5 ways to grow as a leader this summer

Summer is here! Take time to step back, reflect, and prepare for what’s next with these five tips.

1. Focus on time management

Summer is a great time to work on developing your time management skills. Warm weather and longer days are calling out to you to enjoy, but if you’re used to working long hours on your business, summer isn’t going to feel that different than any other time of year. Pick your favorite summer activity and use that as your extra motivation to build your time management skills.Learning to properly manage your schedule can do wonders for you as a leader and as a human. It can help you be more productive at work and open up time in your schedule to rest and recharge. Work on identifying the time wasters that you struggle with and get them under control. You may need to create boundaries for yourself to stop from getting pulled into projects that your employees should handle. You may need to eliminate distractions like social media or attending every single networking event that comes your way. And you may need to learn to set hard deadlines for yourself.

2. Make your meetings more effective

Meetings can be one of the biggest waste of time in the physical and virtual office space. And when summer days are calling, no one wants to be sitting in a stuffy board room or staring at their computer screen for hours on end.

3. Plan for fall

If you want to improve as a leader over the summer, make sure you spend time planning for the fall. The 3rd quarter moves fast and you want to make sure you have a plan to finish the year with a strong 4th quarter. If summer is a slower season for your business, this is your time to do planning and strategizing for the coming months. That way, that when everyone returns from summer vacations and shorter work days, and they’re ready to hit the ground running and you’ll be ready to lead them.

4. Do a little team-building

The past few years have revealed the negative impact that isolation and remote work has had on some people. Summer is a great time to do some team-building. Plan a fun activity outside of the office — a frisbee game, a picnic, or go see an outdoor concert.

5. Take breaks

As a leader, it’s important to take a break. Get out of the office and away from your desk this summer. Do the fun summer activities you like to do. Don’t use work as an excuse to stay cooped up with your head down, working all summer.

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Adapted from “Five Ways to Grow as a Leaders this Summer” by Spearity: https://www.spearity.com/2023/04/25/five-ways-to-grow-as-a-leader-this-summer/