Self-Actualization Archives

The Balancing Act of Work-Life Balance

by Carolyn Stern | Apr 29, 2021 | Management Skills, Wellness

How many times have you sat at your desk eating lunch while still working? Have you ever felt guilty about taking your break? How many times have you worked through your break telling yourself that you will take a break later? If you are guilty of these, don’t worry – you’re not alone, and your team is feeling similar. In fact, studies show that employees are working longer hours than usual, especially with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic has definitely changed the way we work, making it more difficult to redefine the boundaries between your professional and personal lives. In fact, the stress level of employees has increased by 20 percent since 1990. Maintaining a culture of work-life balance has become a greater challenge, especially when boundaries are blurred and employees are working more hours than before, all while organizations and individuals are adapting to these changing times.

When Work-Life Balance Fails

It is evident that teams are failing to prioritize work-life balance as they struggle to navigate through this new way of work, which has led to a lack of productivity, creativity, motivation, and more. With 50% of employers failing to support their employees physical well-being, work-life balance will continue to fall.

When leaders fail to instill work-life balance into their team, their emotional, physical, and mental health crumbles. With additional work hours allotted into our schedule, employees are more likely to experience mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression. Research has shown that employees who work more than 55 hours per week are at a higher risk of a heart attack and stroke. The end result: your team is feeling stressed more than ever.

Not only do teams feel stressed with their growing workloads, but this stress is snowballing into bigger issues, such as employee absenteeism. Think about it – if your team is feeling stressed, chances are if they aren’t physically absent, they are mentally absent. Absenteeism can affect productivity, finances, and workplace morale, which directly impacts the bottom line. Beyond the financial impact, with 30% of your team not feeling motivated, teams are procrastinating in failing to progress which inhibits growth potential in the individuals, and the organization as a whole.

Now you may be wondering, if the repercussions of poor work-life balance are severe, then why don’t we prioritize it better? Although every team is different, there are some universal emotional intelligence tactics you can bring into your team to mitigate some of the work-life balance concerns,

Balance It Out with Emotional Intelligence

A key component in effectively managing your team’s work-life balance is helping them tune into their emotional intelligence. Their EQ competencies will help in managing their work-life balance. As a leader, it begins with listening to their own emotions, to ensuring they feel acknowledged and heard.

Listed below are some crucial EQ competencies that will assist your team in finding their work-life balance.

Self Awareness

Self Awareness is all about understanding yourself, from your needs to your emotions, Once your team becomes in tune with themselves and can understand what they need, they will be able to set boundaries. Being self aware can also assist your team in recognizing when work-life balance is falling apart. Acknowledging when current work-life needs to be prioritized is one of the first steps to improvement.

Self Actualization

Self Actualization is the drive to continually improve yourself through engaging in activities and objectives that lead to a fulfilling and enjoyable lifestyle. Individuals on the path to self actualization live by their values; they know and are continuously on the lookout for activities that give their life meaning and purpose. Knowing what fulfills your team will help support you in creating more work-life balance for them. Encouraging your team to allocate time for these activities in their personal lives will ultimately contribute to their happiness and productivity at work.

Assertiveness

Being assertive is associated with communicating your emotions, beliefs, and opinions openly, in a non-offensive manner. Assertiveness assists in standing your ground when it comes to work-life balance. Leaders need to stimulate conversation around communicating boundaries within the team, and set guidelines for when the line is crossed. If boundaries have been overstepped, assertiveness will support your team in communicating that to leadership, so that they are aware of the boundaries and won’t repeat the same mistake.

Improve Your Work-Life Balance

Now that you are aware of which EQ competencies will assist your team the most in managing their work-life balance, try these two strategies to enhance your organization’s work-life balance culture!

Unplug and Unwind

It is easy to become accustomed to the 24/7 work culture, especially in a digital world. You find yourself telling your team members that you’re only an email or message away, but boundaries need to be in place so that you’re not attached to your job all day. The same boundaries are important to encourage throughout the entire organization. For example, instead of sending your email after the team has logged off for the day, try and save it for the morning to allow them to unplug and unwind for the day. Some tips to instill in your team for proper communication boundaries are below.

