Impact

How Sleep Deprivation Nearly Cost Me My Life – 5 Reasons Sleep Improves Leadership

By Brandon W. Jones on August 11, 2017 0

If your anything like me, you are always doing everything you can to get the most out of every second. You’re always thinking of ways to get more out of your time. Sometimes that means you even cut into your sleep. In the moment, cutting sleep seems like the best use of your time. Getting a few more minutes of work done is much better and productive than the few minutes you would have slept, right? Wrong! Sleep improves leadership!

How much sleep do you need?

Let’s dig a little deeper. According to the Mayo Clinic, the average adult needs between 7-9 hours of sleep. Eric J. Olson, M.D. explained, “Some people claim to feel rested on just a few hours of sleep a night, but their performance is likely affected. Research shows that people who sleep so little over many nights don’t perform as well on complex mental tasks as do people who get closer to seven hours of sleep a night.”

How Sleep Deprivation Nearly Cost Me My Life - 5 Reasons Sleep Improves Leadership — Photo: Pixabay/RobinHiggins

Negative effects of sleep deprivation

People often think that reduced sleep for a little while won’t have any impact on them because they are resilient. In reality, insufficient sleep has negative effects even if it is just a few nights in a row. Healthline.com explains that:

“Your body needs sleep, just as it needs air and food to function at its best. During sleep, your body heals itself and restores its chemical balance. Your brain forges new connections and helps memory retention. Without enough sleep, your brain and body systems won’t function normally. It can also dramatically lower your quality of life. A review of 16 studies found that sleeping for less than 6 to 8 hours a night increases the risk of early death by about 12 percent.”

When we don’t get enough sleep, there are many negative side effects. According to Healthline.com, some of those are:

Trouble with thinking and concentration
More accidents
Mood swings
Weakened immunity
High blood pressure
Increased risk of heart disease and diabetes
Weight gain
Poor balance

What a bad set of side effects from just insufficient sleep! [Read more…] about How Sleep Deprivation Nearly Cost Me My Life – 5 Reasons Sleep Improves Leadership

Keeping Perspective When Making Decisions

By Brandon W. Jones on October 31, 2014 1

There are certain mortal moments and minutes that matter – certain hinge points in the history of each human. Some seconds are so decisive they shrink the soul, while other seconds are spent so as to stretch the soul.

~Neal A. Maxwell

I really like this quote because it really helps to keep things in perspective and consider the big picture when making decisions. There are certain moments in life that are turning points in life.

When you are making decisions in the important moments of life, keep the long lasting impact in mind. If you succeed in those moments, the rest of your life will be improved. If you fail in that moment, however, it can have a long lasting negative impact on your life.

In order to keep the long-term impact in mind when making decisions, here are some important questions to consider. [Read more…] about Keeping Perspective When Making Decisions

Understand the Impact of Leadership Decisions

By Brandon W. Jones on October 9, 2014 0

When you are a leader, your leadership decisions impact those you lead and others. When you make a good decision, it has a positive effect on others. Additionally, when you make a bad decision, it can have major negative effects on others. Often your leadership decisions have a very long lasting impact on others.

Affordable Healthcare Act

In 2009, the U.S. passed the Affordable Care Act (Known as Obama Care). This Act was branded as a law that would make healthcare much more affordable for all Americans and provide additional healthcare benefits to more than 30,000 uninsured people. When the law was introduced there was a strong push to pass the law and do it very quickly. The law was over 1,000 pages and no one had time to read much of it. Because of the push to pass the law, many lawmakers went ahead and voted yes to the law without reading it or even knowing much of what it said.

Leadership Decisions Impact: Affordable Healthcare Act

Fast forward to today and the major parts of the law are starting to take effect. The Wall Street Journal had an article about the Affordable Health Care Act today called Wal-Mart to End Health Insurance for Some Part-Time Employees. In the article, it explained that “Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cutting health insurance for another 30,000 part-time workers and raising premiums for its other employees, as U.S. corporations push to contain costs in the wake of the federal health-care law.” [Read more…] about Understand the Impact of Leadership Decisions

Build Up Those You Lead With Praise

By Brandon W. Jones on February 4, 2012 1

If you praise your employees, they will feel more valued. When I speak of praise, I refer to heart felt, sincere praise. As a leader, you should praise your employees when they do a good job. The praise can come in the form of a small compliment, a thank you card, recognition in front of others, or some other way. All employees have their ups and downs, but when you recognize the successes of your employees by praising them, it will make a difference in their performance.

When you give praise, there are three things to consider.

1. Is the praise deserved?

Each person has to determine for himself/herself if someone is deserving of praise. Once you have decided you want to give praise, you must be very sincere. Anytime an employee makes improvement, they should be praised. They should be recognized for their progression. You can recognize them through praising them for their good efforts. [Read more…] about Build Up Those You Lead With Praise

The Glue That Binds Strong Teams

By Brandon W. Jones on January 16, 2011 0

One of the best leaders I had while growing up was my youth-group leader. He was a very kind and loving person and taught me about the glue that binds strong teams. His position as a leader was not for pay or any other form of monetary gain. It was a non-profit volunteer position. One of his greatest qualities was his ability to build strong teams and relationships with those he led.

Strong Teams and Relationships

The way he built strong teams and relationships was that he cared for my peers and me as if we were his own children. He spent time talking to my peers and me about whatever we wanted to talk about. He never had his own agenda and never tried to force us to do anything.

On weeknights when we had activities, he would just be “one of the guys” in the sense that as our leader he would never judge us. He would just be our friend. Another aspect from being “one of the guys” and our loving leader, was that he was always very concerned about our well-being.

If one of the guys in the group had a rough day or week, he would see their distress and take all the guys out for ice cream. While getting ice cream, he would take a moment to ask how things were going. He would show the distressed individual an added measure of love and understanding. [Read more…] about The Glue That Binds Strong Teams