Personal boundaries are what you can put in place and they don’t require anyone else to do anything.
-paraphrased from “Dare to Lead” by Brene Brown.
I love this because it gives YOU control. It’s your personal boundary, it starts with you honouring it.
Personal Boundaries In Action:
Janet Truncale, recently appointed global chief executive at EY, told Working Mother magazine in 2006 “My clients know that if anything’s important they can reach me on my BlackBerry”. Her 3 children were all under the age of 10 and she was working 4 days a week. “They also know my children’s schedules, so when I’m taking Noah to the gym they won’t call me.”
Wow, what an inspiration. A woman, a mother of 3, working at the highest echelons of corporate America, in a very demanding client facing environment. She drew her personal boundaries.
But what if her clients called her at the wrong time, when she was taking her son to the gym? Would they be stepping on her personal boundaries? Maybe, but it doesn’t really change anything if you look at it through the lens of the above definition. You put the personal boundary in place and if you honour it, then it becomes a personal boundary for you.
A Few Of My Personal Boundaries:
I understand that this may not be possible for everyone, and not all the time. But even if we can find a way to start with a small personal boundary that gives us a little more control than we had before, then that’s a win.
Here are the personal boundaries I’ve tried to maintain over the last few years. I shared these upfront with my last company before agreeing to the job (which was a global leadership role across multiple time zones):
1. My children’s school drop off and pick up times are blocked off in my work calendar
2. No work on the weekends
3. No avoidable calls between 8pm-8am
What’s Required To Set and Honour Your Personal boundaries and What’s the Benefit?
What does it take to set a personal boundary? Confidence. You are making a statement: this is what is important to me.
Equally important, what does it take to honour your personal boundaries? Courage and a lot of practise. The more you practise keeping your personal boundaries, the easier it becomes.
Personal boundaries is a topic that comes up often in my coaching sessions with clients. Why is this important? By having personal boundaries, you are honouring your values, and living life on your terms. That’s a huge payoff.
#ExecutiveCoaching #PlayBig #CreateConfidence #FeelFearless #PersonalBoundaries