Lets talk about leadership and boundaries.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of effective leaders is their ability to manage their boundaries. This helps them focus, direct their energy and devote their mind space to the most critical matters. These leaders are mindful of what they take on, what burdens they choose to carry and what they sign up for.

To understand this better, let us talk nine reasons why leaders struggle with their boundaries and why it can make them quite ineffective.

1. the need to be always available, always accessible, easily interrupted, letting people consume their time at any time.

2. having a difficulty to say no, feel awkward about disappointing. Not wanting to let others down or delay or even conveying that they cannot do it

3. finding it hard to draw boundaries between what is professional and what is being very familiar. When people get too familiar, then it becomes hard to establish norms, say what is right or wrong, give authentic direct feedback because relationships seem to somehow come in and interfere.

4. making it easy for people to delegate upwards and taking on what the team should be doing and then become a bottleneck.

5. over committing to projects not knowing that they do not have the bandwidth, they do not have the resources, it is not possible to do it. Worse, when they make commitments on behalf of their team, they underestimate what it will take to do a good job and end up actually disappointing everybody.

6. when one is constantly absorbing others stress and disappointments. Maybe wanting to reduce discomfort among others and  take on so much that at the end of many interactions they feel drained.

7. the inability to digitally distance oneself and instead always be on, always having to respond instantly. Anxiously waiting for what is coming one’s way, what one needs to say and how quickly one needs to get back.

8. neglecting self-care and knowing that one is exhausted, one is on the verge of being burnt out, that one needs to really find time for oneself to recuperate.

9. to believe that one’s worth depends on doing for others, taking care of others, that one is wanted all the time, that making sacrifices is important.

All of these nine things can drain leaders and also make them ineffective.

Do men and women struggle with managing boundaries equally?

Men and women struggle with boundaries. Perhaps centuries of social expectations and conditioning make it harder for women to manage some of the emotional boundaries of giving care, being available than men.

With every passing generation when women are able to more clearly draw boundaries, it is not easy for people around to accept it.

All things said, managing boundaries is so important for a leader to be effective

I would like to know what you think.

Youtube link: https://youtu.be/Xi4GwVYjc-c