Resilient leadership: Five simple questions which can be an eye-opener and a first step to a more balanced life at work

I have been working with leaders in challenging working environments since ýears supporting and consulting them fullfillig their role as leaders. What I realize and also what studies prove is an increased level of stress, e.g. in Germany 80% of all managers are stating that they are stressed and 61% are stating it has become worse over the last 3 years (TK-Studie 2016). Reasons for this are many: job insecurity, reduced empowerment and accountability, little recognition, increased time & performance pressure while resources are reduced, zero failure culture, overloaded schedules etc. All this is quite known and reality for many leaders. Nevertheless I'm stilll surprised that managers still do not pay much attention to prevent this or do something about it. There rather seems to be a culture of acceptance and ignorance as long as it doesn't lead to severe health problems. Not only that it has a negative impact on their own life, they ignore that it does impact the people around them, like colleagues, team members, family etc. In my experience companies usually spend more money on trainings and other standardized development initiatives like e.g. time management or communication trainings instead of supporting managers with their day-to day challenges considering their individual needs. Nevertheless there are companies where this has become more and more part of their training & development service portfolio. Let's hope that this continues and that also more companies realize that it doesn't only help to establish a more balanced and healthy company culture but also has an impact on their own value preposition when trying to attract new talent.

Those of you who are interested to understand their own attitude at work, ask yourself the following questions:

• What do you think about your work?
• What do you think your direct reports need from you?
• What can you do yourself to change it?
• What are the values which are important for you and are you able to live them ? What do you need instead?
• What else is important and what can you do to achieve it?

All the best!