Business leaders and other leadership roles tend to double down on their workload to ensure their businesses continue running. However, this habit is done at the risk of taking time off their personal health, hobbies, and relationships.
While it is possible to sacrifice personal comfort for professional success, humans are not designed to function at their maximum capacity 24/7 to the point that someone might push one's self past the point of exhaustion, which could lead to less creativity, reduced working memory and capacity for problem-solving, and bad business outcomes.
To prevent this, people do everything to achieve self-care. But sometimes, this is impractical as it might mean expensive retreats and other activities that might hurt one's pocket.
Burnout in Leadership
Burnout has been frequent ever since COVID-19 hit in 2020, and people were still reeling from the pandemic a few years later. A Gallup report showed that the burnout rate among managers increased significantly between 2020 and 2021, which led to increased resignations from managers and leaders and unmanageable workloads for those left behind.
One of the major contributing factors to why leadership staff quit was due to burnout. A Gallup poll from 2018 showed that while more than two-thirds of workers were burned out, managers reported more stress and burnout, worse work-life balance, and worse physical health than members of their teams.
Another recent survey also said that, despite life outside the workplace returning to normal for most people, 70% of C-level executives are considering leaving their company and taking a new role in an organization supporting their well-being.
How to Self-Care as a Business Leader
As a result, Entrepreneur.com provided some tips on how to take care of one's self without breaking the bank:
1. Small Acts of Self-Kindness: While others say they need to do something big to avoid burnout, some also take small but frequent habits that could make a huge impact in the long run.
2. Take Extended Breaks: People who unplug from work and enter vacation mode as frequently as possible are said to be linked to increased well-being, engagement, and creativity. It can also help lower stress and prevent the development of heart disease.
3. Make yourself less essential: Being present all the time in one's business has been the default mode of most business leaders. Another Gallup survey found that companies run by CEOs who delegate have a three-year growth rate, which is 112% higher than companies with CEOs who do not delegate.
4. Lead by Example: One way business leaders help their jobs and staff is to lead by example as much as possible. Another way was to create a permission structure and a culture of self-care at one's organization and to allow workers and employees to talk freely about mental health.
5. Build Self-Awareness
When a business leader and his employees are open in talking about mental health, it would be recommended to build self-awareness to know when.
