10 Routines Leaders Need for Thick Skin

Someone asked me, “How can you develop a thick-skin at work?” My initial response, “Develop a strong heart.”

Growing up, I was often teased because of my over-bite. Called many names at school, I came home frequently collapsing into a pile of tears. My mother would tell me to ignore the bully’s hurtful comments and eventually they would stop. I did experience some truth in this, but what was even more impactful, were her words, “Maria, you are beautiful, they just don’t see it.” Of course, she was referring to my inner beauty. I knew my outer beauty would catch up once I got braces!

Why is it that as adults we still feel the need to toughen up and not let other people’s words hurt us? Could it be that we forgot our inner beauty?

If so, don’t worry. Reclaiming our inner beauty and strengthening our hearts is easy to do. Developing a strong heart begins with self-love.Practice these ten steps and in no time, you will not need a thick skin because you’ll have a strong heart:

  1. List your strengths. Next to each one, identify how you may leverage your strong points.

  2. Create an action plan for personal and professional growth.

  3. Reconnect with your intuition.

  4. Do something creative every day.

  5. Spend time in stillness each day.

  6. Get enough sleep. Six to eight hours are recommended for optimum health.

  7. Move your body every day. Some days it may only be walking to the mailbox.

  8. Eat foods that nourish your body in healthy ways.

  9. List at least five things each day for which you are grateful.

  10. Find ways to help others see their greatness.

I would love to hear from you. How do you strengthen your heart?

With love,

Maria

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The Bull S#%T About Power

Let’s break open the lid on the belief that power must be kept tightly in order to be effective – BULL S#%T!

Power, like abundance and love, multiplies when you give it away.

That is why I cannot understand why leaders are so afraid to share power and empower others. Last week we discussed micromanagement, but I want to emphatically drive this point home:

Power multiplies when you give it away – really!

Boleman and Deal wrote in Leading with Soul, “When people have a sense of efficacy and an ability to influence their world, they usually seek to be more productive. They direct their energy and intelligence toward making a contribution rather than obstructing progress or destroying their enemies.” At the former Saturn automobile factories, employees were empowered to stop the assembly line any time they see something wrong. The employees held pride and ownership in their product and they became part of the quality control.

Another benefit of shared power is a reduction in conflict.

We often suppress our feelings when we feel powerless. When this happens, our anger can only be contained for so long, then the conflict and anger comes spewing out, oftentimes in a rage or sarcasm. Empowered people empower others.

In a Love-Based Leadership organization, shared power equals shared ownership.

You cannot have one without the other.

How do YOU empower those around you?

With love,

Maria

Need to improve your EQ as a leader? Here’s a quick video on how these three techniques will help your leadership journey away from Fear-based Power.