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The Connection Between Sleep and Leadership: It’s Time to Take a Snooze

February 4, 2022 By Sherry Dutra Leave a Comment

Calling all leaders!

How did you sleep last night?
What amount of sleep did you get?
How refreshed did you feel when you woke up?

How Does Sleep Play Out in Your Life?

Personally, sleep has always been something that I’ve, mostly, prioritized. Of course, there have been times when certain projects have led me to work late into the evening. So, at times, sleep has gone on the back burner. No matter how old I was at the time, I always felt the ramifications of skimping on sleep. Lack of concentration, lower energy levels, and less ability to focus are a few of the symptoms I’ve experienced. What about you?

For most of my adult life, though, I have done my best to get at least 7 ½ hours of sleep each night. Honestly, I haven’t shared that with many people before. In a society that seems to thrive on 24/7 availability and activity, it might seem weak or unproductive to not work all hours of the day and night. Yet, it’s time to stand up for the importance of getting a solid night’s sleep. The evidence is in from numerous scientific sources that sleep is critical to our health and our ability to function. Without enough of it, we open ourselves up to an array of potential health risks and we diminish our brain’s ability to function properly. And, if our brains aren’t functioning properly, how does that impact our ability to lead?

What the Research Has to Say

In the book, Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker, PhD, shares research that shows how the pre-frontal cortex is adversely impacted by lack of sleep – anything less than 7 hours per night. What’s so important about the pre-frontal cortex? It is the area of the brain where executive functioning takes place. This includes an array of activities such as, decision-making, coordinating and adjusting complex behavior, ability to control emotional reactions, focusing attention, and predicting the consequences of actions. Needless to say, all of these activities play a role in leadership effectiveness.

Over the years, many of my clients in leadership roles have shared how little sleep they often get. They struggle with an expectation that they must immediately respond to emails and texts that come at all hours of the day and night. They have an enormous number of projects on their plates and have difficulty slowing down their active minds when they try to sleep. Stress, anxiety, and worry can make for a restless night’s sleep as well.

In Walker’s book he shares that during sleep, our brains go through an amazing process of washing out harmful proteins through the glymphatic system and glial cells. In this way, our brain heals during a restful and complete night’s sleep. This nightly cleanse has a profound impact on our overall health and our capacity to function effectively as leaders.

Some of you might be thinking, “that doesn’t apply to me. I can get by fine on 5 or 6 hours a night.” The research would beg to differ. In one study, conducted by David Dinges at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the groups studied obtained 6 hours of sleep per night – the amount that many of the people I’ve worked with tend to get. At the 10-day mark, they were as “impaired in performance as going without sleep for twenty-four hours straight” – that is, a 400 percent increase in microsleep, the inability to pay attention, where your brain loses its ability to perceive the outside world for a brief moment.

Call to Action

So, if you want to improve your health and set the stage to be the best leader you can be, target 7 – 9 hours of sleep per night. It’s not a nice to have but a MUST have. Productivity never comes from non-stop activity. Sufficient rest is key, for yourself, and for those on your team.

What can you do to help achieve that goal? Here are a few tips:

Shut down all devices at least one hour before you go to bed.
Set limits on how many hours you expect others (and yourself) to work each day.
Only send emails and texts during normal working hours.
When you and those on your team take vacations, commit to making them work-free.
Meditate before going to sleep to relax your body and calm your mind.
Exercise regularly, but not within 3 hours of going to sleep.
Minimize caffeine consumption later in the day, as it can stay in your system for up to 6 hours.
Spend a few minutes at the end of the workday, preparing for the next day’s top priorities. This helps to free up your mind and promotes relaxation.

What strategies have worked for you?

About the Author: Sherry Dutra is a Talent Development, Career and Retirement Coach and Facilitator who works with corporate leaders in small to mid-size businesses, across the span of their careers. She helps them to accelerate business outcomes and team performance, navigate their own career path, and transition to retirement with ease using proven methodologies and strategies that get results. If you would like to uncover and address hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success, leverage your strengths, and accelerate your progress toward the results you desire, contact Sherry for a complimentary consultation.

Building Workforce Resilience

November 30, 2021 By Sherry Dutra Leave a Comment

While people may love the work they do, many people today are suffering as they don’t know how to deal with the associated stress of a demanding job and environment. Add to that the personal and professional ramifications of a world-wide pandemic and the levels of stress and anxiety have only escalated over the past 20 months.

