I recently spent a couple of days with Colorado Leaders who are part of the Colorado Thought Leaders Forum (CTLF), during which we had a rich, rewarding conversation on how, as leaders, we can thrive. “Thrive” is a word I use frequently; and our group discussed in great deal both the ideal paths and common roadblocks in attaining the state of thriving.
Firstly, if your well-being, genius and/or role aren’t in alignment, then you are not able to truly thrive; meaning it is unlikely that you will be able to achieve personal abundance. Simply, if you aren’t in a good place from a well-being perspective, your roles and genius are negatively impacted.
What is your genius? It is that one unique thing that you bring to the table. For example, my genius is that I am a really good listener, ask thought provoking questions and allow others to gain insight they may not otherwise see. Others say that I am able to synthesize things down into a sentence or two. I just say that “I get stuff done.”
As for roles, most of us have many – parent, spouse, sibling, CEO, etc. And all these roles can certainly be affected by your overall well-being.
Your well-being consists of your emotional, physical and spiritual health. Even being a little off-kilter in any of these regards can negatively impact your role and your genius. What does that look like? Well, from a role perspective you might:
Take your frustrations out on others
Not listen
Not focus on your role but on the role of others, etc.
A negatively impacted genius is more personalized and thus more difficult to describe, but a creative block would surely be a universal telltale. Often, if your well-being is out of sorts, you simply aren’t able to live in your genius.
Having a solid well-being is fundamental to being able to thrive.
Why should this be important to you? To be a great leader, you must take care of yourself first. Everyone in your life (all of the stakeholders touched by your roles both personally and professionally) deserves your best – your genius. And you deserve to THRIVE both personally and professionally. Your personal well-being is the touchstone for all of this to happen (plus, it is fun for you).
If you are not in a state of well-being, what can you do to get back to good? Some ideas include:
Workout/join a gym
Take a walk
Get more sleep
Spend quality time with your family
Yoga and meditation
Hike and spend some time outdoors
Read
Relax and do nothing (the hardest for me)
Pick one or two of these items as a starting point to work on improving your well-being. Try to make this a S.M.A.R.T. goal – Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Achievable, Responsible party (who owns it – in this case it’s you) and Timebound.
Please share with us your genius, your role(s) and what you do to get your well-being to a state that allows you to thrive.
By Blair Koch
