Unlock the secrets to becoming a transformative leader with Julian Hayes, a pioneer in merging leadership, wellness, and business. Ever wondered how to transition from technical expertise to impactful leadership? Julian shares actionable insights on self-leadership, highlighting the importance of nonverbal communication and leading by example. Discover how modeling positive behavior can inspire your team and amplify your influence.
In a world where the demands of leadership can take a toll on your health, Julian sheds light on the essential connection between mental and physical well-being for business leaders. Learn how regular exercise, supportive environments, and strong relationships can serve as game-changers for your performance. We discuss the innovative concept of the 'executive athlete' and offer practical advice for balancing health with the rigors of leadership—think of it as your blueprint for maintaining high energy levels and sharp decision-making skills.
Prepare to redefine resilience and comprehensive wellness strategies that go beyond the surface. Delve into practical tips for balancing screen time with physical activity, and understand why resilience is key to thriving in leadership roles. Julian also explores the shift from work-life balance to work-life integration, the impactful role of technology in our daily lives, and the necessity for digital detoxes. Finally, we wrap up with the significance of creating a healthy executive ecosystem and the profound impact of personal well-being on professional effectiveness. Tune in for real leadership insights and strategies that can transform your leadership journey.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization or entity. The information provided in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners should consult with their own professional advisors before implementing any suggestions or recommendations made in this podcast. The speakers and guests are not responsible for any actions taken by listeners based on the information presented in this podcast. The podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or services. The speakers and guests make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this ...
Unlock the secrets to becoming a transformative leader with Julian Hayes, a pioneer in merging leadership, wellness, and business. Ever wondered how to transition from technical expertise to impactful leadership? Julian shares actionable insights on self-leadership, highlighting the importance of nonverbal communication and leading by example. Discover how modeling positive behavior can inspire your team and amplify your influence.
In a world where the demands of leadership can take a toll on your health, Julian sheds light on the essential connection between mental and physical well-being for business leaders. Learn how regular exercise, supportive environments, and strong relationships can serve as game-changers for your performance. We discuss the innovative concept of the 'executive athlete' and offer practical advice for balancing health with the rigors of leadership—think of it as your blueprint for maintaining high energy levels and sharp decision-making skills.
Prepare to redefine resilience and comprehensive wellness strategies that go beyond the surface. Delve into practical tips for balancing screen time with physical activity, and understand why resilience is key to thriving in leadership roles. Julian also explores the shift from work-life balance to work-life integration, the impactful role of technology in our daily lives, and the necessity for digital detoxes. Finally, we wrap up with the significance of creating a healthy executive ecosystem and the profound impact of personal well-being on professional effectiveness. Tune in for real leadership insights and strategies that can transform your leadership journey.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization or entity. The information provided in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners should consult with their own professional advisors before implementing any suggestions or recommendations made in this podcast. The speakers and guests are not responsible for any actions taken by listeners based on the information presented in this podcast. The podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or services. The speakers and guests make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this ...
Speaker 1:
Welcome to Unpacked Podcast with your host leadership consultant, Ron Harvey of Global Core Strategies and Consulting. Ron's delighted to have you join us as he unpacks and shares his leadership experience, designed to help you in your leadership journey. Ron believes that leadership is the fundamental driver towards making a difference. So now to find out more of what it means to unpack leadership, here's your host, Ron Harvey.
Speaker 2:
Good afternoon everyone. This is Ron Harvey. I'm the Vice President and the Chief Operating Officer of Global Corps Strategies and Consulting, and back again with another version of Unpacked. With Ron Harvey, my wife and I run a company called Global Corps, which is a leadership firm based out of Columbia, south Carolina. We're both retired Army veterans and what we decided to do was really take those skills that we learned to be able to lead different forces and bring it into corporate America, and so we built the entire company that we enjoy serving, supporting, helping leaders become more effective for the people they're responsible for and responsible to.
Speaker 2:
So you know one of the things that we learned once you get promoted to a leadership position, it takes a different skill set.
