Succeed As Your Own Boss

ENDING SMALL BUSINESS FAILURE

  • Home
  • About
  • Book Melinda
  • Consulting
  • SBL Store
    • Books/Workbooks
    • LifePlanningJournal
    • 30 Day Fast Start Program
    • Become Your Own Boss Course
    • Become Your Own Boss Bundle
    • Fix Your Business Masterclass
    • Write A Business Plan Course
    • One-on-One VIP Coaching
  • Subscribe to Podcast
  • #Smallbizchat
    • Be a #SmallBizChat Guest
  • Blog
    • Write For Us
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Leadership / How to Lead with Work-Life Balance

How to Lead with Work-Life Balance

March 28, 2019 By Melinda Emerson Leave a Comment

Feel free to share...Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Share on Reddit
Reddit
Email this to someone
email
Print this page
Print

Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9 pm ET.  This is excerpted from my recent interview with Donnie Hutchinson, @Donnie_Hutch. Donnie is the leading first responder work-life balance speaker and eLearning coach teaching firefighters, police, EMTs, and hospital staff on aligning their day-to-day behaviors with their priorities in life. Learn more at www.donniehutchinson.com

SmallBizLady: What is work-life balance?

Donnie Hutchinson: First, let’s discuss what it is not. It’s not about spending equal time at work, home, and other activities.  Work-life balance is about aligning your day-to-day activities with your priorities in life.  Now, I don’t tell people what their priorities ought to be; however, my research and other research shows that leaders who are effective at work-life balance are also effective at managing their self-care needs.  As for entrepreneurs and leaders, it is important to understand that employees who are effective at balancing work-life are more productive at work and at home.

SmallBizLady: What do you mean when you say leaders were effective at managing self-care needs?

Donnie Hutchinson: My multiple case study research revealed that all the leaders in the study explicitly stated that effective management of their self-care needs was a pre-requisite to attaining their work-life balance.  In other words, if they didn’t take care of themselves first, they were not as effective in their other roles in life, including their work and careers. You cannot pour from an empty cup—you must fill your cup first. Nourish to flourish.

SmallBizLady: What is self-care management?

Donnie Hutchinson: Self-care management is about how well we take care of our physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs.  For instance, our physical needs consist of one’s diet, exercise, and sleep. Psychological needs might include sharing our thoughts and emotions.  Our social needs are usually met at work and with friends outside of work. Our spiritual needs are often met by prayer or mediation. The essential attribute of effectively managing these needs reside in the positive spillover it has in many areas of our life.  I will go more into that later.

SmallBizLady: How do leaders and entrepreneurs get out of balance?

Donnie Hutchinson: Work-life imbalance is an adverse effect from experiencing work-life conflicts.  There are three universal conflicts that everyone in the workforce can experience and often do.  These conflicts are time-based, strain-based, and behavioral based. Time conflicts occur when the time demands from work, family, and other interests compete.  In other words, we cannot be in two places at one time. Now some people believe that technology has given us the ability to be with family while working on email.  However, the mere physical presence does not satisfy this need. Strain-based conflicts occur when we work so hard that when we arrive home to our spouse and children, we are drained.  Our energy has been spent at the office, and we have nothing left for our loved ones or our self-care. Behavioral-based conflicts can occur when behaviors in one role in life spillover into other roles.  Perhaps the A-type personality can work very well at work; however, it could cause some conflicts at home or other roles in life.

SmallBizLady: You defined work-life balance as aligning your day-to-day activities with your priorities in life.  Is there a method of helping entrepreneurs, leaders, and employees to discover their priorities in life?

Donnie Hutchinson: A method I have found to be very effective is reflection.  One way I help clients reflect is by listening to one of my favorite song’s: Don’t Blink by Kenney Chesney.  I believe everyone can benefit from listening to the lyrics of this song.  The song lyrics include a line that says “when the hourglass runs out of sand…”

SmallBizLady: How else do you help people reflect?

