Respiration I (Overview)

We should all know about respiration, rival of photosynthesis. While photosynthesis takes in carbon dioxide and puts out oxygen, respiration does the opposite.

Today I will explain the overall reaction of respiration.

A  simple model of respiration will go like this: oxygen and glucose go in, and energy, water, and carbon dioxide go out. Now, let’s talk about the overall reaction: 

C6H12O6+6O2 = 6CO2+6H2O ΔG = -3202 KJ

This produces enough energy to take a cup of just-melted water, and boil it! This reaction is what powers us, and every living thing on earth.

In the next few releases, I will explain how we get this energy.

The above section is the unedited writings of my son.

Respiration and Coaching

“I’m exhausted. I feel like I’m ten steps behind in everything both at work and at home. What can I do to improve myself as a leader so I can cope better?”

This was what a senior leader at a Fortune 100 company told me a few days ago. She was double-hatting at work, handling 2 separate teams, pulled into 6 additional projects, and mothering 3 children. 

Tired and overwhelmed, she came to coaching to improve her leadership competencies so she can manage better at work and at home. 

What she hadn’t realised was that a lack of leadership skills wasn’t her problem. Her problem was that she cared too much. 

She cared too much about her work, her team, and her family. So much so that she was taking on tasks that weren’t her responsibility to help others. 

Who she didn’t care for though, was herself. She wasn’t coping but she couldn’t let go because she felt she would let down all these people depending on her. 

If this is you, take a leaf from respiration.

Burning a Candle on Both Ends

Respiration is a process where we take in sugar to produce energy. What happens if we burn the candle at both ends and try to squeeze energy out without taking in sugar?  

When sugars runs out, we can use fats. When fats run out, we use proteins. And when proteins run out, that’s the end. We die. 

Many of the leaders I meet are on this same process. They’ve taken on or been handed more and more without a chance to rest or recover - to breathe. Maybe that’s you too.

At first, it’s doable. You prioritise, time manage, and produce despite the peak. You burn your ‘sugars’.

Then it drags on. A peak period turns into a peak year. Or a year becomes packed with multiple, sometime overlapping peak periods. You tap into your long term reserves. Delegate and empower. Mobilise outside resources. Get your partner to take on more childcare. You burn your ‘fats’.

But your organisation restructures. And now you’re asked to take on another team. Or to do the jobs of the three persons who were retrenched. Or to hit your KPIs despite massive changes, economic recession, and great uncertainty about supply. So you buckle down and do yet more. You burn your ‘proteins’.

At this point, it’s gotten dangerous and you haven’t realised it at all. Because burning proteins literally means you are losing muscle mass, even muscles from the heart, to keep going. 

At what point are you hurting yourself, especially your health, to get the work done?

If you’re exhausted, or even ill, perhaps this is a signal from your body that you’re now burning your ‘proteins’. 

What to Do as a Leader Facing This Situation

Here’s how I help the leaders I coach to get back from this brink:

Step 1: Save your ‘proteins’

Step back and take a hard look at your own situation.

What is the cost of the work you do? Is it your health? Family life? Personal care? 

Tally that cost and decide which of these are non-negotiable costs. Which you would defend no matter what. 

Decide what you would have to do to ensure that these non-negotiables remain untouched. 

Step 2: Conserve your ‘fats’

Take stock of the long term reserves you’ve build. 

Think of the support network around you or the resources you are able to mobilise or call on in the organisation. Perhaps the efficiencies you’ve built because of your years of experience. The trust and sacrifice of your team. Your mentors and sponsors. Your family support.

Now, ask yourself: if you’re pushing yourself because you do not want to let down the people at work, how many of these people are you letting down as a result of that?

Are you kids not seeing you before bed because you have late night meetings?

Are you team overloaded as they try to take on more because you’ve been pulled into other projects?

Which of these ‘fats’ do you want most to conserve?

You’ve taken on too much and you’ll need to drop some balls anyway. Which balls are the most important to you? Which do you want to drop?

Step 3: Rebuild your ‘sugars’

Can you get more effective? Of course. 

Can you empower more? Sure.

Can you be a better leader? Definitely.

None of these will help you though. What will help is to become more strategic in the work you do. More strategic in the literal meaning. Look at your company’s current strategic direction, see how it is cascaded to your department, your team, your KPIs, and decide amidst all your do, which exactly meets that. Stop doing everything else.

For instance, what meetings/projects/initiatives can you get out of because they do not directly contribute to your KPIs?

What lower-value work should you be delegating to your people because you have more important priorities to focus on?

Which processes can you simplify because they’re not directly contributing to your KPIs?

Rebuild your capacity for the most important work by delegating or eliminating the rest.

Conclusion

Obviously, we go into deeper nuances during our coaching sessions, but this is the basic process which I use to help my coachees deal with their situations.

Does it work? Absolutely.

If it seems too hard, message me ‘help’ and let’s talk about how we can find a way out for you.

Happy #MentalHealthDay