Balance: Getting and Staying Centered

In this episode, I’m starting to focus on my “Four Leadership Principles”: Foundations, Relationships, Systems, and Balance. Today we focus on balance. Even though it’s the fourth principle, it’s the one that makes the others work. If we can’t manage our use of time, the musical version of this principle is “Value the Rests.” In music the rests have a distinctive purpose and are not just the absence of sound. They are punctuation. They are a regrouping of energy. They are times used to clarify and cleanse the auditory palate. 

Balance has several dimensions:

• Work/Life Balance 

• Balancing Multiple Tasks and Priorities 

• Balance of Self: Physical, Emotional, Spiritual, and Discernment 


You may be able to think of other ways balance is important to you and how to define that dimension.

There’s also the internal and external dimension to notice and regulate:

Internal

• Mental - Growing in knowledge and experience challenging our intellect 

• Emotional - Learning to separate feeling from thinking and being able to fully give and receive love 

• Physical- Staying healthy by managing diet, exercise, and the rhythm of life 


External

• Work- Setting boundaries so work doesn’t encroach on personal life while being effective in productive work 

• Family- Being differentiated so we remain ourselves and don’t get sucked into dramas while spending quaility time with family members 

• Recreation- Managing use of time by putting recreation and social time on our calendar  


 When planning for the enterprise you lead, be sure to plan for your life as well. Then integrate the two plans. Balance doesn’t mean that everything is equal. Balance means that we highlight what’s more important and place it in perspective with everything else. Many times we need to consider letting go of something in order or achieve what’s most important to us. 

Being centered in this sense is being grounded in solid principles. 

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