Why it's okay to put you first
Things are stressful right now. When 2020 started, we could have never imagined we’d be dealing with a worldwide pandemic and have all 3,200 of us working from home. Add to that the stress of helping our business weather this storm, figuring out how to successfully lead our people while working remotely, and managing our personal lives — it can be overwhelming.
We, as servant leaders, default to putting the needs of our team and our loved ones ahead of our own. Being there for your team doesn’t mean you put your own health and well-being on the backburner. In fact, it’s the opposite. You are no good to your people (or yourself and your loved ones) if you are burned out and overstressed. And if you’re feeling this way, please know you are not alone. There are times when we all feel overwhelmed.
Our benefits team recently hosted a panel discussion to address how leaders are coping during this time. Here are a few of the themes we heard in that discussion:
- Pace of work and workload has increased
- Self-care, proper eating habits, and sleep is decreasing
- Financial pressures are increasing
- Struggling to cope with competing demands of being a parent and working
- Feelings of isolation are increasing
These are just a few of the things we’re hearing from our people and leaders. If you are struggling with any of these things or if you’re trying to figure out how to coach your people through these types of stressors, reach out to your leader or our benefits team. You can also watch the panel discussion to get tips on how to cope with all of this as well as check out this great intranet article with tips on how to deal with stress and anxiety in a healthy way.
Together, we are going to make it through this crisis and come out of all these challenges as stronger and more adept leaders. Use the resources available to you and don’t hesitate to reach out to other leaders to get tips on how to successfully manage all of this stress for yourself and your team. Remember, you can’t effectively take care of others, until you take care of yourself.
