For lawyers, leadership roles are add-ons to already demanding schedules. Consider this scenario. You have an active law practice; you’re in firm management and you’re married with two young kids.  You decide that you’ll also lead a bar association. But while you take on that additional role, court deadlines aren’t suspended; hours still have to be billed; and clients will keep calling. And oh by the way, your family would like to see you from time to time. If you’re working in-house, it’s a similar story.  The CEO, the Board of Directors, and the executive team will still ask you to weigh in on corporate strategy and guide the organization.   

Given this dynamic, lawyers who assume leadership roles may increase their risk of burnout.  The CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, said his job was to make four or five good decisions every day. That’s hard to do that if you’re exhausted. A renowned coach once echoed a similar sentiment: “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”

Nevertheless, leadership opportunities often allow us to make contributions to organizations we value, and not surprisingly, we will continue to embrace them. Given that, how do we equip ourselves to give our best in these roles? Part of the solution is managing ourselves to maintain our energy and focus. 

To achieve that goal, we need to create practices in our lives that support and enhance our energy levels.  Some call it self-care. Others call it work-life balance. I just call it smart. 

But whatever terms you use, this approach is a necessity for long-term success. After all, there is a reason why in every pre-flight safety presentation, the flight attendant tells you to put on your oxygen mask before you help anyone else. To lead others, you have to take care of yourself.

In this post, my goal is to get you thinking about what you can do to enhance your leadership skills by maintaining your energy level. To get the conversation started, I offer my list:

Sleep & The Friday Afternoon Fog:

When I began practicing law, many business leaders bragged about how little sleep they needed. One prominent tech CEO trumpeted that he slept only about four hours a night. For years, I tried to push my limits on sleepbecause I thought I would be more productive. But eventually, I noticed a pattern. Around mid-afternoon every Friday, a mental fog would set in. At first, I assumed the solution was one more cup of coffee. Then I realized  it was more fundamental; I just  wasn’t getting enough sleep. So, I increased my sleep target, and the fog lifted. I became more productive, not less. 

Here is my morning routine:

• Reading the Wall Street Journal;
• Drinking a cup of green tea (a healthier and gentler warm-up than coffee);
• Gratitude journaling;
• Meditating;
• Working out; and
• Listening to podcasts about domestic, international, financial, and political news.

Unplug from the Shouting: 

We live in an angry time.  I’ve concluded that many news outlets on both ends of the political spectrum facilitate this environment.  I suggest that you choose the source of your news to minimize vitriol and to provide objective reporting.

The Power of “No”:

As a parent of teenagers, I’ve had to learn that “no” is a complete sentence. Leading is a choice. And part of that choice is prioritizing one endeavor over others, which means you’ll have to decline some opportunities—both to lead effectively in the endeavor you’ve chosen and to preserve your energy for it. 

The Power of Relationships:

In his bestseller Outliers, Malcom Gladwell describes a small town in Pennsylvania where most of the population came from a small Italian village. The town’s citizens under the age of 55 had virtually no heart disease, despite a lot of unhealthy behavior. A study concluded that one of the main reasons for this phenomenon was the strong relationships among the residents.

The legal profession can be isolating. Deadlines can require frequent work at night and on weekends. You’re accessible 24/7. In firms, billable hour targets always seem to be creeping up. In-house attorneys are expected to do more with less. Lawyers tend to be negative and pessimistic, and isolation only feeds this mindset.

In this environment, it’s easy to let important relationships slip. But if that happens, your energy level probably will too. Relationships require work, just like your career. 

Walking Past Five Guys:

Start saying “no” (see #4 above) to that double bacon cheeseburger with fries. Your body needs better fuel than that. So does your waistline. 

Get Moving:

When I said walking past Five Guys, let me underline “walking.” If you’re not exercising, get started with a 10-minute daily walk around your neighborhood. Then to go 15 minutes and so on. You’ll just feel better. Go with a friend or your significant other; it’s a great way to foster better relationships (see #5 above). 

Actually Take a Vacation (and minimize work when you go).  You will be a better leader if your mind has a chance to rest.  Even the coolest Tesla  has to visit  a charging station from time to time. The Dalai Lama has recommended that every year we go somewhere we’ve never been. New places often recharge us and change our perspectives in unexpected ways. 

To be sure, my list is aspirational.  Sometimes events will make one or more of these goals impossible. I’m sure you can come up with myriad reasons why. A multi-week trial.  Closing a complex deal. Or supporting an aging parent.  Inevitably, there will be times when you’ll be sleep-deprived, and life will feel out of balance. But the trick is to make those situations the exception rather than the rule. Any other course isn’t sustainable over the long term—and won’t do much for your ability to lead. 

What are your ideas about structuring our lives so we can be more effective leaders? Add them in the comments to this post. I look forward to learning from you.