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"From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life."
Arthur Ashe

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Leadership Notes -- Thoughts on Leading People and Making a Difference in Organizations

 

Word count this issue: 380

Estimated reading time:  2:30 minutes

 

Good morning from a warming Vancouver. The spring flowers are appearing and the temperature is in the low teens celsius! Summer is coming!

 

I’ve been caught off guard this week by my Mum’s declining health. She has been in a care home for 5 or so years now and we were sure she was going over a year ago. The medical team has put her on “active dying protocol” again this week, but 24 hours later she has awakened and is eating and chatting away. She is still bedridden and sleeps most of the time, and has been telling me that she thinks it is time to go. She turns 90 in May, and I won’t be surprised if she is still with us then, active dying protocol or not!

 

I was then working with a coaching client this morning talking about responsibilities. I am aware especially this week of my own responsibilities to family and home. I, like many of us I suppose, can get hung up on the work, the gigs, the day to day management of our team and business. Then, there are our responsibilities to and for the people we love, and the responsibilities to and for ourselves. There is an old rabbinic adage that says ‘a person who does not have a single hour each day to themselves is a slave.’  

 

Our organizations should not be places where we are enslaved, either by their policies and expectations, or by our own actions driven by our own deep seated devices and desires. 

 

Here are 3 ways to build an hour for yourself each day.

 

  1. Play with your family. All to often we have family obligations, what about if you had family play time together? You playing and laughing will give you an hour of self.
  2. Exercise 30 minutes a day; take a walk early in the morning and listen as the birds awaken. Finding the next 30 minutes will be much easier once you’ve exercised.
  3. Move off social media; I guarantee you’ll find an hour a day there

 

 

Find that hour a day; your family and your work will appreciate it, and you.