Speaker 2:
You really have to figure out that technical thing you were good at is not what they want you for anymore, and so helping leaders figure that out in a safe space where they can be vulnerable and try some things on is what we do, but what we also do is we do this podcast, and this podcast is really about allowing you to have access to people that you normally wouldn't hear from or have access to, but also to hear things, and we talk about things that normally we don't talk about in open forum, around leadership, some of the challenges, some of the wins, some of the best ways to do that. So we're going to let you behind the curtain today and I'm super excited to have on our call today. Julian Hayes is with us and I'm happy that he said, yes, he's out of Nashville, but I'm going to let him introduce himself and he'll share some stuff about him and what he wants us to know. But, julian, thank you and welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:
Thank you so much for having me, and first I have to say thank you for your service, thank your wife for your service and anyone that's listening who has either currently active or retired. Thank you for your service as well.
Speaker 2:
Yes, thank you for your support. We couldn't do it without the community Absolutely.
Speaker 3:
Absolutely.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, what would you share so people get to know a little bit about you? And I always ask our guests to do it, because nobody knows them better than themselves. I always make sure I don't called Executive Health, and it's my mission of combining leadership, wellness and business together, and I come from a medical background. I went to medical school for a year.
Speaker 3:
Then I decided to leave and personally, to combine all of that. I'm a guy who's driven by a limitless appetite for curiosity, and that has just driven me throughout my life is curiosity and just maximizing human performance in all different aspects of life. And when I think about leadership, I never thought of myself as a leader and how I got in there. And then someone said well, you are a leader because you're leading yourself. And that stuck with me. And by leading yourself, you're probably going to lead a lot of others because they're going to see what you're doing and take direction from that. So that really changed my whole attitude and perspective on what leadership is, because before then when I thought about leadership, I thought about a guy or girl, and then they have maybe 10, 20 people that they're helping give them direction to steer something. I never thought about it as it's by you modeling yourself to be at your full capacity, to your full capabilities, you are, in essence, leading everyone else around you because they're taking direction from that.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, yeah, julian, you're spot on. I mean, when you talk about leadership, it's all influence and oftentimes we think of it as a. You know, back in the days, leadership was control hover, and it's turning into more of this thing now, where leadership is influence and what you do is louder than what you say. People are watching us every day. So you can be the smartest and the brightest and have all these nice little things you say, but people say until I see you live it, I don't want you to leave me. And people are watching what we do now. So for all you leaders that are listening and watching this conversation that Julie and I will have is what is it that people see you living versus?
Speaker 3:
saying and you know that makes sense because if you think about communication, most of it's nonverbal. I believe it's around 93 percent or so is nonverbal. And I even think about as a little kid and I'll often say that we're really just oversized kids now. But I remember my parents telling me don't touch the stove or don't do this, and what are you going to do? You're going to do it, but then you don't do it anymore. Oftentimes we see parents say don't do a certain thing. We see other relatives, we see other people in our community say don't do certain things, but then their actions say something different and then they wonder if we get older hey, why are you doing that?
Speaker 2:
Where'd you pick that up? Well, I saw you doing it when I was growing up. Yeah, yeah, which is amazing. I mean you talk about, you know, as leaders, the impact we have on people by what we do. And 93%, like you said, is nonverbal. Is it because we've become such poor communicators, or we've always been visual and we're just not finally catching up with?
Speaker 3:
that I think it's always been there and I think, if we're going back to caveman times, this was a way of actual survival. We had to really rely on that visual cue before any type of verbal thing. I think it's an energy thing as well. There's an energetic thing that you can just feel. There's a type of presence that you can just feel and sense by someone before they even say anything, and it's almost such that it's even hard to put into words at times. But you can just sense and feel someone's presence and energy by just being around them and seeing them, and that's oftentimes that first impression that we're going to go off of Now. Of course you can change that first impression, but that first impression oftentimes leaves a very strong, lasting imprint.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it's actually accurate. So you talk about leadership and you think about the topic and how we address it unpacking. You know, with Ron Harvey, there used to be the saying for leaders fake it until you make it. With so much video out there now, is that statement still accurate?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, that's something that I thought about a lot growing up, because I talked to a lot of people where I'm much younger. They're much more senior to me and I don't know if it fake it till you make it, but I will say there is something where I remind myself act as if and I think that's a little different.
