7 Ways Managers Motivate And Demotivate Employees

Few things are as costly and disruptive as managers who kill morale.

Demotivated employees underperform and then walk out the door at the first opportunity.

The scariest thing is how prevalent this lack of motivation is. Gallup research shows that 70% of employees consider themselves to be disengaged at work.

Organizations know how important it is to have motivated, engaged employees, but most fail to hold managers accountable for making it happen.

When they don’t, the bottom line suffers.

Research from the University of California found that motivated employees were 31% more productive, had 37% higher sales, and were three times more creative than demotivated employees. They were also 87% less likely to quit, according to a Corporate Leadership Council study on over 50,000 people.

The Gallup research shows that a mind-boggling 70% of an employee’s motivation is influenced by his or her manager. It’s no wonder employees don’t leave jobs; they leave managers.

Making Things Worse

Before managers can start creating motivated, engaged employees, there are some critical things that they need to stop doing. What follows are some of the worst behaviors that managers need to eradicate from the workplace.

1. Making a lot of stupid rules. Companies need to have rules—that’s a given—but they don’t have to be short sighted and lazy attempts at creating order. Whether it’s an overzealous attendance policy or taking employees’ frequent flier miles, even a couple of unnecessary rules can drive people crazy. When good employees feel like big brother is watching, they’ll find someplace else to work. 

2. Letting accomplishments go unrecognized. It’s easy to underestimate the power of a pat on the back, especially with top performers who are intrinsically motivated. Everyone likes kudos, none more so than those who work hard and give their all. Rewarding individual accomplishments shows that you’re paying attention. Managers need to communicate with their people to find out what makes them feel good (for some, it’s a raise; for others, it’s public recognition) and then to reward them for a job well done. With top performers, this will happen often if you’re doing it right. 

3. Hiring and promoting the wrong people. Good, hard-working employees want to work with like-minded professionals. When managers don’t do the hard work of hiring good people, it’s a major demotivator for those stuck working alongside them. Promoting the wrong people is even worse. When you work your tail off only to get passed over for a promotion that’s given to someone who glad-handed their way to the top­­­­­­­, it’s a massive insult. No wonder it makes good people leave. 

4. Treating everyone equally. While this tactic works with school children, the workplace ought to function differently. Treating everyone equally shows your top performers that no matter how high they perform (and, typically, top performers are work horses), they will be treated the same as the bozo who does nothing more than punch the clock. 

5. Tolerating poor performance. It’s said that in jazz bands, the band is only as good as the worst player; no matter how great some members may be, everyone hears the worst player. The same goes for a company. When you permit weak links to exist without consequence, they drag everyone else down, especially your top performers.

6. Going back on their commitments. Making promises to people places you on the fine line that lies between making them very happy and watching them walk out the door. When you uphold a commitment, you grow in the eyes of your employees because you prove yourself to be trustworthy and honorable (two very important qualities in a boss). But when you disregard your commitment, you come across as slimy, uncaring, and disrespectful. After all, if the boss doesn’t honor his or her commitments, why should everyone else?

7. Being apathetic. More than half of people who leave their jobs do so because of their relationship with their boss. Smart companies make certain their managers know how to balance being professional with being human. These are the bosses who celebrate an employee’s success, empathize with those going through hard times, and challenge people, even when it hurts. Bosses who fail to really care will always have high turnover rates. It’s impossible to work for someone eight-plus hours a day when they aren’t personally involved and don’t care about anything other than your productivity.

Making Things Better

Once managers have eradicated the seven negative behaviors that demotivate their best people, it’s time to replace them with the following seven behaviors that make people love their jobs. 

1. Follow the platinum rule. The Golden Rule (treat others as you want to be treated) has a fatal flaw: it assumes that all people want to be treated the same way. It ignores the fact that people are motivated by vastly different things. One person loves public recognition, while another loathes being the center of attention. The Platinum Rule (treat others as they want to be treated) corrects that flaw. Good managers are great at reading other people, and they adjust their behavior and style accordingly.

