What do you wish managers and leaders knew?

Helpful words from successful coaches

In a recent article from a South African website, professional coaches and psychologists respond to a great question: What do you wish managers and leaders knew? Their answers were fascinating and challenge the ideas about leaders and those they lead.

Mary, a professional life coach and dietician, shared three facts on personal wellbeing and overall wellness:

Fact one: executives should make a shift from reactive to proactive wellness. She emphasises that wellness is more than just weight loss and dieting; it must be approached in a holistic way and in a sustainable manner. Daily intake needs to be less than the amount of energy that is expended. The body has the capacity to store and/or generate fat and if energy expended is less than intake, fat will be produced.

Fact two: wellness requires personal knowledge with regards to ideal cholesterol levels and your individual status, calcium strength, healthy functioning glands and a general awareness of what “works” for your body. Go for a balanced wellness-focused lifestyle that encapsulates the important blood tests other than those ordinary doctors do.

There is a new way that tests are done and they look at your molecular structure and genes to proactively predict the weaknesses in your system so you can make provision in advance as to the correct medication, diet and supplements to counter-balance the negative effects of what is happening in your body.

Fact three: neither “fat free” nor “sugar free” and “kilojoules free” means “eat as much as you can!”. Unfortunately, according to Mary, people think that when they drink “lite” fizzy drinks and 100% fresh fruit juice that they are sugar free; this is not always the case.

Henry, a professional life coach, probably offered the most challenging but needed wisdom:

He says managers and leaders need to know that they are not super-human and are not above the laws of respectful and honoring inter-personal relationships.

In fact, 80% of work life is based on inter-personal relationships. Nothing happens without “people in relation to…” Nothing. Skills and talent engagement is a mere 20% applied at an 80% engagement level in most successful companies. Being rude, disrespectful, harsh, brash and ill mannered is simply the worst behaviour to allow and inject into the relational space. Practice the art of saying “I am sorry” graciously, when applicable.

Lenard and Louise, specialist business coaches, are concerned about regular and efficient rest.

They wish that managers and leaders would take more “time out” in their day. Use the tea and lunch times to rest, relax, and re-focus and to breathe and re-group your inner resources. Take as many breaks as the smokers do! And do it for as long as they do. The difference is that you will breathe in healthy air. Pay attention to the results of your “time out” sessions; you could receive profound messages of truth as you just let go.

A second factor they find lacking in the executive tick box are more regular, context-specific 360-degree feedbacks with those around them.

What would you like for those leaders and managers above you to know?

Tags: Coaching, Leadership