Speaker 3:
Whereas if I see myself as this person already, then I can go ahead and step into that energy as that person. I'm not necessarily faking it then, whereas I think when you think about fake it till you're making it. There's a sense of incongruency there and you can feel that right. So if I make a video talking about real estate investing and building a portfolio, right, and I just read a few books on real estate investing and asset management, that's faking it till I make it because I have no background, no proof of none of that. But if I go on there and talk about leadership and health, I can do that because I have a health background and leadership I have led myself and I have talked with others about that and connected those things and studied it.
Speaker 3:
So even if you're light years away from where you ultimately see yourself in that specific domain, you're still not faking it, you're acting it as if, and so I think there's a very nuanced, subtle difference there, but it's big, because one you can have this imposter syndrome as you're going on video like oh man, I don't know about this, and then the other one is you're doing going on video like oh man, I don't know about this. And then the other one is you're like, okay, I'm not where I want to be just yet, but I'm working toward there, and the person that I ultimately aspire to be, what would he be doing right now? He will be doing this action, this action. So I'm gonna go ahead and act as if and step into that right now, and so I think that's the big difference with that.
Speaker 2:
A really big difference. You know acting as if so when you think about the leadership journey and the things that you're learning. Where does health play a role in leadership? Because you're in that wellness space and I don't know if leaders but the one thing we don't do really really well as leaders is self-care. Let's just everybody that's listening, so I know you can send me some emails later. Leaders are horrible at self-care. They'll tell everybody else how to take care of themselves. Where does wellness play a role in leadership.
Speaker 3:
It plays a role in every single facet if you actually think about it, from the bottom line in your company, from charisma to management. Because we can take an example of someone that, say, a leader is chronically sleep-deprived and a leader can say that, hey, well, I get my six hours and five and a half hours and I feel okay. And then I say, okay, there's a difference between thriving, there's a difference between existing and just getting through the day or needing that extra jolt of caffeine to really get yourself started. That's a huge difference. But if we look at this, even just from a scientific perspective, you're going to see someone's brain. If you hooked it up on there, on the imaging, you can see someone who is sleep deprived and someone who's pretty well rested. You're going to see a brain that one, the prefrontal cortex this is where our logic and reasoning happens at, in their amygdala, which is the older part and more primitive part, more of just a primal emotional responses. You're going to see a sleep deprived brain that's going to have less activity in your prefrontal cortex, more in your amygdala. So, translating this in the real world, you're going to have an individual who is acting much more emotionally, a little more snappier, not thinking as logically, less empathetic, so that's one, someone who's not as charismatic If you think about.
Speaker 3:
You're a manager. You're managing leading people. You're shorter with those people. Maybe you're a little snappier If you're making decisions monetarily over certain things. Maybe you're acting out of emotion more so than logically. You're more impulsive, so from a weight perspective, you're grabbing snacks, foods that maybe aren't so ideal. You're making snappier, impulsive decisions in the business landscape, relationship-wise, both at home and at work. This can create issues as well. No one wants to be around a partner that's a little more snappier, like why are you so snappy, why are you so sensitive, and all those things.
Speaker 3:
If you think about this also when you're less fatigued, look at this like an iPhone battery. Whereas if I'm well rested, I start the day in the green, maybe I'm 95%, whereas if you're a little sleep deprived, maybe you're starting the day at 55%, so you're in a yellow. Also, how's that translate? Our job is to make important decisions throughout the day. Every time that you think and make important decisions, that takes a little bit off that battery. So you have someone at 95 percent, another person at 55 percent. The person at 95 has a lot more runway to make more decisions throughout the day, compared to the person at 55 who's going to wear out earlier in the day, as opposed to the 95.
Speaker 2:
55 who's going to wear out earlier in the day, as opposed to the 95. Wow, so you tied it back. So, leaders, if you're listening, you know, basically, do listen. You need to get some rest and make sure that you're well rested as a leader, because we do try to burn the candle at both ends. Been there, done it, failed at it, did it more than once of trying to do all things for all people all the time, and that's not realistic. It's not a goal that you should have, and I get it. When you're young and you're aggressive and you're going after whatever your dreams and your aspirations are, you're burning this candle and at some point you pay a great dividend for it. You hit that brick wall. What are some things you recommend to leaders? To unpack for a second. You study, you're in the field. What are some of the best things outside of sleep that leaders can do to make sure that they're healthy and that they're well and they're the best version of themselves for their team?
