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>> Probably the most irritating thing any human being can say to me is Tasha just relax.
The reason I find it profoundly irritating is that it's almost always true.
I am an obsessive type A workaholic.
And many leaders who are otherwise productive and likeable fall into the same trap.
The danger of being a type A leader is the inevitable burnout
that you will cause in your team.
You might say something to your team like, I know I'm sending you an e-mail at 10 p.m.,
but I don't expect you to respond.
That is a bunch of hogwash.
Your employees will always feel like they have to respond
because they're getting an e-mail from you.
So many leaders that say, I just thought of something on a Saturday afternoon,
fall into a trap where they create a completely untenable response culture.
In other words, your employees feel like they have to jump
as soon as they get an e-mail from you.
So let's talk about a couple of strategies that you can use to take your type A meter
and dial it down just a little bit.
If you or anyone you know thinks that you work too hard, here's the crazy thing.
It used to be worse.
During the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. and Britain, it was not uncommon for workers
to be expected to work 16 hour days, 6 days a week.
But that all changed in 1926 with Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company.
Henry Ford believed that employees who had 5 day work weeks,
8 hours a day, would not only be more happy and motivated, but they would be more effective.
Lo and behold, he ruffled feathers by implementing this.
And other companies, whether it was through pressure from their unions or desire
to be better, started to follow suit.
And by the 1950's, the 5 day work week was standard practice.
The sad part here is that we in 2013 have begun to erode -- over the many, many decades since --
all of the progress that Henry Ford created for us.
For most leaders it's a bragging contest.
I worked 60 hours last week.
I worked 70 hours last week.
And it's creating an untenable proposition for not just leaders, but their employees.
And here's the thing.
Breaks scientifically have been proven to make us brilliant.
In a study done by University of College London epidemiologists,
they looked at British civil service workers.
And how many hours they worked relative to their vocabulary and verbal reasoning skills.
What they found was pretty astonishing.
For people that worked more than 55 hours a week,
they showed poorer vocabulary, logic and verbal reasoning.
Let me put that in plain English.
Working more than 55 hours a week made them stupider.
So if you're a type A leader, let me give you three specific tools
to use to prevent burnout in your team.
And, therefore, increase both their happiness and their long-term productivity.
Number one, frequent and shorter vacations might actually be best
for our long-term health, well-being and productivity.
Interestingly enough, a recent poll by Harris found that only 14 percent
of Americans take one week a year off or more.
What that means is most people are taking a day here.
Two days here.
A long weekend.
And the research on this actually supports that.
Jessica de Bloom, who's a researcher in the Netherlands, found that on average,
if people take a couple of days of vacation.
It's enough to significantly decrease their burnout.
So what that means is, if you take two or three days, even one day at a time.
And you encourage your employees to do the same.
The benefits of that vacation will be similar to taking off for a full week.
Number two, make sure that for your employees and for you time off is time off.
Time and time again the research on this topic is clear.
If you are going to unplug, you actually have to unplug.
And ask your employees to do the same.
Let me give you an example.
On my honeymoon my husband was determined to get me off of my Blackberry.
So here's what he did.
He locked it in the hotel safe.
A couple times I was able to hack the code and break in.
But overall I was significantly more relaxed.
Now, the caveat to this is, if you have to check your e-mail or take one
or two calls during a vacation, the improvements to your well-being are still there.
They're not as significant, but they're still there.
So by all means, when your employees are taking time off, let it be time off.
Tell them to turn off their Blackberry.
Tell them to not take any phone calls.
And let them have the restoring powers of what a break can really do.
Number three, don't underestimate the importance of a power break.
Even in tedious tasks that you do for one hour or more at a time.
Taking 60 seconds away to stand up
and clear your head can be incredibly helpful in your productivity.
So if you ask your employees to slave away uninterrupted for 10 hours or more a day,
you can expect what you'll get from them.
Not very good quality work.
I had a boss once who used to set up a putt-putt golfing area outside of his office.
And he would encourage us to come over and play a couple of holes
to get a break from the work we were doing.
And it sounds crazy, but it always made us more productive.
So think about a way that you can help encourage your employees to take power breaks.
Because power breaks make us brilliant.
So if you're a type A leader and you want to get more out of your team, you'll pay attention
to these three tips to improve not just their well-being, but ultimately their productivity.
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