Life balance is an essential and integral part of any person’s life. This is due to the need to divide time between work, family, caring for parents or young children, spending time with friends, self-development, and so on. Some people can balance work and home, plan a vacation with family or friends, and at the same time be effective everywhere. There is a more complicated situation when a person fulfills their allotted working hours, then comes home instead of spending time with their family and they are forced to work again (Ivancevich et al., 2014). Starting work very young, I also did not know how to correctly allocate my work and free time, which led to burnout from business or a bad mood during a vacation with loved ones. With experience, I began to understand how vital life balance is and how necessary it is to allocate time for work, family, recreation, and education. Sometimes it is difficult to find a balance between work and rest, for example, when the job requires urgency or high responsibility. In such cases, it is necessary to assess precisely what factors and risks may follow the failure to perform work, and it is probably the best solution to postpone rest and work and then spend free time as a person want (Gragnano et al., 2020). It also happens when family matters require urgent attendance, and then this can have a significant negative impact on productivity in the workplace. Nevertheless, I have learned to find a balance between work and home, as this is one of the foundations of success (Ivancevich et al., 2014). If a worker does not create an optimally comfortable workload, does not adjust the hours of their rest, then soon they will get tired, productivity will fall, and there will be no success in either business or family fields. Life balance is essential not only for subordinates but also for an effective strong leader.
A balanced lifestyle has a significant impact on the role of a leader. This is because the leader must be no less effective and successful than subordinates. By their example, the leader should inspire and motivate employees; in addition, the leader should help their colleagues for the overall effectiveness of the team and the achievement of goals (Gragnano et al., 2020). There is also a balance between work and home; the leader retains their mental health and will be able to make clear, balanced decisions in the future and, at the same time, remain calm. The leader must also create a balance in the workplace so that the team is always focused on work and in a positive mood. To create a balance in the workplace, the leader must control the workload of each employee so that there is no excessive overwork but also that there is active employment (Gragnano et al., 2020). In addition, sometimes managers can allocate days when the entire work team can go on vacation, put their thoughts and mood in order, and tune in to positive emotions. To improve my life balance, I can clearly distinguish between work and home and strive to be more efficient in the workplace to avoid taking important things home.
It is also essential for a leader to have the emotional intelligence to work correctly and gently with subordinates and achieve success in work with the help of the whole team. As a plan for developing leaders with the use of emotional intelligence, several important points must be observed. It is necessary to learn empathy, and then it is essential to master self-control, and also, for the first time, one can keep a diary of their emotional state. I will focus on self-awareness, motivation, and empathy for my personal and professional development. Since beginning the course, I have noticed that I have become more efficient, as I have learned to allocate time to complete tasks correctly. In addition, I have become more successful in achieving my goals. I learned to listen to colleagues, give them recommendations, and get advice from them. That is, I can say that my interpersonal communication has become more effective. I received feedback from management and colleagues that told me that I had become a stronger and more successful employee, and I also received recommendations to familiarize myself with several kinds of literature that would help me achieve even greater efficiency. This feedback inspired me to further self-improvement, develop and help my colleagues achieve their goals. It is very important to create a balance between work and leisure to avoid mistakes in both, as well as to be an active and successful person. Summing up, life balance is a necessary tool for achieving efficiency both at work and at home. A true leader should be able to match their life balance and at the same time be successful and motivate the employees. In addition, the leader must have emotional intelligence, constantly improve it, and help their colleagues in this matter.
References
Gragnano, A., Simbula, S., & Miglioretti, M. (2020). Work–life balance: Weighing the importance of work–family and work–health balance. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(3), 907.
Ivancevich, J. M., Konopaske, R., & Matteson, M. T. (2014). Organizational behavior and management. McGraw-Hill.