2. Be strong without being harsh. Strength is an important quality in a leader. People will wait to see if a leader is strong before they decide to follow his or her lead or not. People need courage in their leaders. They need someone who can make difficult decisions and watch over the good of the group. They need a leader who will stay the course when things get tough. People are far more likely to show strength themselves when their leader does the same. A lot of leaders mistake domineering, controlling, and otherwise harsh behavior for strength. They think that taking control and pushing people around will somehow inspire a loyal following. Strength isn’t something you can force on people; it’s something you earn by demonstrating it time and again in the face of adversity. Only then will people trust that they should follow you.

3. Remember that communication is a two-way street. Many managers think that they’re great communicators, not realizing that they’re only communicating in one direction. Some pride themselves on being approachable and easily accessible, yet they don’t really hear the ideas that people share with them. Some managers don’t set goals or provide context for the things they ask people to do, and others never offer feedback, leaving people wondering if they’re more likely to get promoted or fired.

4. Be a role model, not a preacher. Great leaders inspire trust and admiration through their actions, not just their words. Many leaders say that integrity is important to them, but great leaders walk their talk by demonstrating integrity every day. Harping on people all day long about the behavior you want to see has a tiny fraction of the impact you achieve by demonstrating that behavior yourself.

5. Be transparent. Good managers are transparent and forthcoming about company goals, expectations, and plans. When managers try to sugarcoat, mask, or euphemize in order to make things seem better than they are, employees see right through it.

6. Be humble. Few things kill motivation as quickly as a boss’s arrogance. Great bosses don’t act as though they’re better than you, because they don’t think that they’re better than you. Rather than being a source of prestige, they see their leadership position as bringing them additional accountability for serving those who follow them.

7. Take a genuine interest in employees’ work-life balance. Nothing burns good employees out quite like overworking them. It’s so tempting to work your best people hard that managers frequently fall into this trap. Overworking good employees is perplexing to them; it makes them feel as if they’re being punished for their great performance. Overworking employees is also counterproductive. New research from Stanford shows that productivity per hour declines sharply when the workweek exceeds 50 hours, and productivity drops off so much after 55 hours that you don’t get anything out of the extra work.

Bringing It All Together

If you cultivate the characteristics above and avoid the demotivators, you’ll become the kind of boss that people remember for the rest of their careers.

Have you seen these motivators and demotivators in action? Please share your thoughts in the comments section, as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

If you’d like to learn more, my book Emotional Intelligence 2.0 is a great place to start.

Restricting Immigration Won’t Make American Industries Great Again

President Trump’s path to the White House was paved in part by his hardline approach to immigration. For Trump, “Making America Great Again” included not only stepping up enforcement against illegal immigration but also increasing restrictions on legal immigration.

Trump’s rhetoric on illegal immigration has been overplayed in the media. And his supporters and critics have all weighed in on the merits and drawbacks of building a US/Mexican wall, enhanced enforcement against illegals within the US and the travel ban.

But his proposed restrictions to legal immigration needs more attention, especially if making the economy great again is part of Trump’s plan.

Other than the controversial travel ban, no law has yet passed nor executive order signed respecting legal immigration. But the message has been loud and clear: restrictions are coming.

As far as can be gathered, some of the proposed measures restricting legal immigration include.

• Eliminating several avenues for U.S. citizens and permanent residents to sponsor family members for green cards;

• Ending the diversity visa lottery which currently allows 50,000 visas per year for citizens of countries that traditionally have low rates of immigration to the United States;

• Refocusing the current immigration system from one based on family ties towards a more skills-oriented one;

• Tightening the number of low-skilled foreign workers into the country;

• Curbing skilled worker visas such as the H-1B visa program.

But will such measures lead to economic growth?

In a previous article, I addressed how US workers, especially those among Trump’s “forgotten voters” would in fact not be served by curbing immigration levels. I argued that more immigration not less, optimizes the US labor pool providing employers with incentives for hiring American. The reason for this is that American companies, when given the freedom to recruit from beyond the borders, can grow faster and reinvest their capital, freeing up more resources towards hiring and training more US workers. In other words, free trade in human resources benefits not only foreign workers and the companies that hire them, but has a dividend benefit to local labor. And as I argued, companies would always rather hire in their own backyard if and when they can.

