Being Your Best Self
The other night, I attended #DisruptHR Philadelphia. I loved every minute of it. The networking, the speakers, the free-flowing stream of f-bombs, it just flat-out rocked. One of the speakers, Vadim Liberman (@VadimsViews), spoke about authenticity and the need to help our people be not just their true selves, but their best selves. This ignited some inner dialogue about my role in HR.
I believe, as I always have, that HR should be a catalyst for team member growth and success. But HR needs a catalyst too. Let’s face it, we handle a lot every day. Managing benefits, administering policies and procedures, making sure everyone gets paid (correctly), coaching and developing our people, facilitating a healthy company culture, handling team member issues, all while keeping a smile on our faces.
With all this going on, who do we turn to for support? Who’s there to offer us guidance? Who is there to just listen after a crap-fest of a day? Sometimes, and I’m as guilty of this as anyone, we just tough it out and grind through from day to day. Because let’s face it, our job is to take care of others. But we’re not always the best at taking care of ourselves. In the long-run, we risk our own sanity for the well-being of our teams.
As I pondered this dilemma, I began thinking of some few things we can do to make sure when we look in the mirror, we see our best self staring back.
● Drink less coffee. I’m sure we’ve all been told this a time or two (hundred). Caffeine increases the chance of anxiety, agitation, nervousness, and even insomnia. Not to mention that gnarly withdrawal headache when you haven’t had your morning cup of joe.
● Get away from time to time. Take a vacation day, not to do projects around the house or take the kids to a doctor appointment. Sit and read a book, watch a good movie, take a walk around town. Reconnect with yourself.
● Develop a strong support system. You know the saying “shrinks need shrinks”? Well, the same rule applies to HR pros. We need a group of people that we trust and are comfortable around, that we can go to for support.
● Learn to say no. This one won’t happen overnight, it takes practice. Lots of it. Saying no doesn’t come naturally to us. When someone asks us to handle something, our default is usually “sure!”. Sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Don’t take on more than you can handle.
Bottom line, we need to take care of ourselves first, so that we can take better care of our teams. Let’s constantly strive to be the best (and healthiest) version of ourselves.
