Todd and I recently had a chance to hear a keynote presentation from Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post. At last year’s international meeting of the Association for Talent Development, she had an audience of several thousand training and development professionals. What topic did she choose to address? Personal well-being.
As a very successful business professional, Huffington told us about the importance of what she called the “third metric.” Beyond money, and power, she believes that our leadership success should be measured based on well-being, health, and our ability to unplug ourselves and re-charge our batteries.
As she describes in this TED talk, she came to that belief the hard way. After pushing herself to exhaustion, she fell asleep at her desk and ended up in the hospital with a broken cheekbone. That started her on a journey of learning about the importance of sleep. I especially liked this quote:
If we don’t take the time to renew when we are healthy, disease will take it for us. — Arianna Huffington
As many of you mentioned in our recent survey, there is always more to do than time to do it. Taking time to renew ourselves mentally and physically can be critical in helping us perform at our best. It can feel like a luxury, but it’s also a business necessity.
What helps you feel refreshed? How do you make time for activities that recharge your batteries?
–Dee Anne Bonebright
Higher EDge 