Donnie Hutchinson: I ask people to think about, and document who’s important in their lives and how have they shown them that they are an important priority?  I also ask people what’s important in their lives and how have they made that a priority? When people reflect, they discover their core values as a human being.  When we ponder who and what’s important to us, it is a systematic process to determine if our day-to-day behaviors are in alignment with our priorities. However, it is usually a very difficult and emotional process when we realize our day-to-day actions are not in alignment with our true priorities in life.  Whether one is in alignment or not, it is what it is. I call this our ‘current reality.’

SmallBizLady: What do people do with this information and realization after they reflect on their priorities in life and understand their current reality?

Donnie Hutchinson: The urge is to jump right into a dream or goal state of what they want their future reality to look like regarding work-life balance.  However, before focusing on the future, it is highly recommended to reset your psychological and emotional state by choosing to “reset” your situation.  It’s very similar to hitting a reset button. For instance, some people feel stuck in their imbalanced life because that’s just the way it has been. They might be harboring guilt for their past behaviors toward their spouse, children, or self-care.  It is important to learn how to forgive yourself. Self-forgiveness is essential for resetting one’s current reality. The idea is to move forward in a positive direction with no new regrets. I encourage you to think about whatever it is you are struggling with and then look in a mirror and say, “I forgive you.”

SmallBizLady: Once people have engaged the reset button, what’s the next step in balancing life?

Donnie Hutchinson: Be bold and think about how you would like your relationships, self-care practices, and successes at work to look and feel like in the future.  Once you have a good idea, document your thoughts on a piece of paper. This paper becomes your desired future or future reality. Don’t be scared to imagine having rewarding relationships, careers, and businesses all while taking great care of your physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs.

SmallBizLady: So, if people understand where they are and where they want to be, how do you recommend they achieve their desired future reality?

Donnie Hutchinson: It is very important to not make work-life balance a goal.  Your goals should be action items that you can do immediately.  Concentrate on implementing a few new day-to-day behaviors each week that promote achieving your desired future.  If your desired future calls for an improved relationship with your spouse or significant other, then act now. For example, if it has been a while since you have taken your spouse or significant other out on a date, be sure to ask her/him before today is over.  If exercise is in your plans, perhaps invite your spouse or significant other to take a walk with you or go to the gym. You both will benefit from the exercise, and you will be doing a new activity together.

SmallBizLady: Why is self-care so important to people’s work-life balance?

Donnie Hutchinson: It is essential because our self-care delivers positive and negative spillover every day in our lives.  Positive and negative spillover is defined as how a behavior in one of our life’s roles spills over into another role.  For example, when we don’t receive adequate sleep, our mental processes slow and our emotions are less controllable. Or if we eat a high-fat, high-sugar lunch, we often will feel mentally and physically sluggish in the afternoon.  Both negative spillover examples reduce productivity in the workplace and at home. On the positive side, when we exercise in the morning and eat a balanced diet, we often feel energized, mentally sharp, and can focus better during the workday.  These statements I make are not my opinions, they are backed with a significant amount of research.

If you enjoyed this interview, please join us live on Twitter every Wednesday from 8-9 pm ET. Just follow the hashtag #Smallbizchat, and don’t forget to follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter.

Click here for directions to join the weekly conversation. 

Feel free to share...Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Share on Reddit
Reddit
Email this to someone
email
Print this page
Print

Filed Under: Leadership, SmallBizChat Tagged With: life priorities, self-care, step in balancing life, work-life balance, work-life conflicts, work-life management

Fix Your Business Now!

Order SmallBizLady's new book Fix Your Business, 90-Day plan to Get Back Your Life and Reduce Chaos in Your Business. It includes the 12 Ps of Running a Successful Business and readers will finish the book with a new strategic plan to take their business to the next level.

About Melinda Emerson

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is one of America's leading small business experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also bestseller author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works. Her latest ebook, How To Become a Social Media Ninja; 101 Ways to Dominate Your Competition Online was released in 2012.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let’s Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Let me send my best blog posts to your inbox each week.

Click Here to Sign Up!

Get 2 FREE Chapters of SmallBizLady’s Book,
"Become Your Own Boss"!

