that will either work for or against your leadership are ever-changing. You may even realize that these situations and circumstances change faster than you can even wrap your heads around them.

Situations as these, I have come to realize form part of the reasons many detest leadership. Few of those who do take up leadership often make a mess of things, taking care of the things they think matter while neglecting those that matter the most. The three things I will share with you in this article will always help you as a leader to remain on top of your game. No matter how much or how often the situations and circumstances around you change, when you keep in mind to take care of these three things at all times, you will do well as a leader.

Take Care of Yourself As A Leader

Whenever I teach leadership, one of the things I always try to emphasize is the place of the ‘individual’ in leadership. Yes, you want to change the world, you want to achieve a record million dollars in turnover in one month. Name it, whatever it is you desire to do or achieve with your Team, one important factor in all of it is you, the Leader. You have to commit to taking care of yourself as a leader first of all before every other thing.

Let us even consider the word Leadership. Does not even the ‘LEADER’ come first? Now, I am not saying you should be selfish in your leadership and self-serving. Far from it, what I am trying to point out to you is the need to ensure you take care of yourself first of all so you are in a better position to take care of the other important factors in your leadership.

What are the things about yourself you need to take care of?

1.      Your Growth 

You must understand this, the reason you have been entrusted with leadership is because of the extent to which you have come in your personal growth. In your leadership, you must ensure you prioritize your continuous growth so you will remain relevant over time. You must take care to ensure you do not plateau in your growth or else you will run into stormy waters. Let’s face it, no one wants to follow someone who he or she thinks he is ahead of. So, as a leader, take care of your growth by continuing to:

• Invest in your knowledge – there are many ways you can do this. The most common way is through the study of books. You may have heard the statement of how many books an average CEO reads. That is to let you understand that no matter the height you have attained in your leadership, knowledge and information is highly needed resource you must not joke with.

Investing in yourself is the best investment you will ever make. It will not only improve your life, it will improve the lives of all those around you.

( Julian in The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari)

• Sharpen your skills – As a leader, there will be times when a member of your team will run into a “skill block” (you know what writers often say when they are not able to bring themselves to write?). At those times, you must be able to provide direction. But how will you do that unless you are one that continually sharpens your skills?

Check out this post that answers the question of what personal growth is and the importance of it for you as a leader. 

2. Your Beliefs and Faith

We are all products of our beliefs and most of the beliefs we have as humans are faith-based. Your beliefs are what form your values, worldviews and perspectives about things or people. This is why it is important to take care of these. As a leader, what are the values you hold dear to your leadership? Your values are like fences, they guide you and ensure you are always aligned with the things that matter. Anything that affects your beliefs and faith has affected your leadership.

3. Your Appearance and Image

A leader is seen and a leader is perceived. As a leader, you must realize that it is easy for people to form a perception of your person. This is because you are always in public view. How you appear and the image you put out remains one of the important ways you can control the perception of people about you. Invest in improving your appearance and your image and you will be glad you did, both in the short run and in the long run.

4. Your Health

The popular axiom ‘health is wealth’ should always come to your mind as a leader. In the book, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, Julian, a successful lawyer, learnt this lesson the hard way. It took his body shutting down for him to realize that no matter the fame or success you have if you are not in good health, you are still not successful.

I’ve also come to see that success on the outside means nothing unless you also have success within. But I have learned that self-mastery and the consistent care of one’s mind, body and soul are essential to finding one’s highest self and living the life of one’s dreams. How can you care for others if you cannot even care for yourself? How can you do good if you don’t even feel good? I can’t love you if I cannot love myself,

( Julian in The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari)

Taking care of your health does not have to cost a fortune. It starts with making needed changes to your daily living habits. From the environment, you live in, the foods you eat, your exercise routine and your schedule for rest. Don’t wait till your body is no longer able to carry you before you begin to take care of your health.

5. Your Mental Health and Emotions

This is similar to Your health above but I had to separate it to help you pay attention to it. The subject of mental health is one subject that is not commonly talked about yet it might interest you to know the number of persons that come down with mental health-related illnesses and issues every year. As a leader, you owe it a duty to yourself and your team to ensure you take care of your mental health and emotions.

