Leadership Mindset Shift #8: It’s OK To Be Self-Ful

Are your leaders exhausted and burned out? Are they struggling to stay energized, motivated, and think clearly? Do they always put other’s needs before their own? Is their behavior sometimes a liability to the organization?

If you surveyed the leaders in your organization, how would they answer these questions?

Have you ever;

• Felt drained by life and not sure how to regain your motivation?
• Struggled to be authentic when pulled in so many directions?
• Encountered a major life change and couldn’t recover?
• Put your own needs on hold while serving others?
• Wondered how to manage your energy during stressful times?
• Felt guilty or selfish when taking care of yourself?
• Resisted asking for help.

We’ve all heard the flight safety briefing that reminds us to put on our own oxygen mask before attempting to help the person next to us. It makes sense that without oxygen you can’t think clearly or, even worse, you could lose consciousness. Leaders who can’t think clearly and aren’t conscious are a liability to their teams and organizations.

Shifting your leadership mindset about self-care can make all the difference. Here is the eighth of eight mindset shifts that can transform a leader’s effectiveness.

Leadership Mindset Shift #8

It’s OK to be Self-Ful

Leadership starts with leading ourselves, which requires a blend of self-awareness, self-discipline, and self-compassion.  

The true work of leadership is always an inside job.

• • Bobby Herrera, cofounder and CEO of Populus Group. 

This is much easier said than done. Leaders are pulled in so many directions, expected to serve others often at the expense of their own wellbeing. Often the demands seem unrealistic, yet we do our best to meet them. We don’t often get the permission and support to do the inside work necessary to maintain our best selves.

As counterintuitive as it may sound, self-fullness is the foundation for experiencing the satisfaction, purpose, and joy of leadership. Being self-ful helps leaders be more resilient, happy, and less likely to burn out.

Three Steps to Self-Fullness

Leverage Your Strengths

• Nothing feels better than making a positive impact while doing what you are good at. Mindset Shift #2 outlines the signature character strengths for each of the six PCM personality types. Which one best fits you? How can you leverage those strengths today?

Meet your Motivational Needs

• Each personality Phase type is motivated differently. Self-ful leaders make a point to meet their motivational needs every day in order to stay energized. Mindset Shift #6 will help you identify your motivational needs and how to get them met every day.
• Ensure you spend enough time each day in the types of environments that energize you. Mind Shift #5 will help you with this.

Recognize and Reverse Distress

• Distress happens when we don’t meet our personality Phase psychological needs in healthy ways every day. This negative attention undermines effectiveness, puts ourselves and others at risk, and creates a toxic work environment. Mindset Shift #7 will help you gain insight into your distress patterns and connect the dots on what to do next.

Shift Your Mindset To Become A Better Leader

Authenticity, Self-Care, and Resilience is the focus of one of the Modules in the PCM Leadership Program. This module zooms in on the experience of being a leader, guiding leaders toward a deeper appreciation of their own personality and an increased capacity to manage energy and stay focused, hopeful, and resilient in the face of significant challenges.

In this module, leaders will learn how to:

• Be more authentic, even while adapting for those you lead.
• Take better care of yourself on a daily basis.
• Make better decisions.
• Ensure your strengths don’t become liabilities.
• Build daily habits to improve your overall wellness.

Contact us today to find out more about how PCM helps leaders recognize and maximize the critical intersection between communication and personality.

Why Choose the PCM Leadership Program?

People skills are the primary leadership differentiator: being able to connect, engage, resolve conflict with and motivate anyone are essential leadership skills. Today’s leaders must cultivate their self-awareness and agility to be successful in a highly diverse, global and virtual environment. 

The PCM Leadership Program is a collection of learning & application modules that apply the Process Communication Model to solve the most common and important leadership challenges. 

Senior leaders will gain a greater understanding of how their own personality impacts their role and performance as a leader, how to adapt communication and motivation strategies to maximize the contribution of all personality types in the workplace, and how personality differences are best managed from a strategic level. 

Newly promoted and mid-level leaders will learn and apply critical social-emotional and communication competencies to improve their effectiveness in a wide range of leadership challenges such as communicating for greater impact, managing and motivating performance, dealing with miscommunication and conflict, building trust and engagement, and self-care.

We can help you assess your leadership development needs and design just the right program for your goals. Contact us today.

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