5 Leadership Development Areas to Create Hope-Filled Resilience (5 Capitals)

5 Leadership Development Areas to Create Hope-Filled Resilience (5 Capitals)

Anyone who has ever been involved with Leadership Development knows that communication is key.

When I look at the Covid-19 communication that I see from our public health officials, I’m concerned. Why?

Because the communication seems so … non-integrated and fear-based.

What do I mean?

Beware of Non-Integrated Leadership Development

Let’s tackle non-integrated first. As a leadership coach, I work with leaders on creating a high-impact, integrated life. This leadership approach challenges us to face our fears, and encourages us to lean into confidence, focus, and wellbeing. We have hope-filled resilience…the ability to recover from the daily challenges we face, possibly even high-risk ventures like skydiving!

The Integrated Leader intentionally nurtures Five Capitals:

1. Spiritual Capital has the potential and power to create incredible levels of identity and security for people. It helps people discover who they are, what defines them, and opens opportunities for the good that they want to bring into the world.
2. Relational Capital focuses on the health and productivity of our relationships. It’s about trust, engagement, and integrity. It’s about being a leader that is worth following.
3. Physical Capital is all about the reality that we only have one life in this world. Our physical health is critical. We all have the same 24 hours in the day – so Physical Capital, and what to do with that same 24 hours and the one life we have, is key.
4. Intellectual Capital includes our need for wisdom, insight, knowledge, and discernment. These are needed to chart the best path forward, whether it’s prioritizing one’s day or determining how to launch a new product.
5. Financial Capital relates to all the resources that are in our possession. It’s the stewardship and the focus on profitability and revenue, and managing well, that creates the opportunity to use that capital for the greater good.

In my observation, it seems that Covid communication from public health professionals is non-integrated, focusing only on Physical Capital. And, it focuses only on certain areas of the physical –

For example, we get stats galore:

• We are told how many new cases there are.
• We get daily updates on how many are hospitalized.
• We learn how many people have died due to the virus.

And, we are told via every media outlet, including social media, that we have to get the vaccine …immediately. Vaccine mandates and vaccine passports are becoming the new buzzwords.

Fear-Based Leadership Development is Counter-Productive

I appreciate the fact that health officials probably think they are taking the wisest approach possible.

But, what about the fear they are spreading?

In fact, I believe, they have created a new virus that’s spreading like wildfire – The Fear Pandemic.

Research indicates that prolonged high levels of fear and anxiety can suppress our immune system…making us more susceptible to all diseases, including Covid. That’s very counter-productive, right?

How often do you hear public health professionals talk about the negative impact of the Fear Pandemic on one’s physical health?

Never.

When have you heard them talk about what we can do to strengthen our own immune system so that we become healthier, having hope-filled resiliency?

Never.

As the uncertainty continues, I’m asking more and more questions…

• Why are we not hearing more about the importance of strengthening our immune system to fight getting infected?
• What do we, as leaders need to ensure that we are doing everything we can to strengthen our immune system?
• What do we need to do to coach these strategies to our future leaders?
• In addition to taking vitamin C, D, and zinc, what else might we do?

Maybe it’s because I’ve been wrestling with these questions, that this blog article by Brad Lantz caught my attention.

Which is More Important to your Health?

“Is diet, exercise, or sleep more important to your health? If you said sleep, you are right. All three are very important elements; however, it has been shown that sleep deprivation will kill you in about the same amount of time that food deprivation and the disease can happen because of it.

According to Dr. Matt Walker, a specialist in sleep from Cal Berkley and neuroscientist: Sleep is the single most effective method to reset your brain and body health. If I deprived you of sleep, exercise, water, or food for twenty-four hours and map your brain… A lack of sleep BY FAR will affect your brain more significantly. He states: Sleep is foundational to exercise and diet. He goes on to say that below six hours of sleep per night for a week will distort your genes. He states further: Many are concerned about genetically modified embryos and cells. Yet, when we do not get enough sleep, we are genetically modifying ourselves. As an example: When changing to Daylight savings time in spring there is a 24% increase in relative heart attack risks the next day, suicides and road accidents, and judges dole out harsher sentences. Fallback in the fall = 20% reduction.

What causes us to sleep poorly? Sleep has an image problem = lazy. People say you can sleep when you are dead. We need to change the cultural appreciation of sleep. Better sleep for 7-9 hours is the best health insurance improvement. There are laws that prevent the use of drugs, as well as restrictions on alcohol use there are none for lack of sleep. Yet the estimated cost to businesses each year is a loss of 4.11 billion in productivity in the US.

The chief reasons for lack of sleep: Anxiety and Stress. They are toxic to sleep. We constantly inspect and rarely reflect on what is affecting us.

To listen to the Lewis Howes podcast with Dr. Walker click https://link.chtbl.com/1154-sm. I also have a pdf I will send to you if you contact me – five brain hacks to improve your sleep.”

Prioritize Healthy Habits for Effective Leadership Development

To fight fear and to build resilience, we not only need to be physically healthy, but we also need to nurture our spiritual, relational, intellectual, and financial capital.  I believe, if we don’t take care of every area of our “entire self,” we can’t be effective as leaders. Even when Brad’s article is focused on #3, Physical Capital, it’s a more integrated, well-rounded approach that goes deeper than “Get the vaccine – today!”

I wish I had read Brad’s article when I was younger. My failure to keep a gazillion balls in the air at the same time left me exhausted. That season in my life had taught me important lessons.  That’s why I dedicated an entire chapter in Millennials Matter to “Proactive Self-Care and Leadership.”

During this difficult time, your leadership matters more than ever.  Commit to including healthy habits in your leadership development strategies. Coach your future leaders about all the areas they need to focus on when taking care of themselves.

In the end, everything is connected, and we will not create sustainable success if we neglect one of these critically important areas.

Then, those on our leadership and sales teams will have hope-filled resilience…the ability to recover from the daily challenges…maybe even high-risk ventures (like skydiving!)

Danita Bye