But what happens when immigration restrictions get in the way? When companies are unable to tap into the global labor pool when faced with labor shortages? The answer is clear. Entire industries shrink and so do prospects for employment. Restricting the cross-border flow of human capital has far reaching effects that are the opposite of what immigration legislation intends to achieve: to protect the American worker and wages.

What we can learn from Canada

Take the case from our neighbors to the north. In a wrongheaded effort to “protect’ Canadian workers and their wages from global competition, the Canadian government initiated a “Canada-first” immigration policy which imposed greater restrictions on temporary foreign worker visas. This only served to amplify the already chronic labor shortage in this industry.

Working in the meat industry is often a dirty and physically demanding experience. Although workers in that industry are eligible for health benefits, the starting pay is below Canada’s national average. Most processing plants in Canada, which are also major meat exporters, offer full health and dental benefits but hourly wages that start at around C$13-C$19 (US$9.90-US$14.50), below the national average for natural resource and agricultural workers. Canadians simply aren’t lining up for these jobs.

Accordingly, Canadian meat processing plants needed to seek foreign talent to compensate for the domestic labor shortage. But due to increased visa restrictions imposed by the then conservative government, their efforts to hire globally were thwarted.

Fortunately, the new Liberal government in Canada, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has promised to ease up on some visa restrictions as well as creating easier paths to permanent residency. If these changes occur, the Canadian meat industry may be saved. But as it stands, the industry continues to struggle under the weight of chronic labor shortages thanks to visa regulations.

Canada’s story is telling. If Trump delivers on his promises to further restrict visa programs in the US, we can expect the same unfortunate outcomes. “These moves aren’t likely to create more jobs in US meat plants” according to David Swenson, an economist at Iowa State University in Ames. Swenson estimated that one third of workers in processing plants in Iowa, the largest pork-producing state, are immigrants. And like in Canada, this largely immigrant labor force is in place because domestic workers prefer higher paying and less physically demanding jobs.

America’s Tech Industry

The US information and technology industry, worth an estimated mind-blowing 1.26 trillion dollars, will be significantly impacted if the Trump administration’s proposed visa restrictions come to light. President Trump has threatened to overhaul the H1-B program which is the largest visa program for allowing high-skilled foreign workers employment in the U.S.

The H-1B visa is utilized by foreign college graduates with knowledge in a highly specialized field. Its establishment coincided with the rise of the internet, sending America’s need for skilled computer scientists skyrocketing. About half of the more than 120,000 H1-B visas granted in 2014 went to those working in computer related fields.

That number may seem high but given the endless demand for skilled workers in IT, the current government quotas of H-1Bs fall short, leaving Silicone Valley scrambling to fill jobs. Further, H-1B visas are already difficult to obtain. Eligibility for these visas are reserved only for the highly educated and experienced and employers are required to muddle through endless red tape to secure approvals

Yet Trump promises even tougher measures which will further hamstring the industry. And predictably, there’s been an outcry from industry leaders.

Real Estate industry

While there’s general optimism in the air about Trump’s promises to lower taxes and to deregulate business, concerns have been voiced by the real-estate industry about his crackdown on immigration. Home builders are understandably concerned about possible labor shortages if Trump follows through on his protectionist rhetoric.

The clear majority of homebuilder labor consists of immigrant labor. Much of it was lost during the housing crash, as workers moved on to different fields or left the country. Immigrants comprise close to 41 percent of the construction workforce in California and close to 40 percent in Texas, according to the Homebuilder’s Group “If America becomes more isolated and less open, it could actually chill international demand for U.S. luxury housing,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at the housing data firm Redfin. “[Trump] is going to have to square his immigration policy with the reality that foreign buyers are a critical part of the housing market.”

The unavoidable effect of labor shortages are declines in inventory resulting in higher prices. The real-estate industry is no exception to the laws of economics and last thing we need is another real estate bubble driven this time by labor shortages caused by immigration central planning.

Many other American industries are at risk if stricter immigration policies become a reality. If the White House makes it even harder for foreign workers to offer their talents to the United States especially when other countries are opening doors, the US will quickly fall behind. The Trump administration would be wise to rethink its stance on immigration. Otherwise making America great again will become another broken campaign promise.