– Remove work communications once your workday has ended.
– Set notifications to turn off after you clock out.
– Inform others of the decision, so they are aware of the appropriate response times

Encourage Setting Boundaries

While it’s great to have a team that is always accepting new opportunities, it’s even more crucial to know their limits so that you can effectively manage their workload.

Communicate to your team that they don’t have to say ‘yes’ to every opportunity you give them. Encourage your team to set that boundary by instead of saying ‘yes’, say ‘Yes and….’. For instance, let’s say your employee has a report due tomorrow, but you ask if they’re able to help you prepare for an upcoming meeting.

The employee is aware that if they take this on, it will impede on the time they have set to work on the report due tomorrow. Instead of immediately saying “yes”, create a safe space where they can inform you of their workload by saying “Yes I could help you in preparing for the upcoming meeting, and something that is on my plate is the report that is due tomorrow. If I help you out, this will affect my schedule to work on the report, could I get an extension on the report?”

By encouraging boundary setting, everyone will be aware of the workload and the team can make adjustments as necessary. If your team does not voice their concerns, their workload threshold will max out, creating a negative impact on their work life balance.

The Balancing Act of Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is crucial to maintaining productivity, positive workplace morale, and a healthy bottom line in the organization. In return, your team’s stress levels will lessen, helping to mitigate the costs of absenteeism. By tuning into your emotional intelligence, you will be able to better manage your team’s work-life balance, and instill a culture of wellbeing and balance that encourages healthy boundary setting.

Do you need help in enhancing your team’s work-life balance? Book a call with us here – we’re here to listen and help you find the perfect balance.

Interested in learning more about setting boundaries? Check out our blog, Setting Realistic Business Boundaries for 2021 to see how you can implement strategies to respect your team members’ boundaries at work!

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The Art of Authentic Leadership

by Carolyn Stern | Mar 12, 2021 | Leadership, Self-Actualization

All too often, leaders believe that the key to success is to present a manufactured corporate persona. They believe they need to portray that they have all the answers, they don’t make mistakes, and they can never let their teams see them sweat. But let’s face it – nobody is perfect, so why should we impose perfection on leaders?

The truth is, leadership is more of an art than a science, and it involves authenticity. Exceptional, authentic leaders can inspire trust and loyalty in their team members by being true to themselves. Authentic leaders can relate to others by finding common ground and presenting different facets of their personality to different audiences without faking it or being insincere. They know which personality traits they should reveal and when, just are like chameleons, adapting to each situation without losing their identities. They know how to unlock every employee’s potential and know leadership is not a one-size-fits-all formula. Most importantly, authentic leaders build a culture of transparency and growth; they know that mistakes are bound to happen and encourage their team to take risks and innovate to find a solution. Ultimately, authentic leaders embody the message that it is OK to be human in the workplace.

The Integration of Emotional Intelligence in Authentic Leadership

You may have heard of the common saying, “Can you talk the talk and walk the walk?”; this demonstrates perfectly what authentic leadership really is. Authentic leaders stay true to their words and can execute their ambitions. The art of authentic leadership is to tap into your emotional intelligence competencies, as these skills will shape your leadership style. Some of the guiding principles of emotional intelligence are being self-aware, genuine, and transparent, all characteristics reflected in the four components of authentic leadership.

Four Components of Authentic Leadership

The four components of authentic leadership are closely interrelated with emotional intelligence. To master the art of authentic leadership, leaders can take proactive steps to unlock their true selves by developing their emotional intelligence competencies, which will enhance their overall authentic leadership style.

1. Self Awareness

An authentic leader shows self-awareness through reflecting on their own strengths, weaknesses and values. Self-awareness means being aware of their strengths and development opportunities and also being aware of their emotions and triggers. Authentic leaders truly know themselves and are aware of both their gifts and limitations. To develop your self-awareness, try following this 4-step exercise.