Speaker 3:
Absolutely Some type of movement every single day. Exercising every single day. You don't need to go run a marathon or do a super intense CrossFit workout. That's not your thing, but getting some type of movement in every single day is beneficial. What it does to your brain in terms of preserving the elasticity in your brain, helping new neurons grow that's through BDNF helping your memory, all sorts of cognition I usually think of cognition in 10 different categories, but that's not really necessary here but to essentially to put that in a nice bow keeping your brain sharp, because that's one of your most valuable assets as a business leader. Also, when you think about exercising, it's a competitive advantage because you're getting more energy to pour back into your business compared to your competition out there.
Speaker 3:
Another thing is this is an underrated one but really be mindful of your environment and your energy and having a nice sanctuary to go home to and really maximizing and having sure that your personal relationships are really locked in. You would be surprised at how many people have a lot of things leaking from the bucket and it stems back to personal relationships. There's just ties in different relationships in different categories. That's really draining them and that's pouring over into their health, because this stress in this area is leading to them to make decisions in other areas. That's leading to more bad decisions. So where they can be, I'm super stressed, so I'm going to maybe have a little too much alcohol or other behaviors that they shouldn't be doing, and then that is going to lead to decisions in the company down the line, in the company down the line. But to pull back a little bit health is a little difficult, because I can go a week, all of us can go a week without exercising, maybe eating the best, and we're not going to notice anything. And so that's the difference. Whereas in a business you can check your P&Ls, you can check a lot of different metrics day by day to see how things are going with health, that's not so much the case. So a lot of times the reason why there's struggle with it, it's not out of negligence, it's just like you said, we got so many things, we're putting people, we're putting people in front of us, we're benevolent people.
Speaker 3:
Oftentimes we don't want to go back to the beginning the ramen noodle days. We don't want to go back to the beginning the ramen noodle days. We don't want to go back to there, and so there's a little bit of fear, and so I would say these are some of the dark sides of success, what we don't think about. We see all the highlights of that, but we don't see the dark sides of it.
Speaker 3:
Oftentimes, health is like a dam, where it's just little, small cracks here and there. We walk by, we don't notice it, it's no big deal. And then over time, though, over the accumulation of time, that small crack here, small crack here, it gets larger and larger and then all of a sudden, you have this event and that's what's really snaps us into taking action. So it's not a problem until it is a problem. Yes, now to that. We have technology now that can help with that. So we have different wearables that we can wear on our wrists to serve as almost like a check engine light or a mini check in every day to see how I'm living, how's my heart rate, how's my respiratory rate, my HRV, how many steps am I getting today, how's the quality of my sleep.
Speaker 3:
There's so many different things that you can choose from to kind of have. Is that accountability? Because I will tell you, I'm the first person to. I'm a little stubborn. Most of us leaders are a little stubborn. This is how we got here. This is what's going to continue. To propel us is to be a little stubborn.
Speaker 3:
So me telling someone to get some sleep is like telling a little kid don't touch, touch the stove. Oftentimes they're like okay, whatever. But if I can provide evidence or data, that's third party that has no emotional attachment to it. That's a different story. That can get you interested. That can get, most importantly, the buy-in, because a lot of times we need to be bought into something, just as someone's going to make a pitch or a proposal to someone to get the buy-in. We have to figure out how can we get ourselves bought in to this health lifestyle, to not only just think of this as a chore, but instead think of this as this is part of our life. This is just as important as me working on my pitch deck. I like to coin this as becoming more of an executive athlete.
Speaker 2:
Wow. So when you think of it, julian coming in new leader in a position, when you think of it, julian coming in new leader in a position and before, technically, you were the best, but now you're in a leadership role what are some immediate steps that a new leader, because they're going to have competing agendas. What are some things? If I'm in the office you know we're trying to figure out hybrid, we're trying to figure out if we work in office, what are some things as leaders that we can do? You know you said keep moving. How do I keep moving? I'm moving eight hours and most of my time is behind the computer screen. So many people are behind some kind of whether it's the phone, whether it's computer, whether it's the television. There's so much availability for screen time. How do you help us get from behind these screens and start moving so we can be healthier?
