By David Malherbe – Published in Drakenstein Gazette – Friday 11 April 2014
“It is lonely at the top” is a proverb that is often associated with leading an organisation and therefore it is important that business owners look after themselves. John Maxwell in his book Leadership Gold says that it is always most difficult to lead yourself.
If you do not have direction in your own life, i.e. knowing where you are heading with your life and your business, how can you lead those who work for you? To those that work for such, this is hard to bear. They never know what to expect next.
So, how do you manage or lead yourself? To be a good business leader, you need to be informed and wise about many aspects of life and business. Steven Covey in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People refers to this as sharpening the saw. You need to stay sharp and informed to be able to handle the pressures of the modern day economy and business world.
According to Covey a business leader needs to attend to all aspects of his / her personal well-being, i.e. physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
The physical dimension refers to caring effectively for you physical body – eating the right kinds of foods, getting sufficient rest and relaxation and exercising on a regular basis.
Regarding the mental dimension many people believe that once they’ve finished school, they don’t need to study anymore. Instead of doing some serious reading and exploring some new subjects, they’d rather spend their time watching TV. You need to think hard to rise; to make a success of your business.
Our emotional well-being is often closely related to our relationships and social interaction with other people. For our lives to be more meaningful and significant, serving and helping others will benefit ourselves most.
The spiritual dimension is your core, your centre, your commitment to your value system. Daily prayerful meditation on Scripture will renew your inner self. Prov 4:23 says “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” This is very important because a well-balanced business leader lives from the inside outwards.
David Malherbe and Dewald Scholtz will discuss this topic in more detail Monday evening from 19:00 till 20:00 on Radio KC 107.7FM in the program “You the Entrepreneur”
(David Malherbe is a business- and career consultant and lives in Wellington. He can be contacted via his web page www.jedidiah.org.za or T/F 021-873 0262 or on Facebook at “Jy die Entrepreneur.”)