1. Write down the strengths you possess as a leader.

2. Write down your weaknesses.

3. Write down areas where you feel most confident.

4. Write down areas for improvement.

After this exercise, reflect on your learning and ask yourself, what surprised me about my answers? By doing this, you will become cognizant of your strengths and weaknesses and identify your improvement areas. When leaders are self-aware of their strengths and weaknesses, this can help them further develop their leadership style and recognize areas they may need assistance in. Share these results with your team and ask for feedback to gauge opinions from your team members. This facilitates an open discussion and actively involves your team members in the process of your leadership development.

Once leaders are aware of their strengths and weaknesses, this will also build their self-regard. Self-regard is about respecting yourself and is associated with self-confidence. Leaders who acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses will make peace with their flaws and appreciate their unique set of strengths. Developing self-awareness and self-regard will allow leaders to become confident in their abilities and actively work on their areas of improvement.

2. Relational Transparency

When authentic leaders demonstrate relational transparency, they maintain a good balance of openly sharing their own thoughts and beliefs but do not overly display their emotions to team members.

Emotional expression is an EQ competency all about expressing one’s feelings constructively, both verbally and non-verbally. An authentic leader needs to tap into their emotional expression to know how much emotion to show. For example, if a leader is worried about not meeting their quarterly sales goals, they need to think about the most effective way to articulate this message without having team members panicking. Instead of saying, “I do not know what to do to reach our quarterly sales goals, I do not think we will meet them,” an authentic leader will reframe their message to illustrate their concern but will simultaneously get their team on board. A statement such as, “With our current performance, I am noticing that we may not be able to meet our sales goals this quarter. Let’s brainstorm some ideas to help us reach our sales goals.” This statement shows transparency as the leader has expressed their concern but also initiates an action plan. Asking to brainstorm ideas is a proactive way to spark innovation within the team and creates a supportive team environment.

3. Balanced Processing

Balanced processing is soliciting opinions from others as well as welcoming opposing viewpoints. Leaders who demonstrate balanced processing are curious about understanding the “why” behind each idea. By practicing balanced processing, authentic leaders welcome opinions without being quick to judge.

Balanced processing is associated with self-actualization, the drive to continuously improve. Authentic leaders are strong in self-actualization as they are constantly looking for ways to become the best leader they can be. One of the ways they do this is through soliciting and receiving valuable feedback from their team. Whether constructive or positive, all forms of feedback are welcomed, as authentic leaders see the value of opposing perspectives and want to understand why they feel like they do. For instance, let’s say a leader asks their team to provide feedback on their presentation. The first feedback they receive from a team member is that it went poorly compared to past presentations. An authentic leader will not jump to conclusions that their presentation went poorly overall; instead, they will seek to understand why the team member believed the presentation was poor. Perhaps the team member was not a fan of the content or thought the presentation could be more engaging and interactive. Authentic leaders know that there are reasons behind one’s feedback; by uncovering the motive, they will better understand the feedback they received.

Furthermore, asking for feedback also connects with the emotional intelligence competency, reality testing. Reality testing equips leaders to remain objective by seeing things as they really are. Having different opinions on a leader’s performance allows the leader to minimize their unconscious biases and assumptions. For example, if a leader believes that they are great at public speaking, asking for feedback challenges this assumption as they seek opinions other than their own.

4. Internalized Moral Perspective

Authentic leaders also display a strong moral code that they demonstrate in their relationships and decision-making. Using an internalized moral perspective enables leaders to lead from their hearts and align with their core values. This ties in with the emotional intelligence competency, independence. Independence is the ability to be self-directed and free from emotional dependency. Combining independence and an internalized moral perspective builds an ethical foundation resistant to external forces. For example, if there is a new, rising trend in the industry, an authentic leader can stand their ground and do what is in the company’s best interest. They will not succumb to the external pressure to follow the trend just because everyone else may be, but will follow the trend if they see a benefit for their organization.

Independent, authentic leaders allow their core values to guide their everyday actions and behaviour. Picture this – your leader states they value learning and development and wants everyone to participate in self-directed learning and development, just like themselves. However, there never seems to be time for self-directed learning and development for the company as a whole. An authentic leader would be sure to dedicate an allotted time slot for learning and development, such as an hour every Friday afternoon. If there is no time scheduled allotted to learning and development, then their value is simply a wish; it is something that the leader wants to have in the workplace, but it is not something the leader is willing to invest in and make time for.