PwC and The Huffington Post Ask: What’s Your Purpose? A Red Carpet Event

We’re just a few days away from the 89^th Academy Awards, an evening in which years of hard work culminate in dreams coming true. Many would agree it’s quite moving to watch the acceptance speeches from those who take home OscarsⓇ. Through their words, we often have the opportunity to get to know the events that inspired the creation of a film or character, as well as the individuals who contributed to its development along the way. 

Previously, we spoke about the importance of diversity in bringing stories to life. It’s this same diversity in storytelling that brings awareness to personal triumph, struggles individuals face daily, and problems plaguing our society. However, storytelling at its best can also inspire action. It can help uncover a new desire to solve these same problems and, in turn, help people realize a purpose that lives inside of them.

At PwC, we constantly seek opportunities to help people find and live their purpose. So, come Sunday, while celebrities and studio heads are walking the red carpet, PwC will be hosting a red carpet event of its own. Only, instead of asking individuals what they’re wearing, we’ll be asking them to tell us more about their purpose―their reason for being. Joining us for our live event, hosted by Shannon Schuyler, PwC’s Chief Purpose Officer, and Jo Confino, Executive Editor, Impact and Innovation, Huffington Post, will be names many may know, including:

• Brandon Victor Dixon, Tony and Grammy AwardⓇ Nominee, who currently plays the lead role of Aaron Burr in Broadway’s hit musical, Hamilton
• Julia Ormond, Actress, Founder of ASSET, and first UN Goodwill Ambassador to combat Trafficking and Slavery
• Mike Adams, Safety, Indianapolis Colts and Founder of The Team Adams Foundation
• Dee-1, Artist

We admire greatly those individuals who use their platform to help enable change in ways that are personal to them, and we celebrate those individuals who create new platforms from the ground up, simply through their inner will to make a difference in their communities. That is why we’re also privileged to welcome these social entrepreneurs and educators who redefine what it means to turn the work they do for a living into the work that can be done for our world:

• David Heath, Co-Founder & CEO, Bombas
• Cisco Pinedo, Founder & CEO of Cisco Home, and Co-Founder of the non-profit Refoundry
• Tiffany Anderson, Superintendent, Topeka Public Schools 

Our Red Carpet with a Purpose will stream live on The Huffington Post Sunday, February 26 at 4 pm Pacific. Amidst a night filled with stars and glamour, we hope you’ll join us to take a moment to reflect on your passions and purpose, and the mark you want to leave in this world. 

©2017 PwC. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the US member firm or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors. 

5 Essential Steps To Changing Jobs Without Burning Bridges

It can be tough to find your dream profession; millennials know this first hand. Young professionals finding their calling frequently treat jobs like a new outfit: try it on, find it doesn’t quite work as they planned, then discard it and continue to look for a better option.

You can’t help it. You believe something better might be right around the corner, and you won’t stop looking until you find the perfect position. While there’s nothing wrong with chasing your passion, you should consider what you’re leaving behind. Your previous employers now have to deal with the repercussions that come with your absence.

There may be an occasion in the future where you have to call on these former coworkers or managers. Keep your relationship with them positive instead of burning bridges to the ground.

Here are five tips for gracefully handling a job departure.

1. Don’t Look for Positions on Company Time

You’re unhappy in your current place, so you’re already looking for what you can do next. It can be tempting to occupy yourself during a lull in your day by browsing open listings or postings on LinkedIn. Refrain from researching open positions on company time. It comes off as incredibly unprofessional. Use personal time outside of work for job hunting.

2. Don’t Interview While on the Clock

Just like you shouldn’t look for work, you also shouldn’t be meeting with other businesses during the work day. Schedule an interview over your lunch break, or take a personal day. When you accept a job, your employer may remember all of your random tales related to your absences.

3. Give as Much Notice as Possible

You just heard back from the company you interviewed with, and you got the job. Congratulations! Now you have to let your current organization know.

While two weeks’ notice is the norm, if you know sooner, give your boss a heads-up. It can sometimes take months to fill a vacancy between posting the position online, going through resumes and scheduling interviews. The more time the hiring manager has to find a replacement, the better.

4. Avoid Mentally Checking Out

You’re waiting to start at your new office and only have a few days left at your current job. Finish up pending projects and close out your employment on the right note. Leaving with everything in order will keep you in good standing.