Speaker 3:
I think the first thing is to audit and see just how much of that time is actually being used, because I'm hard pressed to believe that it's just eight dedicated hours or 10 dedicated hours to just working nonstop, that you're just locked in for those eight to 10 hours. I'm pretty sure there's some scrolling, there's some mindless reading or something in there. Also, one of the easiest things you can do is certain calls don't necessarily require face-to-face on Zoom or StreamYard or any other platform, so we can take a page out of what Mark Zuckerberg did, what Steve Jobs used to do. We can do walking meetings. So if we can have this 30-minute block maybe you have two 15-minute meetings or maybe you have one 30-minute meeting I can plan to walk on this meeting, because this is more just one that we just need to talk and communicate, so I can get two things done right there. So I'm already starting to make my day a little more efficient and effective. I'm already starting to, most importantly, bring a healthy lifestyle into my professional life and have those things marry each other instead of these things fight each other or competing against each other for time and resources. So the more that I can bring all these things together, the better my life could be. You can do this with your professional life in terms of a walking meeting, like I just talked about. With your personal life, you can also have times where you can, just as a family exercise, walk. While you're doing that, you are also being able to catch up on how's your day going, what's in your world, how's our relationship going. All these things you can take, and so we are multitasking in a sense, when you do it that way.
Speaker 3:
Another thing right there after auditing, there's a time when you're new to kind of lay low a bit and just study, check out the landscape a little bit. I like to think of this as I'm slowing down, to speed up. Usually, when I mention this, it's in the health context, because oftentimes somebody wants to get healthy. They're super ambitious. I'm going to work out every single day an hour and a half. I'm going to cut off all my food and just turn it from zero to 100. Very few people can do that.
Speaker 3:
So what I like to do is let's slow down a little bit, let's do some preliminary work, let's really get our ducks in order. Then you can move much faster, much more efficiently, because you're not going to have to make all these frequent stops for obstacles and anchors that you didn't plan for, whereas if we took just a little extra time, surveyed the arena, the surroundings and almost predicted or tried to brainstorm, what are a couple things that can stop me from my goals right now? What are those maybe two to three big rocks that can really get in the way of what I wanted to achieve? Get those out of the way. Where are those maybe two to three big rocks that can really get in the way of what I wanted to achieve? Get those out of the way. Where are we planning for it? So when they come up, it's nothing. We already planned for it, so you can move much faster.
Speaker 3:
And it's the same thing for that leader who's coming into a new arena, whereas he was a top dog. Maybe he was a top dog in a small town. He's in a big city now. It's a different environment. He has some of those skills already. He just needs to learn the terrain a little bit. So slow down, take it in a little bit, see what everybody's doing and then interject and start going from there.
Speaker 2:
Good response to the question. I know that you spend a lot of time helping organizations or leaders talk about taking full advantage of being more resilient. How important is it for us to be resilient and what does resilience mean? I get it, but for people that are listening and observing, you know you hear that word. It's a buzzword. You know it happens. What do we mean by be more resilient and how do we become more resilient?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, for me, when I think about resilient, it's just the act of whenever you get knocked down, how quickly can you recover and get back to doing what you need to do? Whether that's maybe you're sick for a little bit, how quickly can you recover and get back to it. Whether you have an unexpected obstacle that knocks you down in business or your career, how quickly can you bounce back and get back to doing what you need to do mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually? That's, to me, what is resiliency, and resiliency is the name of the game. Ultimately, when we think about health, what we really want a lot of times is resiliency, the ability to endure, and we need this as leaders.
Speaker 3:
There's a lot of arrows coming our way. A lot of times we're super ambitious, we want to do a lot of different things, and so we need that energy, we need that resiliency to be able to withstand. Withstand, maybe, the rejections, the no's, withstand, maybe, the unexpected obstacles that come our way, and withstand new projects that come our way. Managing multiple people, different personalities, different backgrounds and outlooks on life there's so many different pieces, but the more durable you are, the quicker you are, because we are going to get knocked down. But how quickly can you get back up Once again.
Speaker 3:
You can look at this from a competitive standpoint, and that's where the exercise comes in, because someone that's healthier is maybe they're still going to get sick. They're still going to have their bumps and bruises same thing in business but if you're prepared and a little more resilient, you're going to be able to get back up much quicker than your competition. And also this is going to help once again to circle back to the beginning of the conversation. When they see that, wow, this guy's taking care of himself. Look how durable and resilient he is. That's going to inspire other people to take note as well, and so now you are also building a more resilient and durable team as well.
