This week will be themed with the topic of Care. My focus is to empower leaders to embody the value of care. Caring often gets overlooked because most leaders just want results, but without care the only results you will get as a leader is frustration, misunderstanding, and a team that won't achieve anything significant in the long term.

A quote that I read this week by Simon Sinek said this, "a leader's most powerful attribute is the ability to care – about their team, their mission, and their impact on the world." I would have to agree with this quotes. In my own life I have found when my care stops my mindset and actions to continue often stop with it.

As a leader it is critical that we embody care in these 3 areas:

1. Self-Care.

2. Individual and Team Care.

3. Organizational Care.

Knowing these 3 areas are good but what often leaders do is this - they keep the thought in the mind without the thought moving to actions. The goal for us is to move from just thinking about care but being intentional is displaying care for the 3 areas listed above.

Self Care for you is about avoiding burnout and maintaining the ability to care for others.

Leaders we have all heard the saying of "Put your own mask on first before assisting others." This is only selfish when you have the wrong intent. For you your intent is I must take care of myself so that I am able to fully be present and be able to lead others effectively. You are not a superhuman and if you are empty what good are you to others?

To care for self you will need to become self aware and manage yourself effectively. You need to become good at the basics and begin being consistent with the basics. Most of this will be centered around organization, attitude, emotion, and your actions.

For managing yourself here are 4 things to consider:

1. What is my intent for today? - big focus area

2. How do I want to show up for today? - values to embody

3. What needs to be done? - priorities

What this looks like for myself is this. My intent everyday is to be a transformational leader and coach. I want to embody the values of care, growth, and winning. Then I go into planning my priorities. The last step is often overlooked. Self care is also about you making time for the things that are important to you although they may not be urgent.

Lastly just remember this if you do not show up for yourself, how effective will you be at being able to show up for others? Just a thought to think about for caring for the most important person you will ever lead - yourself.

In every action show that you care, by showing them they matter. Leaders listen, care, and act.

The starting point of care begins by giving someone your time. You begin to develop trust when this time is matched with:

1. Empathy to leave your world and to step in theirs.

2. Active listening in hearing what is being said and not said.

3. Tangible actions that show you listened and that they matter.

Your journey in caring start their but does not end their for you as a leader. You should be focused on learning about your team and its members personal and professional aspirations. Caring means that we want to understand their goals, needs, and aspirations. Caring means that as leaders we understand our influence and power in helping our teams reach those desires.

We must continue as leaders to engage ad connect with our team members in a way that matters to them. Our action here is simple. Make time to connect, make time to listen, and make time to act actions that let your team know they matter. This week be intentional in showing your team that you care and that they matter.

We care for the organizations when we lead with purpose, passion, and being driven to care for the organizations future.

There is nothing we can do better as leaders than to live out daily the vision, mission, and values of the organization we serve. By doing this daily we create great worth of mouth advertisement for the organization that we serve. When we do this right we create positive word of mouth advertisement which furthers the organizations ability to recruit top talent and those whose values align with that of the organization.

You display you care for the organization when you:

1. Champion the values.

2. Act on the values.

3. Build and develop a culture centered around those values.

Be driven to care because being driven to care creates an environment where the values are felt, acted on, and you create an environment where work becomes a place of purpose not just a job you do. Embodying the principle of care creates the environment where people are saying work somewhere you love - and it is something they actually mean!

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