I have been serving in leadership roles my entire adult life. In the past five years I have written two books on leadership and published hundreds of articles on the topic as well. I have also been honored by invitations to speak on leadership to groups all across the country. Needless to say, great leadership is of great importance to me.
Inspirational leadership involves a lot of giving—giving of oneself. Great, inspirational leaders are continually giving; they are continually serving others, being responsive, meeting needs, and basically, practicing selflessness.
Just look at a few of the chapter headings in my book Be An Inspirational Leader:
- Be Approachable
- Be Responsive
- Be Flexible
- Build Connections
- Make investments
Those are just a handful of the things inspirational leaders “are supposed to do.” But the list goes on and on. Just thinking about it can be exhausting!
In hindsight, I’m not sure I spent enough time on this in my book, but I did tuck a little section into the chapter on being responsive titled “Maintain Your Energy.” The main premise in this section is that “in order to consistently and readily respond to others, inspirational leaders must be sure to maintain their own energy and passion.”
How do they do that? By being a little “selfish.”
What I mean is, in order to serve others well, leaders must first care for themselves well. For some leaders, that might mean “selfishly” shutting off their phone after dinner each night and not checking work email and texts until morning. For others, they may “selfishly” avoid arriving at work early in order to get in a morning workout. And others may “selfishly” schedule in quarterly weekend getaways with their spouse instead of putting in extra hours on the latest work project.
Whatever your own self-care routine may be, chances are your little bit of “selfishness” is actually helping you be more selfless in the long run! My friend and colleague Phil Newbold, retired CEO of Beacon Health, put it this way:
“One should never feel guilty about taking time for their own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. Be an example to those you serve.”
So I officially give you permission: Be a little selfish!
