Operating at the right level is important for you as a leader, for your team, and for making sure your business performs at its best.
If you're not aware of what's going on in your head, it can mess with your ability to take charge of your role.
It's like you're stuck operating on a level that's too low, trying to juggle too much stuff at once.
And you know what happens then? You end up feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, and exhausted.
Too much overwhelm can impact your health, and it's a slippery slope because it starts to impact your ability to think straight.
You need to find ways to acknowledge what you're feeling, figure out how to handle your workload, and filter out all the information bombarding you, to keep your sanity intact.
Operating at this low level means you go into survival mode, scrambling to do anything to regain a sense of control. And that means probably doing even more work.
Especially if you're new to a leadership gig, you might feel like you need to micromanage everything and do it all yourself while your team catches up.
But here's the thing about leading at the right level: it's about doing the work that matches your pay grade and letting your team handle the work that matches theirs.
You're hitting the sweet spot when:
You know what your team is up to, but you're not sweating the small stuff
You're not trying to be a superhero doing everything solo
You're handing off tasks that don't fit your current role and focusing on what you're actually supposed to be doing
You're cutting back on meetings, especially ones where your team has got it covered
You're only doing final checks on papers or presentations
Your team is building solid relationships with relevant people across the organisation
And, maybe you're even finding some downtime during the day
When you level up like this, your team's productivity goes through the roof; they are more engaged and collaborating better.
You finally get some breathing room to tackle those big-picture projects you never had time for.
And you might even get to enjoy some more time outside of work to kick back and recharge.
When you're rocking it like this, people start noticing. Your career's on the up and up.
So, this leadership gig? It's all about learning new skills and being open to growth. Get ready to dive in!