Become an Authentic Leader

With a high self-awareness, internal drive to continuously improve, ability to openly share their thoughts yet adapt what they say to whom they are speaking with, adapt to any situation, and a strong moral compass, authentic leaders, show up to the workplace with dignity, humility, and integrity. By tuning into their emotional intelligence, they will master the four components of authentic leadership.

Interested in learning about how to become an authentic leader? Call us to book our brand new Authentic Leadership workshop to explore the key concepts, behaviours and ways to incorporate authenticity into your management repertoire. Alternatively, you can also check out our Values-Based Leadership Workshop to discover your core values and how to apply your values in your work environment.

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The Balancing Act of Work-Life Balance

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How to Motivate Gen Z with Emotional Intelligence

by Carolyn Stern | Feb 5, 2021 | Emotional Intelligence, Motivation

Cultivating motivation amongst Generation Z poses significant challenges for leaders today. On top of the tribulations of the past year, Gen Zers struggle with stress tolerance, problem-solving and independence.

With Gen Zers forecasted to account for almost 20% of global labour force by 2025, leaders are scrambling to close the generational gap within their organizations. However, leaders cannot just look through their own generational lens to cultivate a culture of motivation for the Gen Z workforce.

Instead, leaders need to recognize that different generations come with different perspectives, and more importantly, different internal motivations. Learning to navigate and understand the different motivational factors of Gen Z is vital to leveraging their unique talents and strengths.

As Bob Nelson said, “You get the best efforts from others not by lighting a fire beneath them but by lighting a fire within.” Leaders need to leverage the Gen Z workforce in different ways than they are used to.

Although this is new turf for all generations, there is a single concept that leaders can ground their motivational practices in – emotional intelligence.

How to Motivate Gen Z with Emotional Intelligence

Stellar leaders recognize the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace. By instilling emotional intelligence into an organization’s leadership practice, the organization is able to build a bridge between the different generations, creating a foundation of understanding for everyone’s differences.

The good news is that emotional intelligence can be learned and continuously developed. While there are many ways to introduce emotional intelligence into your workplace, we have listed the 5 most effective ways to motivate Gen Zers, beginning with 5 essential EQ competencies.

Emotional Self Awareness: Create Meaning & Purpose

In order to foster meaning and purpose in the workplace, leaders must understand that most Gen Zers feel restless and confused when entering the workforce. Many Gen Zers have been taught to follow their passions, which leads them to look for purpose in each job they land.

If leaders fail to create a sense of meaning and purpose in their organization, Gen Zers will treat their position more as a stepping stone to their next career journey, bringing a high risk of turnover. But, how do leaders help their Gen Z employees even realize their unique motivations? The answer is instilling a culture of emotional self-awareness.

Emotional self-awareness results from truly looking within, and identifying not just what motivation looks like, but how it feels. When leaders allow time for open, honest conversation with their Gen Z employees, that is when meaning and purpose comes to light. Leaders should ask their employees about what inspires them; in return, the employees will feel heard, while the leader gains a clearer picture on how to challenge and inspire them.

Interpersonal Relationships: Create Trust & Connection

Allowing time to foster a meaningful connection between Gen Z employees is essential. Having a successful interpersonal relationship means building trust and connection. When leaders collaborate with Gen Z employees on a deeper level, they are more likely to open up about their truest motivations in the workplace.

Some ways to build these relationships include: creating a mentoring environment, allowing time for collaboration, and frequent one-on-one check-ins. How to Mentor in the Workplace outlines the importance of creating a two-way street mentorship.

By involving them in mentorship, team collaboration, and one-on-one conversations, it creates a space to focus on their individual needs, which will help motivate them to achieve their goals.

Gen Zers thrive in an organization that fosters a coaching leadership style where they can be a part of the change through actively voicing their opinions and receiving feedback. Therefore, it is critical to tap into your interpersonal skills and understand what motivates and ignites the passion of your Gen Z employees.