Never before has it been more important to focus on building the resilience of our workforce at every level. Resilience is defined as an individual’s ability to adapt to stress and adversity. Your level of resilience is defined as your capacity to bounce back from a negative experience to your normal state of functioning. Resilience is not an ability or trait you either have or don’t have, everyone is resilient and can improve their level of resilience. It is typically enhanced by engaging in activities or techniques that help facilitate good physical and mental health. Highly resilient people are able to effectively balance unpleasant and pleasant emotions and make effective responses to them.

Traditionally, organizations have placed more emphasis on physical health versus mental health or well-being in the workplace. As our work environments transform, employees and leaders now face the most demanding environments and roles, which is resulting in a significant increase in anxiety and work-related stress issues.

According to a pre-pandemic article in Harvard Business Review, burnout “costs the U.S. more than $300 billion a year in absenteeism, turnover, diminished productivity, and medical, legal and insurance costs.”¹ Those numbers are trending upward amidst the upheaval that COVID has introduced to our lives.

The studies have shown that no matter the type or level of job, anxiety and stress touches all industries and roles, every socioeconomic status, as well as every race and ethnicity.

Genos International, a leading provider of emotional intelligence assessments reacted to this by creating The Science of Well-Being Program. This program equips employees with the tools and techniques to help them build higher levels of resilience and well-being in the workplace.

The powerful 4 session virtual program (90 min – 2 hours each session) is designed to help employees at all levels improve their mental, physical, social and environmental well-being. The Science of Well-Being is built on the science of behavior change and healthy habit formation. Rolled out across your workforce, this program will result in lower levels of stress and stress-related leave claims, lower levels of absenteeism and higher levels of productivity and employee engagement.

Steps to becoming more resilient:

Look at ‘how you are seen to show up at work’ – a review of your emotional intelligence behaviors.

Every attendee completes a Genos Leadership Assessment. They complete a self-assessment of their EI behaviors, then they select individuals they’d like to receive feedback from. Instead of receiving a numerical or unactionable response like “You’re EI/EQ level is 52,” the Genos assessment is unique in that it measures how you are seen to show up at work and how important your raters deem these particular behaviors to be for your position. They gather input on six emotionally intelligent behaviors:

Self-Awareness
Awareness of Others
Authenticity
Emotional Reasoning
Self-Management
Positive Influence (non-leadership roles) or Inspiring Performance (leadership roles)

Each attendee receives a customized workbook for the program that includes their assessment results, along with a development tips workbook to help them develop key EI behaviors.

Take part in The Science of Well-Being Program facilitated by, Sherry Dutra, a Genos Certified Practitioner.

The course dives into the neuroscience of emotions along with the effects of pleasant and unpleasant emotions on us. Studying emotional intelligence helps participants understand and interpret their own EI Assessment results and how to hone in to key areas for development. The program then goes through techniques and strategies to develop higher levels of personal resilience.

Develop an action plan to boost resilience in multiple areas of your life

Attendees work through strategies for this in four areas: mental, physical, social, and environmental. Then they dive into powerful models for developing resilience in each of these areas.

Developing the levels of resilience for your workforce can be truly life changing for themselves and everyone around them. With the Genos facilitator, each person documents insights and builds an action plan to take back to their lives and workplace so they can start having a more positive impact immediately. It’s a comprehensive and enjoyable program to experience. Let me know if you’d like to learn more.

If you’re interested in hosting The Science of Well-Being Program in your organization, please contact Sherry@DutraAssociates.com.

Article in collaboration with Genos International Europe.

¹Peart, Natalia. “Making Work Less Stressful and More Engaging for Your Employees.” hbr.org, 5 Nov. 2019, hbr.org/2019/11/making-work-less-stressful-and-more-engaging-for-your-employees.com. Accessed 30 Nov. 2021.

Shifting Your Relationship with Stress

October 11, 2021 By Sherry Dutra Leave a Comment

Change is inevitable – after all, nothing really stays the same. But in today’s challenging times, it seems like we’re on “uncertainty” overload, never knowing what will happen from one moment to the next.

With uncertainty comes stress and confusion, and while most of us would be quick to say that we want less stress and more certainty in our lives, what we really want is less of a stress reaction to what life throws our way.

We can’t choose what happens to us – but we can choose our responses to the situations we encounter. Let’s take a look at five different responses that people have to stressful situations. As you read, you may want to think of a recent stressful event or news that you may have received, and see what your reaction to that event can teach you about how you habitually respond. You may have one type of response at work, and another at home, or you may react differently depending on who else is involved.

