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managing

My leadership learning group – some diverse folk who meet once a month over breakfast to share ideas – found its topic recently when we started ordering our meals. One fellow surprised us by asking for gluten-free bread, and then explained more about his diet and how it has led to a sharper brain. Another woman started to talk about her own new diet and also stressed that she was mentally stronger and had more stamina in a very gruelling job.

She also was sleeping better; suddenly we were into talk about the need for proper sleep and how to improve on that score. Books have been written about leaders as corporate athletes. Clearly these leaders had all put gold-medal thought into how to increase vigour and resilience. And you probably should as well.

I’ll leave diets to others better positioned to advise. But your focus in picking one should include, if not be motivated by, the desire for mental acuity. And if the diet requires some esoteric stuff, dramatically changing your shopping patterns – gluten free this, coconut that – it was mentioned that that involves an important leadership lesson. We have many habits, including food choices, which we could benefit from changing. After a while, the new diet just becomes another habit, we were reassured.

On my mind recently has been an old topic: Standing more and sitting less. Some jobs involve a lot of walking but others are sedentary and that can be bad for your health in many ways. I bought an Ergotron stand-sit desk a few years ago that is wonderful: Elegant and easily adjustable. But the guy who bought it is not so wonderful.

My habit, after decades, is to sit (and drink tea) while I work. I don’t need either to work well but habits are powerful and I found that I had returned to using an expensive sit-stand desk as a sit desk.

With a timer and some discipline, I have improved. And it has resulted in increased vigour – I feel more vital when standing (until my feet tire). A standing desk is an option, of course, but it’s nice to be able to sit or stand at the same computer desk. A few years ago I also picked up a second-hand podium for standing while I read, be it a book, my tablet, or my Kindle. Often reading comes at the end of the day, so I am tired and more inclined to slouch into the couch. But I have tried to be more disciplined and even bought a second one for another room I often read in, a Pyle Compact and Portable Lectern Podium that for the price is more than adequate.

Schedules were another topic that came up at our meeting. Some group members take care to vary their days, mixing tasks so that when they are fatigued, they have something inspiring to pick them up. I think the key was that each knew themselves and what worked and didn’t work for daily resilience, although the degree of control – even for leaders – can be minuscule at times. I have always been impressed with Dan Sullivan’s system for entrepreneurs. The Toronto coach advises clients to divide their days into three types: Those spent solely on your main money-making strength; those spent on a mix of other, usually administrative activities; and free days, when no work is done and the individual rejuvenates. I know people who have found his system liberating, although the leaders in my group have less control over how their days unfold.

My own feeling is that each job we take on has different ebbs and flows. So with each, we need a new system, from a to-do list and calendar to scheduling priorities. Pay attention to whether you are a maker or manager, a delineation being highlighted these days. Makers are creators and implementers. Managers smooth the way, and personally don’t accomplish much – they succeed by helping others get things done. But ironically, most offices are foolishly structured around their needs. So if you are a maker, explain to your boss how he or she can help you do deep, productive work. If you’re both maker and manager, adapt your schedule accordingly.

In all of this, you need to push past habits and tradition, even desks and diet.

Cannonballs

  • If you shut your business down for four hours, what topic could you discuss? Starbucks was criticized for its discussion this week of racial bias, but surely getting customer service right – or some other facet of your business – can on occasion warrant extraordinary measures. A recent study suggests having high purpose and high clarity leads to better financial performance.
  • As a leader, you must push yourself into uncomfortable places, says leadership consultant Steve Keating.
  • A study of an open-plan office in the U.K. found many women became hyperaware of being constantly watched and their appearance constantly evaluated. “There isn’t anywhere that you don’t feel watched,” was a frequent comment.

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