Now’s not the time to start coasting. While you should avoid any long-term work, fill your days with worthwhile projects that are short-term until your parting date.

5. Give a Helpful Exit Interview

This is a great opportunity to be honest, however, you want to be gracious. You may have hated your loud coworker or thought the work was boring, but keep those feelings to yourself.

Give constructive feedback so the company can improve. Don’t badmouth anyone, especially if you want a reference. Be kind and professional throughout the entire process and thank your employer for the opportunity to have learned and developed your executive skills.

You may also like 7 Things to Do When Your Job Suddenly Changes. For more of Diane’s etiquette tips, visit her blog, connect with her here on The Huffington Post, “like” The Protocol School of Texas on Facebook, and follow her on Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.

Domestic Violence: A Hidden Public Health Threat That Affects Businesses

There is a hidden threat putting the safety and security of every American business and its bottom line at risk. The public health community I work in knows it, and studies show that corporate executives know it too. Until we come together to face this threat, we won’t be doing our best to prevent it.

The hidden threat is the chronic epidemic of domestic violence which affects one in three women and one in four men in the U.S. Domestic violence not only poses immediate danger to its victims, but also leads to higher incidence of long-term physical and mental health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and depression.[1]

But domestic violence does not happen just in the home. From 2003-2008, one-third of women killed in U.S. workplaces were killed by a current or former intimate partner.[2] Consider the CEO of BDA, Inc., a brand merchandising and marketing agency, who experienced the human cost of domestic violence the hard way. On a corporate retreat, Susan Brockert, an employee, was beaten to death in her hotel room by her boyfriend.

In addition to stories like Susan’s, domestic violence also takes a toll on the economic bottom line. Individuals who are physically, emotionally, and financially assaulted by their intimate partners are missing eight million paid workdays a year. That is the equivalent of 32,000 full-time jobs.[3]

In a 2005 survey of victims of domestic violence, 64% indicated that their ability to work was jeopardized, and two in five feared their intimate partner’s intrusion at their job either by phone or in person[4].

Admittedly these statistics on the workplace impact of domestic violence are dated, an indication of the lack of investment in consistent research and public health surveillance of this ubiquitous and persistent threat. Many organizations are doing valuable work on the ground to prevent and address domestic violence in communities[5] , but more can be done. At the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, we are taking a look at how we can do a better job at domestic violence prevention, working across multiple disciplines - public health, business, medicine, and education. As we have learned in tackling other complex health problems such as HIV/AIDS and obesity, our effectiveness in preventing the epidemic of domestic violence will be limited severely if we do not collaborate with the private sector.

Any business leader knows that you can’t address a problem that is not fully understood. Thus, expanding our knowledge base about how best to prevent domestic violence, individually and institutionally, is critical to making progress. Research is needed to understand where to target evidence-based prevention efforts to make the most impact. More studies would be crucial to understanding what policies and programs are most effective. We also need communication strategies and messages that resonate, particularly with young adults where the incidence of domestic violence is greatest. And it would be important to have action plans to disseminate this knowledge far and wide.

In our fast-paced world nowadays, millions of Americans spend much of their week at work.

Our business leaders recognize that the safety, security, health, and well-being of their employees are critical to achieving their financial goals. Whether we work in a factory or a laboratory, an office tower or a classroom, we must all prioritize domestic violence prevention through raising awareness, strategic partnerships, workplace conversations, and a call to action.

[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2011.

[2] National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Safety Research, Analysis and Field Evaluations Branch, Morgantown, West Virginia. (April 2012).

[3]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Costs of intimate partner violence against women in the United States. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; 2003.

[4] Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence, National Benchmark Telephone Survey, Bloomington, IL, 2005.

[5] National Coalition against Domestic Violence (http://www.ncadv.org/), Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence (http://www.caepv.org/), No More (http://nomore.org/about/), REACH (http://reachma.org/what-we-do/prevention-programs/), Center against Domestic Violence (http://www.cadvny.org/?gclid=CMnHjJq9kNICFcWFswod4DwJcg0), Domestic Violence Services Network, Inc. (http://dvsn.org/), Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable (http://www.domesticviolenceroundtable.org/).

