It’s lonely at the top. No more so than if you are a CEO or an executive. In an illuminating article by CNN, experts went so far as to suggest that being a CEO should come with a health warning. In a separate survey of CEO’s health and wellness, it showed that of the CEOs surveyed, 58.97 percent were classified as being at high cardiac risk. And 35 percent of those surveyed had high blood pressure.
CEOs and executives surveyed were also found to lead a largely sedentary life. And 82 percent were classified as being overweight, while 69 percent fell into the category of being physically unfit.
According to San Diego-based executive coach, Wendy Hill, PhD, “Executives and leaders are often caught in a double bind. On one hand they want to slow down the intensity and time consumption of running the business. On the other hand, they don’t want to allow their absence to have a negative effect on the quality of business thus risking losing business.†What falls by the wayside when CEOs and executives are faced with this double bind? Often the cost is to one’s health and family.
What is to be done? Wendy Hill suggests coaching to brings balance to your personal and professional life. We don’t scoff when athletes aiming for the professional level hire coaches or trainers. There’s simply an aspect of personal prodding and evaluation that most of us are unable to give ourselves.
How does coaching enable a healthier life for the maxed-out CEO or executive? Here are three key ways worth pondering.
- Rebalance of priorities.
Self-care is not a concept taught in most business schools, yet it is a foundational element in maintaining a high-powered career. Without understanding how to care for all aspects of one’s well-being, life gets out of balance. What does that look like? Perhaps you are an executive trying to complete a project, and as a result you begin to shortchange your sleep. This might not seem like a big deal, and you may have done it in the past with what seemed like no ill side effects. But sleep deprivation eventually catches up to you. Your immune system takes a hit. You have a higher risk of heart disease or stroke. Your ability to think is also greatly impaired.
A coach can help you take a step back to see what could be delegated and what can wait, so that you can place the right importance on your sleep, diet, and exercise. Along with any other aspects of a healthy life that have been neglected in favor of work.
- Improvement of key relationships.
Your relationships at work or at home may not be suffering or in dire straits. But if you want to maximize your working relationships, an executive coach can help. Relationships that go awry are often a source of stress in the workplace. Executives, CEOs, and those in a supervisory capacity might not feel the ill effects of this type of stress. However, employees are very susceptible. Often, we are unaware of how our speech patterns or the way we say something comes across to others. To be the type of leader that uses clear communication and knows how to build good relationships, you often need an outside perspective. This concept applies whether you are learning to have better communication skills at work or at home.
The health-related upside to improving how you handle the relationships in your life? Harvard Health Publications states that people who have strong relationships have fewer health problems and live longer.
- Maximized efficiency.
There is only so much that can be done in a day. And for top-performing executives who want to lead a healthier life, sometimes it comes down to better time management skills. A coach can help to expose any areas that can stand to be streamlined and provide sound counsel on how to maximize your outcomes. Experienced coaches are often familiar with various systems that can be applied to your situation. These systems can work like a set of guidelines, helping you stay on track to reach your goals.
Finding an executive coach who can help you rebalance your life will be worth the search. But you first must believe that being healthier is a needed and necessary next step for you before anything will change. Once you understand the importance leading a healthy life plays in making the rest possible, you’ll be ready for the next steps.
Brought to you by our friends at wendyhill.com.
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