Self-Actualization: Instill a Long Term Vision

The Gen Zers are motivated by stability and enjoyable work. When a Gen Z feels that their current position is not sustainable for their lifestyle and/or fails to fulfill their passion, it probably won’t be a long term commitment in their eyes.

Self actualization is all about following meaningful objectives that bring joy to life. With stability and enjoyable work being the two main workplace objectives Gen Zers are looking for, leaders can have a better picture of what sort of salary and company initiatives need to be in place to satisfy the needs of the emerging workforce.

One in four of Gen Zers expect managers to clearly define the goals and expectations of the company to ensure a proper trajectory to promotion is set within the first month of employment. By outlining a vision for Gen Z employees, leaders motivate Gen Z to feel involved in the growth of the company and provide a clear direction of how they can move up.

It is crucial that organizations offer a fair salary with clear and authentic strategic objectives for how to grow within the company to further engage and motivate Gen Zers.

Social Responsibility: Make Giving Back a Priority

Not only are Gen Zers trying to fulfill their own unique ambition, they also want to contribute to a good cause in the process. The Gen Z cohort is more socially and politically progressive than other generations; they expect organizations to support their social responsibility efforts, whether it be contributing to their community or freely speaking about their beliefs.

It is vital that leaders allow time and space for Gen Zers to take part in community involvement. Whether it be paid volunteer leave, allowing a day off to vote, or even having a company wide cause that they can contribute to, this will fuel motivation for Gen Zers.

Flexibility: Allow Time for Innovation

While research shows that Gen Z may struggle with problem solving (thanks to Google) in comparison to other generations, leaders need to adapt to this learning curve by finding a solution aligned with Gen Z’s core values. For instance, Gen Zers value autonomy and innovation; they are going to storm into the workforce with fresh, different ideas to tackle every challenge.

Flexibility is adapting to unfamiliar circumstances and ideas, which will be frustrating for other generations. However, this is a strength of Gen Zers; leaders need to allow Gen Zers to take the reins on building new, innovative strategic angles. To support this, leaders can actively listen to what Gen Zers have to say, and look at their creative solutions with an open mind, instead of instantly shooting them down. A new phenomenon known as reverse mentoring can be helpful in bridging generational frustrations, and create a safe space to leverage each other’s strengths.

The Bottom Line: Generation Z is Coming

As Generation Z enters the workforce, organizations have two choices: adapt or suffer the losses. The fact is, Gen Zers are coming in either way, and ignoring the new generational factors will take a hit to your bottom-line.

If leaders can focus on the incoming generation and pinpoint their emotional makeup, they will spend 2021 retaining, engaging, and motivating their new young team members rather than suffering the losses of turnover, disengagement, and lack of productivity.

Are you ready to take the next step as a leader to prepare and get ready for Generation Z?

We have multiple resources that can aid you in the process. Be sure to check out our Leading a Multigenerational Workforce Workshop, available in both live and virtual delivery. The workshop covers effective strategies on how to foster a culture of inclusion in the workplace and creating an action plan to implement these strategies. You can also check out our blog, Bridging the Gap Using Emotional Intelligence for more ideas on how to lead a multigenerational workforce!

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The Road to Self-Actualization

by Carolyn Stern | Aug 15, 2018 | Self-Actualization, Self-awareness

If you are struggling to understand your life’s purpose, you are not alone. The road to realizing your full potential is not an easy one. But what does it mean to be self-actualized?

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs may be a familiar concept to you. This five-stage model is drawn as a pyramid – from the bottom up. Our basic needs (such as psychological and safety) must be satisfied before progressing on to our growth needs (such as our sense of belonging and self-esteem). Only as we satisfy each stage of the model will we be able to move up in the pyramid to satisfy the next level of need. Placed at the very top, which Maslow considered to be the highest form of needs fulfillment, is self-actualization.

So how easy is it to reach the top of the pyramid? Well, Psychologist Abraham Maslow added that only one in every hundred people truly reach self-actualization. This is especially accurate now considering that society rewards individuals who are high in self-esteem, rather than in self-discovery.