Become Your Own Boss Download Two FREE Chapters

Most Popular Posts

>Seven Ways to be More Profitable in Your Small Business
> 7 Ways to Attract Customers to Your Small Business
> 6 Tips for Managing Small Business Finances
> How to Run a Successful Multilevel Marketing Business
> 10 Ways to Grow Your Small Business With Instagram
> How to Sell on Facebook
> How to Get Over the Fear of Starting a New Business

Featured Videos

“12 Principles of Highly Profitable Businesses with Melinda Emerson” from Sonia Dumas
October 2020

#SmallBizChat LIVE from NYC
May 2017

MSNBC Interview
Top Tip: Never Let a Customer Down

National Speakers Association
Winter Conference 2016

Tune in to Exhale, Wednesdays at 9 pm EST, only on ASPiRE. Join the conversation at #EXHALETV

Fox Business
Five Steps to Becoming a ‘Social Media Ninja

MSNBC
The importance of job mentoring for women

#SmallBizChat Live
National Small Business Week: Q&A

Good Day Philadelphia
Expert Shares Tips on How to Become Your Own Boss

Google
Best Practice for Social Media

Testimonials

Become Your Own Boss is a must read if you’re thinking of launching a business of your own.
Jean Chatzky, Bestselling Author of Money 911 and Financial Editor of NBC’s Today Show
Great step-by-step advice for anyone looking to start their own business.
Andrew C. Taylor, Chairman, Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Melinda Emerson has written a remarkable book. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to make the transition from working girl to successfully working it, as an entrepreneur.
Cynthia McClain-Hill, Past President, National Association of Women Business Owners
The perfect companion for those planning to go out on their own. Melinda delivers firsthand practical advice on how to be the successful entrepreneur. Read it if you want to get it right the first time.
Kenneth L. Shropshire, Professor at the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania
If you are looking for a versatile speaker who can talk about how to grow small businesses or get started with social media, look no further.
Heather Van Sickle Executive Director, National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE)
Her wit and depth of subject knowledge were entertaining and empowering. Melinda is definitely on our short list of seasoned entrepreneurs and business leaders we look to invite back in the near future.
Tennille M. Robinson Senior content & Event producer for Inc. magazine
Melinda Emerson, “SmallBizLady,” is an engaging and witty speaker and a great addition to any conference. Her terrific presentation and compelling delivery give people the information they need and want to become their own bosses and grow success… Read more
Laurie Dalton White Conference Director, Pennsylvania Conference for Women
Melinda Emerson has been a fantastic small business and social media resource for the Pitney Bowes team. Not only is she personable and easy to work with, but she also has an innate understanding of the small business audience. My marketing programs … Read more
Justin Amendola, Former VP, Global SMB Digital Strategy, Pitney Bowes

SmallBizChat

  • Twitter

Latest #SmallBizChat

The Future of the Workplace in a Post-COVID Environment Featured Image

The Future of the Workplace in a Post-COVID Environment

The workplace is shifting and evolving in some surprising ways as the response to COVID-19 develops. I know I’m not the only one who’s had to adjust and rethink the way I do business. No matter what industry you find yourself in, you’re facing some unforeseen challenges from the ongoing virus, and you’re probably wondering […]

Recent Comments

  • Bada Business ibc on 5 Tips for Getting More Online Reviews for Your Small Business
  • Justin Marble on TikTok vs. Snapchat: Which One Is Better for Marketing? [Infographic]
  • sathya on 15 Mistakes Not To Make In Your Digital Marketing Approach
  • Agency Platform Ebrandz on TikTok vs. Snapchat: Which One Is Better for Marketing? [Infographic]
  • Sejal on 15 Mistakes Not To Make In Your Digital Marketing Approach

#SmallBizChat

  • SmallBizChat Archive
  • @SmallBizLady

Business Advice

  • How to Start

SmallBizLady Store

  • Products
  • Free Chapter

Get In Touch

  • Write For Us
  • FAQ
  • Be a #SmallBizChat Guest
  • Contact Us
Copyright © 2019
Quintessence Group
PO Box 280
Drexel Hill, PA 19026
(610) 352-0680
Privacy Policy · Refund Policy

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in