6. Your Family

While you are working on crossing out your career goals and attaining the highest level there is in your leadership, ensure your ambitions are not at the expense of your family. Many top executives rarely make out time for their families, even when they are at home with family, they are still working. The development of a child is affected a great deal by the availability of its parent(s) in its life. Do not be the successful and readily available Chief Executive who is unavailable for his or her child. Your spouse and children (if you have any) need you.

Take Care Of Your Team As A Leader

Simon Sinek in many of his speeches always tells a story of his encounter with a man he called Noah, a Brewster. He met Noah during one of the times he spent at the Four Seasons Hotel. According to his story, one of the things he found fascinating about Noah was how he went about his work at the hotel. This made Sinek tip Noah graciously.

He asked Noah what it was about his job at the Four Seasons hotel that he loved so much. Noah gladly told him that he loved his work at the hotel because of the way the Managers of the hotel seem to take special interest in him and his work at the hotel. The Managers, according to him, when they walk past will always stop to find out how he was doing and how the work was going. As Simon Sinek narrated, Noah told him that he also works at another hotel where the managers seem to be concerned only with the tasks that need to be done and making sure he does them.

This story as shared by Sinek paints a clear picture of what the expectations of today’s employees are from their leaders and managers. There’s a popular quote often attributed to the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, that conveys this clearly

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

It often sounds out of place when Simon Sinek makes the following statement, “Leadership is not about being in charge but taking care of those in our charge. Leaders are not responsible for the results; they are responsible for the people who are responsible for the results.” As a Leader, the following are ways you can take care of your team

• Trust your Team

One of the things that inspire a follower’s confidence in his or her leader is knowing that his or her leader trusts him or her. Learning to trust your team as a leader involves you not doubting their words, unless they give you reasons to, of course. But, don’t go looking for reasons to disprove a report or statement from a team member. It is a motivation killer.

Also, trusting your team members entails trusting them with tasks and higher responsibilities. What most leaders do is delegate tasks to members of their team and still, go about micromanaging them. When your team members know you trust them to get the job done and to get it done well, they go out of their way to not disappoint you for trusting in them.

• Invest in the growth of your team members

As a leader, just as you would invest in your own personal and professional growth, you must be one that is committed to the personal and professional growth of your team members also. In addition, invest in their causes and interests. By so doing, your team members will become more loyal and committed to you and the tasks.

• Create a safe environment for your team 

While discussing the point of taking care of yourself, I mentioned the need to take care of your emotional health. As a leader, you owe it a duty to your team to ensure that your environment is a safe space where they would all be glad to come into and work. People will leave a workspace when they feel the work environment is not safe for them.

Learn how to build an emotionally safe workplace for your employees.

• Have a Just Cause

People are looking for what to believe in. Give your team one, and please make sure it is one that they would be willing to rally around.

• Democratize Access To Failure

Most leaders cut themselves slack when they trip, but hold their team members to the highest level of accountability. Leadership must balance between normalizing failure and optimizing the value of failure.

If you are a business owner, check this post out to learn the 3 reasons why you need to take care of your team as a business owner.

As A Leader Take Care Of The Vision

In writing this article, I spoke with Ralph Eze-Ifedy, the Director of the Founder Institute, Lagos Nigeria, to find out his thoughts on this topic. He corroborated the first two and shared a third one – every leader needs to take care of the vision. Through his works at the Founder Institute, he has seen many Founders work in with what they believe to be a business idea and at all times he will always encourage them with this, “in whatever you do, give the universe a worthy cause to stand with you.”

According to Eze-Ifedy, vision is like a leaking bucket and must be constantly communicated across the breadth of the organization. Cascaded down to the lowest rung of the ladder and adapted in such a way that every team member can identify the vision in their daily tasks and routine. He believes that unless this is done, you could wake up one day to an empty bucket.

In his book, “Great Leaders Start With Why”, Simon Sinek pointed out how every organization needs to be clear on the ‘Why’ (reason) for which they exist. As the leader of your team, you must be clear on this and also you must be able to keep your team focused on the ‘Why’ at all times to avoid being derailed.

Closing

Leadership is a great responsibility and could oftentimes feel daunting, especially when you are poised on taking care of everything at all times. That is always the default reaction of anyone coming into Leadership but as time goes on, your success and all failure will come down to these three things highlighted in this article – how you can take care of yourself, your team and the vision. No matter the leadership position you occupy within your organization, follow this guide beginning today and you will start seeing amazing results in your leadership.