Speaker 2:
Yes, yes, can you speak to? Unpack for us, the world is not slowing down. Unpack for us, the world is not slowing down. And when you get into the leadership role, I would always say take care of yourself. But there's this unwritten rule of you take care of everything else. It's almost like it's hard to balance and manage because there's a lot of pressure on higher executives. Our executives are having suicidal thoughts, overwhelmed, stressed out anxiety at an alarming rate right now. What is it that you help leaders figure out how to do better at taking care of themselves? There's a high expectation they must deliver.
Speaker 3:
I just wrote about this. I have a column at Forbes in the CEO network and I just wrote about this actually that I believe it's a Deloitte study that 75% of CC executives are stressed and have actually probably in the last year or two thought about actually leaving their position, and a lot of that is just because there's a lot thrown their way and there's not the tools. One of the first tools is to actually just kind of bring this picture out. A lot of times we are so dialed into the actual moment in short term that we don't see the long-term ramifications and perspective on this. So that's the very first thing to do is just expand the horizon a little bit. A lot of things that come our way they're important, but how important are they? Are they so important that we have to sacrifice our wellbeing and our family right now to get this thing done? No, there's very few things like that, because usually what we're doing then is we are chasing a short-term gain and inadvertently creating long-term agony and long-term sacrifice. So therefore, expand this big picture out, really set and get our priorities intact and realize actually being what I say intentionally selfish will actually do you much more good than anyone can ever realize the word selfish has a bad connotation to it. Yes, and people don't even like hearing it like oh, I don't want to be called selfish, but you need to be selfish because we want nothing more than to serve our people and to be as effective as possible at our job.
Speaker 3:
But you can do that when your bucket is overflowing and you have so much overflowing that you can now pour and give even more to everyone around you. The opposite of that is when you're trying to pour from a glass that barely has enough liquid left in it. Now you can't give much. You can give droplets. Now, that's all you can give because that's all you have. So you have to charge and fill your battery up. Then you can go to others and you're thinking okay, julian, that's going to take time away from people and things I need to do. I will counter and say you might think that's going to do that. I want you to try it, but what you're going to see is you're going to become much more efficient and effective because you're going to have increased alertness, increased productivity. That three hour task is probably going to take an hour and a half because you have better focus, better intensity, concentration to get it done. Probably more motivation to get it done as well.
Speaker 2:
Julian. So when you think about the work that you're doing in the spaces, you get to support clients across the landscape. What mistakes are you noticing? Whether it's an entrepreneur, whether it's working in corporate America, whether it's working in our educational system and you're writing articles for Forbes? What are you noticing? Some common mistakes that we're making as leaders, that we probably want to get our arms wrapped around when it comes to health and wellness?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I know we harp on it, but the very first thing to get out of the way is incongruency. We're not leading at the top effectively. I remember I did some wellness speaking gigs where I would go speak and I would feel like half the team and people just are made to be there and forced to be there. And I can see that because a lot of the higher ups are not there. I don't know where they are, but they're not there. So how big of an actual commitment is it if I don't see the higher ups there and they're just essentially making me be there? So that's the easy one. The next one is I don't think we are looking at things in a comprehensive, holistic manner. I think a lot of times when we think about well-being, both individually and in the workplace, we are thinking about this from a physical perspective. I love nothing more than working out and the physicality of it, but we also have to realize that when you're looking at the bigger perspective, especially when you're including an entire workforce, we have to consider things such as the mental and emotional health, and we also have to now start considering financial well-being. Something recently I discussed as well was financial wellness as part of the overall wellness program. More and more people. You know there's a retirement epidemic that I think it was the. In his recent annual shareholder letter he was talking even about raising the retirement age. And so we're thinking individuals in their 30s now, which is a good part of the workforce for certain leaders, how can we best support them?
Speaker 3:
Also, work-life integration. Right now we used to think about work-life balance. That's what people wanted. More and more now people are thinking I want work-life integration. It's not necessarily I want a perfect 50-50 balance, it's more, I want these things to seamlessly, be symbiotically together. So how can we work on that?