The first and all too common response to stressful events is to suffer and be a victim to it. People who respond this way don’t take action. Things happen TO them – and though they may complain and be generally miserable about it, they don’t take any steps to do anything. They allow life to control them, instead of the other way around. This way of responding is certainly not recommended, and eventually, it will take its toll on one’s physical and mental health.

The second type of response is to accept the situation. Someone with this response may say “so what,” or perhaps get some perspective on the situation by asking if it will matter in a year – or a week – or even in a day.

The third way to respond is to actually take steps to change the situation – taking action to bring it to resolution (or at least move toward resolution). This is a very powerful response, and one that many effective leaders employ.

The fourth way to respond is to avoid the situation. People responding this way make a decision not to get involved in a situation that they don’t see as concerning them, or upon which they can’t make an impact.

The fifth and final way that people generally respond to stress is to alter the experience of the situation. When we look at a situation differently, the experience itself changes. Changing perceptions is probably the most challenging of the responses, because we tend to be stuck in our own interpretations and assumptions about what’s happening, but it is also perhaps the most powerful of all.

It’s your world, and you can create it as you wish. Remember, what one person sees as stressful, another person barely notices, or sees as exciting and full of opportunity. How are you going to choose today?

Why the Best Leaders Develop Mindfulness

June 29, 2021 By Sherry Dutra Leave a Comment

What have Google, Samsung, Aetna, SAP, and P&G all got in common? All of these world-class organizations recognize that one of the fastest growing segments of our working population is burnt out leaders. They responded to this by implementing mindfulness leadership programs to help their leaders not only excel in work, but in their personal lives as well.

Decades of solid research show a direct connection between mindfulness and emotional intelligence in leaders and the bottom-line results they achieve. Being good at ‘what you do’ is no longer enough…you must also be resilient enough to effectively manage your emotions, reactions, and decisions in challenging business situations – and to help the people you manage, or work with, to do the same.

Great leaders are always searching for ways to take their leadership practices to the next level. Mindfulness has been the source of much focus over the last number of years and organizations worldwide are now realizing that sometimes there is more to a successful leader than meets the eye.

Developing emotional intelligence and mindfulness can truly transform the impact and ability of a leader. Following the Genos Leadership Model:

When you develop self-awareness, you become an Aware Leader. Aware leaders understand the impact that their behaviors have on others. They are consistent in what they say and do, and they demonstrate awareness of their mood and emotions.
Developing awareness of others allows you to become a more Empathetic Leader. Empathetic leaders make team members feel appreciated and adjust their style so that it fits well with others. They acknowledge the views of others and balance achieving results with others’ needs.
Working on authenticity creates more Genuine Leaders. Genuine leaders honor commitments and promises, they are open and honest about mistakes, and they facilitate robust and open debate.
Leaders high in emotional reasoning make Expansive decisions as a leader. Expansive leaders consult others in decision making, they make ethical decisions taking the bigger picture into account.
Leaders that work to develop self-management are Resilient Leaders. Resilient Leaders manage their emotions well in difficult situations. They strive to improve their own performance, and they learn from their mistakes.
Effective leaders that inspire performance become Empowering Leaders. Empowering leaders provide constructive feedback, maintain a positive work environment, and facilitate team member development and career advancement.

Do you or the leaders in your organization need to develop the above behaviors? They can do so by participating in the Genos Mindful Leader Program facilitated
by Dutra Associates, LLC, a Genos Certified Practitioner.

If you’re interested in hosting a Mindful Leader Program in your organization, please contact Sherry Dutra at Sherry@DutraAssociates.com or call 603.595.1588.

Article in collaboration with Genos International Europe.

Navigating the Emotional Roller Coaster of Change Transitions

April 16, 2020 By Sherry Dutra Leave a Comment

“Who are you?” said the Caterpillar…
“I – I hardly know, Sir, just at present,” Alice replied rather shyly, “at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have changed several times since then.”

Lewis Carroll
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland¹

What have you felt since COVID-19 impacted nearly every corner of our world and every aspect of our lives? Have there been days when you’ve felt a bit like Alice – changing multiple times throughout the day? I know I have.

Over the last couple of months, we have experienced change unlike any other we’ve been exposed to in our lifetime. To successfully navigate through this time as a leader, you must take a step back to recognize and acknowledge the full impact of the changes raining down upon us. Then, choose how you wish to respond and manage the impact on you as well as on your team. In other words, logic and action alone aren’t enough to save the day. We must pay attention to the emotional roller coaster that accompanies all change, particularly the drastic changes we are currently facing.

