Scrolling through LinkedIn the other day I saw two very different posts virtually side by side. The headline of the first was:
‘Successful people know the importance of rest & renewal’
The second read:
‘When life changes, only the relentless thrive’
I have no reason to doubt that the people posting those statements believed them, but the sentiments sounded so at odds with each other.
It got me thinking about how difficult it is for organisations to decide on the ‘best’ approach for setting cultural expectations. The statements above seemed to be an example of the kind of things that an organisation's leaders and HR teams have to wrestle with all the time. Do we want an environment where people are relentlessly striving to deliver great results? or is it more important that our people know we value the importance of rest and renewal?
Or can we have both? Can we strike a balance between the two?
We sometimes see this balance or imbalance in sport. We know that top sports people are incredibly goal-focused, and they relentlessly drive themselves towards those goals. But we also often hear that ‘X’ is exhausted and needs a rest- England and Tottenham’s Harry Kane is the latest to be the subject of debate on this topic.
It also seems all too frequent that people don’t want to admit they need a break. It’s somehow seen as a sign of weakness or failure- even though this cycle of flat out activity followed by rest and renewal is so fundamental right across the natural world that to not acknowledge it seems illogical (to quote our Vulcan friend).
But it is a tricky one. Managers are under pressure themselves. Imagine saying to your bosses ‘I’m not putting our best person on this project because she needs a break’. Would that be acceptable where you work? How would your senior leaders react to that?
So does the organisation have a duty to create an environment where everyone is working ‘relentlessly’ towards a shared goal, but where it’s OK to say ‘I need a break’? And how do you actually make that work?
When you’re thinking about your company culture how do you balance ‘relentless drive’ and ‘rest and renewal’? What is the prevailing approach and how does that contribute to long-term, sustained success?
If you want to talk about how to approach this in your organisation, or if you have any other HR consultancy, training or coaching needs, please get in touch via the website sightscreenhr.co.uk or at ben@sightscreenhr.co.uk