Speaker 3:
Some people, that's remote work, some jobs, that works well. But even with remote work, it's establishing boundaries within that. Because a lot of people found out during the pandemic that when you're not at the office, within that. Because a lot of people found out during the pandemic that when you're not at the office, that 5 pm cutoff time that you normally had can be 7, 7.30. Because who's to tell me when to leave? I'm just working on a computer, I'm just on Zoom. Zoom is 24 hours if it wants to be. So how do you create those type of healthy boundaries as well? So we have to catch up with the modern business landscape that it is now. It's not just physical now. It's much more digital, it's much more dynamic, and the same thing needs to be applied with our wellness to think about all these different types of pillars.
Speaker 2:
That's really really solid too, because we talk about being in front of the screen. But the cell phone has become a mini computer and you can literally sit, whether you're traveling, whether you're eating or whether you're finding us more consumed with technology and technology is a great thing until it's not, yes. And so how do you help leaders that find themselves almost handcuffed to technology? It's like they can't put the phone down, can't put the laptop down. They got to respond. I mean it's almost like they're on call 24-7. How do you help? I mean even our younger generation, I mean the average youth now it spends probably 6% of the time behind a screen.
Speaker 3:
That's true. I encourage them to do like I do and take periodic and digital detoxes. It's the best thing for yourself, psychologically, mentally as well. Also, be very intentional about your use of technology. So, for me, a lot of my job is predicated on being online, but I don't need to be everywhere right now. There's no need for that. I go where I think is the best use of my time, where I think I will have the best use of my impact, and I advise leaders as well to do the same thing as well.
Speaker 3:
So, if you're thinking about social media, someone who do you really need to be on all platforms? Do you really need to be on Facebook, instagram, tiktok, snapchat, all these things? Maybe not. I think there's a time for that, but, like most everything in life, there's a sequence to it. If it's just me and a few others, do you even have the bandwidth to do that type of thing? So we have to think about that. Is that the most important priority? Is that the best use of your time? So it's once again asking yourself very important questions of why you're doing these things. So a lot of times, we end up running a race that's someone else's race. We're not running our own race.
Speaker 2:
Yes, Comparing yourself to others will make you work really really hard sometimes.
Speaker 3:
Yes, and it's very interesting the relationship with technology, because a lot of times it can be educational, but it can also easily flip over into that category, like you said, of comparison and actually just distraction. Yes, from the most important thing. So I think a lot of these times there's a focus issue that's at play here, from the most important thing. So I think a lot of this times there's a focus issue that's a play here. There's a focus issue and there's this need to think that we have to be everywhere and doing everything and being all things to all people. Now, as a leader, you will be on call a little more and if it's your own thing, it's pretty much 24 seven.
Speaker 3:
I pretty much think about work 24 seven. But there's different ways that I think about work. I can think about work and not means that I have to be on here. It can just be something that's in the background. Yes, it doesn't mean that I'm just glued to this screen right now, and so that's a health thing in itself. I think that's probably one of the issues with mental health. It's not the only thing with depression and anxiety, but it is a big thing. There have been studies that our relationship with light. So that's all the more reason to get outside to get some beautiful sunlight, because what that does to you from a mental and emotional standpoint- yes, yes, Phenomenal conversation and I'm sure that all of our listeners and viewers are enjoying what you're sharing with us.
Speaker 2:
When you think about the top three things that you would leave with leaders when it comes to wellness and leadership, what would you share that they can take and not just hear it, but implement it to be better, to live better, to be healthier and to take care of the team? What would you share? What three things would you share with the listening audience?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, number one is to start thinking of your health just as you do your corporation. Think of it just like a corporation, and that's the overarching theme. And then we could pick three things from that overarching picture right there to dial into. So number one is I want you to think about what is your personal mission statement and vision for your own health. If I told you what's the mission statement of your business, what's the values of it, you can recite it with the snap of your fingers. You can tell me how you want your business to look 10 years from now. But could you tell me, in the same type of detail, what do you want your health to look like in 10 years? What do you want your relationships to look like in 10 years? What do you want them to feel like? What are you doing? Odds are probably not. You would just say I want to be healthy, but what does that mean? Healthy means a lot of different things to all of us, so it gets very specific on the personal mission, vision and values of that.