Bridges’ Transition Model

Many researchers have explored and written about change and its’ effect on people. What they have all discovered are patterns in how we react and respond to change that are quite consistent across the human experience. The model that I have used most extensively with leaders is William Bridges’ 3 Stage Transition Model consisting of Endings – Neutral Zone – New Beginnings.

Change vs Transition

Before we look at each of the stages, let’s make a distinction between change and transition. What tends to create the challenge for us isn’t the change itself but the process of adjusting to it and moving from the old reality to the new. You see, change is external, situational, and often out of our control. In this case, the COVID-19 pandemic is the external change. The internal emotional and psychological process we go through to come to terms with the change is the transition. Consequently, we must turn our attention to the transition process. It is within this process that we will find what we can control – our response.

Endings

In Bridge’s model the first phase is Endings. This phase begins with the external event and our realization that the change is really happening. So, think back to when you first learned about COVID-19. Then, consider what occurred when it first hit your country. Then, your local area. Then, perhaps you or someone you know. At what point did you realize that we truly had a pandemic on our hands? When did you find yourself moving from the known to the unknown? This is when your Endings phase began. You likely experienced any number of emotions including denial, anger, fear, anxiety, grief, frustration or depression. Cycling between these emotions is common as well (e.g. anger one moment, fear the next). You may still be experiencing them.

Keep in mind that your colleagues and team members were and are experiencing their own emotions. What can you do to support those around you during this stage and help them to let go of the way things were?

Acknowledge and validate the emotions that others are experiencing
Articulate what is actually coming to an end. Determine what might be lost as a result of the change and what might stay the same
Communicate, communicate, communicate

Neutral Zone

The Neutral Zone represents the phase of transition where we have started to let go of the old way of being but haven’t yet found our footing in a new reality. Typical emotions that arise during this phase include uncertainty, confusion, overwhelm or frustration. While there is a lack of a solid foundation in this phase, we do begin to experiment with new possibilities. Using our COVID-19 example again, you might find yourself feeling a bit numb, overtired, struggling to get used to working from home, or overwhelmed by suddenly becoming your children’s teacher. Yet, you’re also beginning to realize that what you are feeling is natural – that you are not alone. As you move through this phase, you gain perspective and more effectively cope with uncertainty which allows you to begin to see possibilities for taking positive action.

Everyone moves through this phase at a different pace. Don’t try to rush it. As a leader, you can support others by:

Continuing to listen and communicate
Trying new things
Encouraging the progress that people are making
Giving yourself and others time to process

Beginnings

The final stage of the model is New Beginnings. This phase is marked by acceptance of the change and a renewed sense of energy that propels action. When we have successfully moved into the New Beginning, we have embraced the new reality and started to experience solid ground again. In our example, our teams will have adjusted to a new way of working, established a new structure to their day, and found a new rhythm. Creative ways of contributing to the team begin to emerge along with new ways of doing business. During this phase, emotions shift in a more positive direction. You might be feeling excitement, optimism, and a greater sense of motivation.

What can you do to support people in this stage?

Set an intention for how you choose to move forward
Encourage others to continue taking small steps each day
Stay focused on solutions versus problems
Proactively offer and ask for support from others

Conclusion

Viewing transition in terms of William Bridges’ three stages helps you understand that the needs, challenges and opportunities presented by change can be managed as a progression of responses. Your ability to understand this and apply it to yourself as well as to help your team transition during change will go a long way to making any type of change you deal with less daunting.

Where are you in the process of change? Where is your team? What might you do today to accept where you and others are in the process and to navigate your way successfully through the massive change we are experiencing?

Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. New York: Signet Books, 1960, 47.

Reference:
Bridges, William. Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes, 2^nd Edition. Boston, MA: Da Capo Press, 2004.

When Was the Last Time You Took a Break?

November 4, 2019 By Sherry Dutra Leave a Comment

Are you experiencing overwhelm, stress, even burnout in your professional or executive role? These are all the frequent unfortunate side effects of a world that seemingly can never be turned off along with a persistent drive for greater productivity. Harvard researcher and psychologist, Shelley Carson stated, “If you are stuck on a problem…a distraction may provide the break you need to disengage from a fixation on the ineffective solution.” We’ve all heard that sometimes people find that they get their best ideas in the shower. Since we don’t have to give too much thought to how we go about our daily shower, it frees the mind up to work on other things. So, taking a break can actually improve your productivity. And, sometimes, we need more than just a 10-minute break when we’ve let the drive to get things done go on for too long.

