When it comes to being a leader, you need to lead from a solid foundation. That foundation is your health. A solid foundation as a leader also includes being organized.

Steven Bartlett, author of the book “The Diary of a CEO”, says that your health is like a table holding up everything else in your life. He goes on to say that you can drop things off the table, and you will still have a strong foundation. But if your health fails, everything else drops off the table and falls on the floor.

This is a powerful metaphor and I believe it underscores the idea that you need a strong foundation in order to be an effective leader. This includes both physical health and mental health. It also includes being organized.

Physical Health

I have struggled with being overweight, and I used to be fairly sedentary. My job as a computer programmer means I am sitting throughout the day. This means I don’t naturally get any exercise. I have also struggled with poor eating habits. In the past this all contributed to a lack of energy and motivation.

Fast forward to today, and I eat much better and I workout at the gym and go for walks every week. I have much more energy and I feel a lot better about myself. This has improved not just my physical health, but my mental health as well.

What does this have to do with leadership? To be a truly effective leader you need to be an example for your team to follow. If you are not physically healthy, everything in life becomes harder to do. It also becomes harder to make the right choices because when you tired you are tempted to make the easier choice instead of the right choice.

When you do have a strong foundation of physical health, you will have more willpower. You won’t be as tired, and you will have more energy. With more energy you will find it easier to put in the time needed to lead your team.

Mental Health

Mental health is just as important as physical health. If you don’t have a strong foundation of mental health, you may find your life chaotic and disorganized. This will add more stress in your life and will make it harder for you to remember commitments you have made to other people. You may also find it harder to fulfill your responsibilities.

Part of having good mental health is taking care of yourself. You need to work hard, but you also need to take time to relax and have fun. If all you do is work, you will eventually burnout. You will also have more stress in your life.

I think another part of having strong mental health is having regular connections with other people outside of work. For me, I am a member of Toastmasters International and I regularly attend club meetings with my fellow club members. I also spend time with family members on a regular basis.

Another aspect of mental health is staying organized. This helps you to keep on top of everything in your life.

Being Organized

If you cannot stay organized, how can you expect to manage the additional details that you are responsible for as a leader? As a leader, you will be managing not just your responsibilities, but the responsibilities of your team members as well. You will also have more information to keep track of, such as information about your organization, as well as information about your tasks and your team’s tasks.

To successfully handle this additional burden as a leader, you need to have a system to stay organized. For me, I use Wiki software to document my projects and responsibilities. More specifically, I use the Confluence web app. This gives me a platform to track information for my personal projects and for the projects I work on for my Toastmasters club and district.

Not only that, but I also use the ClickUp task management web app to track my workload. This includes tracking my daily action plans (the work I am doing each day of the week), as well as my master tasks list (the work I need or want to do but haven’ scheduled yet). I also track my appointments, meetings, and commitments to other people using the calendar app on my phone and computer.

All of this helps me to stay organized and to effectively manage not just my tasks and responsibilities, but the tasks and responsibilities of my teams as well. Being this organized means I have less stress in my life, and I don’t miss deadlines or meetings. It also means I successfully fulfill my responsibilities and honor my commitments to other people.

I encourage you to adopt your own system of being organized, especially if you are serving in a leadership position. It will reduce the stress in your life, and it will help you fulfill your responsibilities and make progress on your most important goals and tasks.

Conclusion

To be a strong leader, you need a solid foundation. That foundation comes from looking after both your physical health and your mental health. A strong foundation as a leader also comes from being well organized.

When you look after your health, you will have more energy. You will have less stress and you will be a positive example for others to follow. Having a strong foundation of health also frees you to focus on leading your team because you won’t have to be constantly worrying about your mental or physical health.

Being organized will help you to follow through on the commitments you make to yourself and the commitments you make to other people. It will help you to manage the additional information and responsibilities that you need to look after as a leader.

When you step up to be a leader, make sure you are leading from a solid foundation. Look after your mental and physical health. Also establish a system of being organized. Do all of this, and you will be a more effective leader.