The Leader's Secret Power Of Play

"I don't have time for that! I'm too busy!"

These are the words of a Leader on the verge of Failure.

Leaders indeed have many responsibilities in life that they have to attend to, but often Leaders are HORRIBLY Mis-Focused.

When you look at Peak Performance, sometimes there are aspects that "seem" strange, until you look deeper into Psychophysiology.

One of the most misunderstood aspects of Peak Performance is the role of Play.

Most Leaders believe that Play is a "Frivolous Activity" with no role in Business.

However, that is an incorrect assumption when you look at how our Bodies and Minds work.

Let's look at the reasons why Play is actually ESSENTIAL to Successful Leadership!

Happiness Mindset

In a previous article, I wrote how there is a difference between the Emotion of Happiness and a Happiness Mindset.

Both have roles in Success, but for right now I'm going to Focus on the Happiness Mindset.

See, Play is something that creates Happiness in our lives.

When we experience Happiness, it becomes easier to look at life more Positively.

You could say that it adds more Optimism.

This is needed in a Successful Team and Organization.

Without Optimism, you either have a Neutral Mindset or Pessimism.

Neither of those led to Peak Performance.

They either lead to the Minimum amount of work being accomplished (aka Quiet Qutting) or worse could lead to Active Disengagement.

Both of these destroy Productivity.

A Team and Organization often is HIGHLY Influenced by the Leader's Mindset.

If the Leader fails to have a Happiness Mindset, it is unlikely that Employees will have one.

Having some form of Play in your life makes a Happiness Mindset easier to maintain.

Creativity

Another important aspect of Play is that it forces us to use our Brains in different ways.

This is a direct way to Impact Creativity.

In business, Creative Problem Solving and Innovation both fall under Creativity.

Businesses that Fail to be Creative also Fail to Grow.

Eventually, it leads to Stagnation, which is the beginning stage of a Dying Team or Organization.

By intentionally participating in Play, you can avoid this though.

By using your mind in new and different ways, you push your Mind to Adapt and think in New Ways.

This can have a beneficial effect in all aspects of your life, including in Business.

Emotional Intelligence

Many forms of Play force you to take the Perspective of others.

What would they think in this situation?

Why would they do that?

What would lead them to that decision?

Forcing ourselves to take new and different Perspectives is an essential component of Emotional Intelligence.

As Technology develops, the role and need for High Emotional Intelligence from Leaders has only Skyrocketed.

You can actually develop this through Play, by Forcing your mind to ask these types of questions and think in this way.

Even if the scenarios during Play are ridiculous or impossible, this is still beneficial and can carry forward into Business.

Recovery

One of the biggest problems in the world of Business today is Dis-Stress.

It is the reason that 80% of people have Burnout.

In order to combat Burnout, we need to reduce Stress in people's lives.

It just so happens that Play has a role in accomplishing this!

When we fully engage in Play, it can act as a De-Stressor.

There are many Neurochemicals and other beneficial processes that occur during Play that aid in De-Stressing ourselves.

The more we De-Stress, the better and longer our body can go into Recovery.

That Recovery plays a HUGE role in Peak Performance.

Think about Recovery as the Gas in a Car.

As long as you have Recovery, and put more Gas in the Car, travel is fairly easy.

Dis-Stress is like the gas being empty and being forced to push the car.

Burnout is like being forced to push your car for days without any food.

How long is that effective?

So Play allows you to add fuel to the car, so you can Drive instead of continuing to Push.

Recovery is also an essential aspect of Designing a Regenerative Legacy!

The Leaders who will dominate the Future will be the ones who Successfully Design a Regenerative Legacy in their Lives, the Lives of their Employees, and as a foundational aspect of their Business.

Community

Since as far back as History can show us, Humans have used Play as a way to build Community.

This has become an essential part of our Psychophysiology.

We have a stronger desire to feel like a part of a Community than we have a desire to Succeed.

If you or members of your team don't "feel" like a part of a Community, there will be little to no Desire to push to Succeed.

We are also in an Epidemic of Loneliness, meaning people feel more Disconnected than ever before.

Now, you don't need to be "in-person" to create a Community - in fact some of the largest and strongest Communities today are Virtual!

Engaging in Play in different formats is often a tool that allows true Community to be born.

Play requires Engagement and Interaction.

A large part of the reason most Communities Fail, especially Businesses, is because they don't have any real Engagement or Interaction.

Play is a powerful way to create Real and Meaningful Engagement and Interaction!

Unconscious

One of the major reasons that many people fail to achieve Peak Performance is that they don't utilize one of their top Psychophysiological Strengths!

The Unconscious!

The best comparison of the computing power of the Conscious and Unconscious is as so:

Solving problems with the Conscious mind is like trying to solve problems with a Pen and Sticky Note.

Solving problems with the Unconscious mind is like solving problems with a NASA Supercomputer.

Which do you think works better for Peak Performance?

You may be the most intelligent person in the universe, but if you do everything by Pen and Sticky Note, you will Fail to Achieve your Potential.

To best use our mind, we need our most important thoughts to get into our Unconscious mind.

An easy and great way to accomplish this is to engage in Play!

By forcing your Conscious mind to engage in Play, the things you must think about for work get forced into the Unconscious.

While you are gaining all the other mentioned benefits of Play, with the Conscious mind preoccupied in Play, you ALSO gain all the benefits of work being processed by the Supercomputer Unconscious!

Flow

The Final benefit of Play is that most people are able to find some form of Flow State while in Play.

Flow is the Psychological state of mind where we feel our best and do our best.

The cool thing about Flow though is that "Flow begets Flow".

This means that the more often you get into Flow, the easier it becomes to get into more Flow!

So, by engaging in Play, we are often purposefully getting into Flow States.

This in turn makes it easier to get into Flow States at work, which has further benefits in our work!

Productivity increases 5X!

Creativity also gains a MASSIVE Boost!

When Teams get into Flow States together (called Group Flow) these types of benefits become Exponential!

So, when we engage in Play, we are making it easier to attain Flow in every other aspect of our Lives.

This also makes Life SIGNIFICANTLY more enjoyable!

It's a win-win situation.

I think the real question you should ask yourself as a Leader is if you can afford NOT to engage in Play?