Two habits of successful leaders

These two habits are continuously present in senior level business leaders that I would consider to be "5 Star Candidates."

Habit #1

Leaders take their vacation.

Sometimes U.S. companies will criticize Canadian executives for their perceived "excessive vacation allowances" or for taking all of their allocated vacation. It is almost as though they believe that it is a sign of weakness or that it is a lack of commitment to the business or organization.

There is almost a notion that the business could always perform better and that passion and commitment are only expressed when one remains "in the chair" as much as possible.

This is nonsense.

Not only is vacation essential for stepping back from the work routine, but it will allow an individual to return to work with fresh eyes, renewed energy and new perspectives. It is also vital to maintaining balance in one's life.

Too many people are concerned about leaving on a vacation just to come back to a hornets nest of issues. The threat of that hornets' nest often creates anxiety which further kills any motivation to book a vacation.   Fight through this anxiety.

There is also a common link between people who are confident in their abilities and people who take their vacation and a link between people who feel overwhelmed and who do not take their vacation.

Take the vacation. You will thank yourself and your family will also thank you.

It is sad when I hear from executives that their greatest regret was not being around their kids enough while they were growing up.

Don't hurt yourself on two accounts.

Habit , #2

Leaders stay physically active.

Make sure that you are getting 1 hour of exercise a day.

People that reserve an hour a day for physical activity continue to reap the benefits. I will not touch on all the obvious benefits of staying in shape like feeling better about one's self or likely living longer or creating balance in one's life,

but I will leave you with this, people who are physically active tend to get more done in their day, they tend to sleep less and they tend to have more energy.

Farewell,

Mike