Speaker 3:
The next thing is just like any great company, we're going to delegate, because that's what we like to do there. We like to delegate Same thing with your health. What is the delegation that you can do, whether that's maybe with food? Maybe you notice that, man, I really struggle at lunchtime. What can I do with that? Maybe it's having some type of meal delivery service, maybe it's meal prepping. Whatever it is, what delegation can you do to put yourself in a better position? The next thing is to create a board of directors. Create some type of support for yourself. This can be a peer group for leaderships. This can be a health group. This could be accountability, with just friends and family. This could just be getting your wife, your kids, whoever on board. Whatever you need to do to create your advisory board, this could be having a therapist. This could be a multitude of those things right there. But that's the start to creating a more healthy ecosystem that is not only going to keep you healthy, but it's also going to easily blend into your professional world.
Speaker 2:
Yes, yes, Love it. Three tips of how to make sure that you're doing better at taking care of you. You know one thing is as good as you are. If you're not healthy, then there are people that are going to suffer besides you, Absolutely. So what do you want to make sure that you're around to do for the people that are counting on you, Whether it's your kids, whether it's your coworkers or your organization? You know a healthier you makes a huge difference in the organization, and there has to be. There's some data around that it costs organizations more when you're not healthy. Yeah, it's a lot.
Speaker 3:
It's a lot. What's the number on there? I mean?
Speaker 2:
what is?
Speaker 3:
it. Now. I looked at even something presenteeism and I want to say it's in the high millions. It's in the high millions at least. I want to say it was at least 500 million, I believe, or so I might be wrong. I wrote about it but I forgot the actual number. It's in the millions. And a lot of times when we think about absentees and people missing days, people not showing up, but there's even more of the issue of people showing up that are not even close to operating at full capacity, absolutely For various reasons.
Speaker 2:
Yes, yeah, I mean them. Being in the workplace not healthy is maybe more catastrophic versus if they do call in.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, no-transcript line, not just in presentism but also in productivity, also in clientele generating income. So it's a dynamic issue that has a lot of different facets. That's being affected.
Speaker 2:
Yes, yes, phenomenal conversation. I mean, I really enjoyed it. Is there anything that you want to let people know about your business? How do they find you? How do they reach you? Any books or anything out? What would you share with the team or the people that are listening? How to reach you and what are some reasons why they should call?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, so the website is executivehealthio and I run one-to-one concierge services and there's a couple of different tiers for that. And then also you do services with teams as well, concerning health and productivity as well, and speaking and you can catch me I will be also on LinkedIn at Julian Hayes II as well and one of the reasons is I value precision and it's very forward thinking. So when you're thinking about health, it's not just giving a blanket thing, it's a team approach as well, so it's not just me and it's very hands-on and high touch with that, both one-on-one and just organizationally.
Speaker 2:
Awesome, awesome, julian, thank you so much for coming and dropping some golden nuggets. You know, for everyone that's out there, leadership and wellness, which they go hand in hand. Matter of fact, the healthier you are, the more effective you are as a leader, and you got to model what you expect. People need to see it for you to be healthy If you want your team to be healthy. They're going to watch what you eat. They're going to watch if you're working out. They pay attention to us. So please, please, take care of yourself.
Speaker 2:
Again, this is Ron Harvey, vice President, chief Operating Officer of Global Core Strategies and Consulting. Super excited, consulting. Super excited that you decided to join julie and I for this particular segment of our podcast about unpack with ron harvey, where we talk about real things and real concerns that leaders are having every day, and we just create a safe space to talk about those things, because, leaders, you make a difference and we need you to be healthy as well. So, thank y'all for joining us and until next time, julie and I will sign off. We really appreciate it and please, if you come across someone that's looking great content, send them my way and ask them to join our podcast and learn more about the guests that we bring on every single week to talk about something different in leadership. Until then, we'll sign it off on Unpacked with Ron Harvey.
Speaker 1:
Well, we hope you enjoyed this edition of Unpacked Podcast with leadership consultant Ron Harvey. Remember to join us every Monday as Ron unpacks sound advice, providing real answers for real leadership challenges. Until next time, remember to add value and make a difference where you are, for the people you serve, because people always matter.
