As a leader, I recognized a gap. I hadn’t paid much attention to my peer relationships. Sure, I worked with several peers and had strong working relationships, but for those that I didn’t work with closely, I wasn’t spending much time with them. Maxwell urged his readers, “Don’t wait for that promotion! Start leading NOW…right where you are!” That was all the push I needed…
After reading that book, I began to schedule quarterly lunch meetings with my peers. During those times, we didn’t talk much about work…just took time to get to know one another better. I began to look forward to each of those lunch discussions. Three years later, when I was promoted as Deputy Director, I became supervisor for these peers. Interestingly, to a person, they wanted to continue with the lunch meetings. Today, those meetings provide me invaluable feedback, as we all seek to help our organization improve over time…
Over the years, I’ve learned that leadership is about both results and relationships. However, it’s difficult to accomplish results without the help of others. In fact, John Maxwell likes to point out that nothing of significance was ever accomplished by an individual acting alone. I’m now realizing that the higher you go in leadership, the more important relationships become…as they fuel your leadership results…
So, back to that HR Executive post. It went on to ask, “What would be some employer best practices for making time for break time?” The study authors responded…setting up a culture that encourages employees to take breaks would be at the top of the list…and an attitude that says, “It’s OK to recharge yourself.”
So, what are you doing to encourage that culture where you are? How are you spending your lunch time? Make a point to strategically use that time to build relationships…starting as soon as you can…
Only then will you be on your way to Out of This World Leadership, shooting for the stars!