As a case in point, I recently found myself feeling fatigued, foggy and a bit stressed after a non-stop month. How in the world did this happen? I’m usually so conscious of giving myself a break. Yet, due to two weekend commitments to teach, a weekend with an out-of-town family event, along with working normal work weeks, nearly a month went by without a day off. No wonder that my energy level had plummeted and I couldn’t think straight!

Slipping away from our practices to give ourselves time off during hectic times can happen to all of us. Sometimes, it may be necessary to take a few days away to rest and recharge when we let ourselves get beyond a certain point. Recognizing that I’d passed that point, I took a Friday afternoon off, spent the weekend enjoying time with my significant other, and put my feet up and watched a movie. The focus of attention was on completely non-work-related things. By the end of the weekend, I felt like myself again – rested, focused and ready to be fully engaged. What I noticed the following week was a higher level of productivity, by far, than in previous weeks. Does this scenario sound familiar to you?

So, what to do? Ideally, we stay consistent with taking time off each week and doing those activities that replenish our energy, whatever they may be. Additionally, we look for those moments within each day to insert a brief break. Doing so also contributes to our productivity and creativity. Rachael O’Meara, the author of “Pause: Harnessing the Life-Changing Power of Giving Yourself a Break” suggests 4 practices to consider. They include 1) standing and taking 10 deep breaths 2) taking a digital break – no devices for a set period of time each day 3) taking a walk to change your environment, and 4) creating one-minute of mindfulness while eating or brushing your teeth. These are very simple strategies that, practiced daily, will support our ability to keep our energy up, and allow us to accomplish far more than if we keep trying to power through what’s on our plate.

If you recognize that you’re not feeling rested and renewed, please join me in recommitting to incorporating breaks into each day and week. Doing so will positively affect every aspect of your life.

About the Author: Sherry Dutra is a Talent Development, Career and Retirement Coach and Facilitator who works with corporate leaders in small to mid-size businesses, across the span of their careers. She helps them to accelerate business growth and team performance, navigate their own career path, and transition to retirement with ease using proven methodologies and strategies that get results. If you would like to uncover and address hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success, leverage your strengths, and accelerate your progress toward the results you desire, contact Sherry for a complimentary consultation.

Safeguarding Your Most Important Resource as a Leader

June 10, 2019 By Sherry Dutra Leave a Comment

So, what is your most important resource as a leader?

One of the first things that might come to mind is the amount of available cash and the state of the investment portfolio of the business. While these are certainly important, would you agree that you can always earn more money, find better investments, and eventually find your way back from a financial loss?

Another resource that might come to mind is your network of relationships. The connections you have nurtured in your professional life are important resources in your success. Yet, even if there has been a significant hiccup in a relationship, you can choose to mend it while continuing to meet other professionals and adding to your network.

Your health is another resource that hits high on the most important list. Many times, there is a tendency to not do as much as we might to protect that resource. However, in most cases, we have the control to make adjustments to our daily habits that will positively impact our health. And, when we have a healthier lifestyle, it positively impacts the energy we bring to our work.

So, if your most important resource as a leader isn’t money, relationships or health, then what is it? What these three have in common is that, for the most part, they can all be revived or renewed. There is one resource, though, that cannot be revived or renewed.

That resource is time. With each moment that goes by, that’s it. You’ll never see that moment again.

This is not new news. Yet, even though you know this, how often do you take actions that aren’t in alignment with this knowledge? How much time do you spend in meetings that you don’t need to attend (or that even need to be held at all)? How much time do you spend on doing things that don’t contribute to your business’ top priorities? Where are there opportunities to delegate something that doesn’t require you to do it?

Failure to see time as your most important resource, often results in stress and overwhelm. We become scattered and lose our discipline. When we’re in this state, we also negatively impact those other resources. High stress levels wear away at our health. It may make us impatient and short with others which may damage our relationships. Our thought process becomes clouded and our decision-making may be impacted which can lead to financial missteps.

Time, then, is our most important resource. So, safeguard that resource. Pay attention to how you use it. Where are your opportunities to use it more strategically? Put new habits and disciplines in place that allow you to set and maintain boundaries and act in alignment with your new choices.

Remember, time is the one resource we cannot get back.

Adapted with permission by Center for Executive Coaching.