Toward a Richer Life

02/10/2022

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not.
Ann Brashares, Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood

"Become a better leader, have a richer life," urges Stewart D. Friedman in a Harvard Business School book, The Essential Guide to Leadership. Friedman offers a number of ways to enjoy leadership (and life) more. Here are a couple:

1. "Reflect. For each of the domains of your life — work, home, community, and self, reflect on how important each is to you, how much time and energy you devote to each, and how satisfied you are in each. Are there discrepancies between what is important to you and how you spend your time and energy?...

2. Brainstorm Possibilities. Based on the insights you’ve achieved during your four-way reflection, brainstorm a long list of small experiments that may help you move closer to greater satisfaction in all four domains...For example:

Turning off cell phones during family dinner could help you sharpen your focus on people who matter the most.
Exercising several times a week could give you more energy...
Preparing for the week ahead on Sunday evenings could help you sleep better and go into the new week refreshed."

Source: "Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life," by Stewart D. Friedman, The Essential Guide to Leadership, The Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School Publishing, 2009.

The Exchange Essentials articles collection, "Build Your Leadership Capacity," also provides ideas for increasing leadership effectiveness. For example, Meg McNulty offers:

"Psychologist Alfred Adler believed that people continually strive for both competence and connection. Organizations have evaluations and other systems to ensure that staff can gauge their competency in their work, and yet how staff are connected with one another is often viewed as less important and perhaps not even considered. In times of transition, staff members need to sense that they belong and are valued. Someone needs to tend to this connection."

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