Getting to Clarity: Creating MORE Success With Less Sacrifice

Achieving Success Without Sacrificing Well-Being

Broadcast on:: 20 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: other

Ever wondered why you feel drained even when you're successful at work? Join me, Debbie Peterson, on the Getting to Clarity podcast as we tackle the critical distinction between your work and your inherent worth. Drawing from my own journey, we’ll explore how tying self-worth to productivity can be a slippery slope leading to burnout and stress. Discover how embracing your unique leadership style, prioritizing long-term impact, and leveraging emotional intelligence can revolutionize your approach to leadership.

In this episode, "You Are More Than Your Work," I'll share personal anecdotes and practical strategies to help you shift from task-focused leadership to recognizing your intrinsic value. We’ll challenge the outdated notion that effective leaders must do everything themselves, and instead, highlight the power of delegation and team empowerment. Whether you’re a new leader or an aspiring one, let's embark on this journey together to achieve greater clarity and success without sacrificing your well-being.

All right. Welcome back. I am W. Peterson of Getting to Clarity. And this is another episode of the Getting to Clarity podcast. I am so glad that you are here today because you need to hear this topic. And today we're talking about you are valuable beyond what it is that you achieve in your work or as a leader. So let's do a reality check. And I want to ask how many of you feel like your value as a leader is tied to how much you get done. I know that I've been there and I imagine some of you have been there as well. It is so easy to fall into that trap. I mean, as a new leader, new into leadership aspiring to leadership, trying to get ahead in your career, you're hustling. You know, you are trying to make things happen. You've got to do lists a mile long. But what happens when things don't go as planned when you're not hitting your goals fast enough when you're not getting as far as you think you should when you should. That's when that little voice creeps in and starts asking, am I good enough? Can I do this? Well, today we're going to kick that little voice to the curb. And we're going to start with your value is not tied to your output. You have so much more value than that. You are valuable. So stay tuned. Welcome to the Getting to Clarity podcast. The place where busy leaders discover how to create more success in their leadership journey with less sacrifice in their life. Here's your host, Debbie Peterson of Getting to Clarity. All right, let's dive in. I want to give you some strategies. So work versus worth and kind of breaking this down. So first things first, let's talk about the difference between your work and your worth. Your work, that's all the stuff that you do. It's the tasks. It's the projects. It's the deadlines. It's the meetings. But your worth, that's the value you bring just by being you. As soon as you walk in the door before you do anything, it is your value as a person. It is your ability to lead in your own way. It is your unique perspective and what it is that you bring to the table. It is your way of inspiring caring for and uplifting others. And here's the thing. As new leaders, we often get stuck in the thinking that our value comes from what we achieve, the stuff that we do, what it is that we accomplish. But oh, that is not the whole story. I remember when I first stepped into a leadership role, I was trying to do everything. I was trying to be everything to everyone. And I kept thinking, if I just work harder, if I just take on more, if I just keep saying yes, then I'm going to prove that I belong here. But actually, I was trying to prove this to myself. Well, that mindset just got me stressed out, burned out, medicated faster than I would like to admit. I was so busy doing things that I completely missed the bigger picture. I was making my leadership role all about me, and not about my team. And leadership isn't about doing all the things. It's about empowering your team. It is about empowering them to grow. It is about thinking strategically. And then once that finally landed, then everything changed. Everything shifted. So here's why separating work and worth matters and that you need to do this. Because as new leaders, if you're constantly equating your worth with your work, you're going to make decisions on short term wins. You're going to say yes to every task, just like I did. You're going to avoid delegating, thinking that you need to do it all yourself. And you're going to end up feeling completely overwhelmed. And some of you may already be there. This sounds familiar. So trust me, because I've been there as well. But when you focus on the bigger picture, building your team's strengths, guiding with intelligence, especially emotional intelligence, that is when the magic gets to happen, building relationships. It was about strategy and including the team in the strategy, making strategic moves. And at first, I was kind of like, okay, I get this, but shouldn't we be a little more focused on results? Because that's kind of how I was wired. But watching them and what they were able to accomplish, how they built our team, how they developed trust with the team members showed me that leadership really is about a longer term impact and that really made an impression on me. And that it wasn't just about the quick short term wins. So what I witnessed was someone who was willing to invest in people, not just projects. So I want you to close your eyes and think about a leader that you respected and admired as maybe a specific person. And what was it about them that garnered those feelings? Guaranteed, it was more than just getting results. Now, who needs to hear this? If you're a new manager, or if you're an aspiring leader, or you're just stepping into your first leadership role, congratulations. But this message is especially for you because when you're fresh in a leadership position, it is so easy to feel like you need to prove yourself by staying busy, by taking on more. But let me tell you that your value as a leader isn't about how much you can do. It's about the way you lead. It's about how you show up as you with your unique strengths that you bring to the table and only you can bring to the table and how you take this and you show up for your team. That is what it's about. Now, I want to get into a concept around delegation. Delegation is one of those things that I really got to chuckle because it trips us up. You know, we think that only we can do it and it's faster if we do it. But I know that this is what you're feeling, but I want you to just reconsider the whole, I need to do it myself because it'll be faster. Delegation isn't about offloading tasks. Delegation is really about trusting your team, about trusting them to step up, helping them to grow and succeed on their own. The real value in your leadership is empowering others to thrive and delegation is part of that. It is a career development leadership development tool. So how do you start seeing your true worth? That this is something that perhaps self-esteem is an issue or you don't have as much confidence as you want. How do you start seeing this in yourself? Well, the shift is in the mindset and I've got three simple steps that you can take right now. So step number one, I want you to think and actually write down, yes, actually write this down, a list of your inherent strengths. Make beyond your job description, what is it that you bring to the table? What makes you valuable? What do you good at? What is effortless for you? As a person and as a leader, it doesn't matter, write it all down. Maybe it's your ability to stay calm in a crisis or maybe it's the way you connect with people and are naturally empathetic. These are the qualities that make you a leader. It's not the number of emails that you send. Do you see where I'm going with this? Step number two, delegate something. I challenge you to do this. Just pick one thing on your to-do list that you can delegate to someone else and trust me, this isn't about lightning the load. It's about showing that you trust your team to take ownership. That is leadership in action. And then step number three, have a conversation with a mentor. I hope you have one. Talk to someone who has been where you are. Someone who can remind you that your value isn't tied to your output. They will help you see the bigger picture and focus more on leading instead of just doing. So here's my challenge. In the next 48 hours, I want you to take a step back and look at the real impact that you are making as a leader. I want you to write down five things that you contribute that have absolutely nothing to do with your tasks or your output. Maybe it's the way that you inspire people or how you bring a fresh way of thinking. Maybe you just this once stop defining your value by what you do and instead start seeing the value in who you are because I believe in you. So thanks for hanging out with me today and remember your worth as a leader goes way beyond your work. So here is wishing you the clarity that you deserve to make the impact in your leadership that you desire. I'm Debbie Peterson. Be good to yourself. And bye bye for now. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Getting to Clarity podcast with Debbie Peterson. If you enjoyed this show, please rate and recommend it on iTunes or wherever you enjoy your podcast. To learn more about how you can bring Debbie and her transformational clarity leadership strategies to your organization, visit debby-peterson-speaks.com. [Music]