Many of us do a great job at satisfying the four previous needs on the road to self-actualization – we are proficient at feeding ourselves, making sure we have a place to safely rest our heads, nurturing relationships, and making ourselves feel good. However, some of us end our efforts there and tolerate not understanding and knowing who we truly are.

Why are we here? What are we meant to do? What is our life purpose?

Before finding the answers to the above question, you need to know yourself from within. The following section will help you identify the steps to finding a deeper understanding of who you are, and ultimately, help guide you in defining your life’s purpose.

How to achieve Self-Actualization

1. LIVE FULLY

Immerse yourself in your everyday experiences. When we completely submerge ourselves in what we are doing, we experience “peak” experiences (experiences that would occur at the top of the pyramid). Maslow taught us that reaching these peak experiences causes us to feel pure joy, a heightened sense of curiosity and awe, and a feeling of ecstasy.

Ask yourself – What experiences have I had that have sent me over the moon? Why bother participating in activities that only give you satisfactory feelings? Why not partake in things that really give you goosebumps?

Note – Goosebumps are bumps that appear on a person’s skin when they are cold or experiencing a feeling of strong emotion. This emotion could be anything from fear to pleasure to nostalgia and even awe.

Living fully means satisfying your needs to the fullest. It means immersing yourself in everyday experiences that give you satisfaction.

2. RECOGNIZE YOUR UNIQUENESS AND STAY POSITIVE

Recognizing your unique qualities and what they can offer those around you can prove to be quite powerful. So, how can you determine what is unique about you? The answer is by accepting your imperfections and keeping a positive narrative of yourself.

Accept your flaws and imperfections. We are all human, and humans are all but perfect. The sooner you are able to grasp this, the sooner you will allow yourself to be fearless. By being fearless, you are opening yourself up for self-growth. Consequently, self-growth will lead you to new and valuable experiences, which will promote these “peak” experiences that everyone keeps raving about.

Practicing optimism and positive self-talk will remind you of the great things only you can offer to the world. Having the ability to see the bright side to life will not only keep gray clouds at bay, but it will also motivate you to attempt new things, which will lend a hand in deepening your understanding of yourself. Once you have a better grasp of who you truly are, you will be better armed when finally tackling the great question of – What is my life’s purpose?

3. MAKE HONEST CHOICES

How will making honest choices help you in defining your life’s purpose? If we examine our daily choices, are they in line with our core values and beliefs? Perhaps, we don’t quite know yet what our core values and beliefs are. Well, by choosing to make honest decisions regarding our everyday lives, we are working on recognizing what is important to us.

If you make honest choices and are mindful of your selections, you will begin to decipher and sort through what is important to you.

Nike, just like most companies, has a mission statement. The benefit of a mission statement is that whenever a company has to make a decision, big or small, they can refer to their statement to make sure every decision they make is in alignment with their mission. An organization’s mission statement will strongly reflect the company’s core values. Nike’s mission statement is, “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” Through Nike’s products, branding, marketing, and strategic business decisions, we see their mission statement shines through.

Developing your own personal mission statement will help you make genuine and authentic choices for you to honor your purpose in life. One quick tip is to save your personal mission statement in your notes app on your phone, that way you can refer back to it whenever you have to make a tough decision.

4. LET GO OF YOUR EGO

Those who are self-actualized are able to feel self-acceptance, self-love, and self-value. The mere 1% that have been able to reach self-actualization are aware of their desires for social acceptance and societal pressures, but they hold a true understanding of themselves, instead of a distorted idea of who they should be according to exterior influences.

Your ego can play to your advantage – it can help boost your self-confidence and heighten your sense of self-worth. Having said that, letting your ego take precedence of your true self, also carries a dark side.

Your ego enhances your need to be right, your desire to win and supercharges your need to be superior. If the dark side of your ego takes charge of your everyday life, it will not only inhibit you from seeing different perspectives, it can also prevent you from opening up to new practices.

Letting go of the shadowy desires from your ego will open up your mind to new experiences that will increase your willingness, openness, and curiosity. In turn, these skills will lead you to your self-discovery and following your life’s purpose.

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If you need help on your road to self-actualization, book a call with us here; we’d love to listen and provide support in any way we can.

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