Leaders: How are You Taking Care of Yourself?

Key Takeaways:

• leaders must treat self-care not as a “nice-to-have” but as mission-critical—prioritizing personal well-being enables clarity, presence, and sustained impact.

• Setting clear boundaries around time, energy, and availability—like scheduled breaks and offline work hours—recharges resilience and models healthy behavior for teams.

• Embrace holistic self-care: combine physical activity, adequate rest, balanced nutrition, and mindful practices like meditation or journaling to sustain both mental and emotional strength.

• Take regular pauses for reflection—daily or weekly—to review your emotional state, celebrate small wins, and recalibrate priorities so you don’t drift into burnout.

• Seek connection and support—whether through mentorship, peer groups, coaching supervision, or therapy—to deepen self-awareness and avoid isolation at the top.

You know you should take care of yourself, but you don’t. But you should! Here’s the catch, when you don’t take care of yourself you’re less able to care for others. It seems nonsensical, but it’s true. Also, how can others learn to care for themselves if you don’t let them practice? Do it! Take care of yourself – starting now! – InPower Editors

By: Mary Schaefer

How taking care of yourself impacts your effectiveness and theirs.

“My wish is that one day we all embrace the belief that there is an inestimable power and potential in human beings treating each other humanly.” – Click To Tweet

Human beings, being human.  At work.

For me, what’s missing at work is being human, which means acknowledging human needs, such as the need to contribute, to be appreciated, to make a difference, and to belong.  You could say these comprise a big part of what makes us human.

I have talked about this from the perspective of how leaders must adapt to ensure they create an environment that allows organization members to get these needs met.  And yet lately I’m feeling like it is even more important that leaders focus on ensuring these needs are met in themselves, first.

You can’t take care of them until you take care of yourself first.

It’s like the analogy about putting on your own oxygen mask before putting one on your child in an airplane.  Really, how can we possibly really lead others, set a good example, inspire and create an environment where human needs are supported and facilitated, until we’ve addressed these needs for ourselves first?

Stop digging yourself a hole because you’ve lost touch with how your own choices impact your productivity and well-being, for that matter.  What about your need to contribute, to be appreciated, to make a difference, and to belong (among others)?  Take a look at what you actually need and give yourself permission to get it.  This is a starting point for empowerment.

It only makes sense that you have to know what it feels like first, to get your needs met, in order to facilitate and support your employees’ human needs.  This is important because (I’ll let you in on a little secret)  your employees are only as effective and empowered as you allow yourself to be.

So, today, what are you going to do to support your needs, as a leader and a human being?

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