Deleting Uber Is The Least You Can Do

Uber is what you get when you take Silicon Valley’s most toxic values, add billions of dollars in venture capital, and spice it with endless adoration from a fawning tech press. The resulting cocktail has turned as putrid as it’s been potent. And the inebriated corporate culture of Uber is acting as reckless and callous as a dangerous drunk.

I’m sure it didn’t start out this way. It never does. They were up against entrenched interests keen to keep a shoddy on-demand transportation system in place for another century. A perfectly unlikable foe begging for a D-Day Disruption. Hell, I cheered them on in this fight in the early days!

“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster… for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you”  —  Friedrich Nietzsche

But it sure didn’t take long until that monster lurking within was unleashed. Before working with Trump, before this latest sexual harassment scandal, Uber’s rap sheet already included sabotaging competitors, threatening journalists, repeatedly deceiving drivers, and much more.

Yet none of it has so far really mattered much, as Uber has proven the Silicon Valley maxim that “growth solves all problems”. And grown they have! Supposedly worth some $66 billion now, they’re the no. 1 Unicorn in the world of tech. That’s about as good of a moral immunity policy as you can get in Silicon Valley.

There are simply too many people who have either actual money at stake, or correlated investments on the line, to expect much internal pressure from Silicon Valley for Uber to change its ways.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his [exit strategy] depends upon his not understanding it!”  —  Upton Sinclair

It’s the same dynamic that’s played out around billionaire Trump surrogate, Facebook board member, and YCombinator partner Peter Thiel. No matter how odious his statements, views, or connections, he continues to be a revered prince in the Silicon Valley royal family. There appears to be nothing Thiel could say or Uber could do that’ll cause their fall from grace.

“I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters” — Donald Trump

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both Peter Thiel and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick have been chummy and beyond with Trump. There’s an unmistakable ideological kinship between the three. A ruthless disregard for the law and any institutions that stand between them and more billions or settled scores. A pattern of vindictive power moves against the press and others.

Again, this is straight from the Silicon Valley book of sacred beliefs: Move fast and break things. Disrupt! Whatever you need to do to keep the engine of growth firing at 110%, just do it. You can always release a contrite press release if you get caught. The memory of consumers and voters is short, so worry not.

Which is exactly the route Kalanick is choosing at the moment. First, it was withdrawing from the Trump council after the chorus of #DeleteUber got loud enough to pose a threat to that still-unrealized billion-dollar valuation. Now it’s laughably trying to distance himself from the corporate culture he embodies because former employee, Susan J. Fowler, blew the whistle on her “very, very strange year at Uber.”

There is nothing aberrational in either of those two incidents from either the Uber modus operandi or the broader Silicon Valley culture that has encouraged it. It’s completely expectable and predictable behavior. You only feign to be surprised or shocked when you seek to prevent any deeper soul searching from occurring. Because, oh the horror, it may reveal that our cherished ideals are looking a little rough after being fully realized.

Stop buying. It’s really that simple. You don’t have to print any signs, you don’t even have to go to a rally, just #DeleteUber.

So it’s time for the consumers of Uber to do what its board, venture capitalist-backers, and royal protectors never will: Impose real consequences on Uber for its appalling behavior. Because without the approval of riders, Uber is nothing. None of the billions of dollars in funding will do anything to save them, if enough people say “enough” and stop using the app.

I get that may well be a bit inconvenient at times. And alternatives like Lyft may not be squeaky clean either. But these are all excuses for people trying to avoid the bare minimum a consumer can do when faced with a company that repels it: Stop buying. It’s really that simple. You don’t have to print any signs, you don’t even have to go to a rally, just #DeleteUber, and you’ll sleep just that tiny bit better tonight.

Work Like Obama: Management Secrets From The World's Toughest Job

Based on the photos of Obama kiteboarding off the coast of billionaire Richard Branson’s private island in the Caribbean, few of us will ever have the chance to vacation like our former president. But by examining the daily habits he developed over his eight years in one of the most intense working environments in the world, we can all learn how to work like Obama.

This Presidents Day, whether you’re a creative professional, budding entrepreneur, or seasoned CEO, studying Obama’s modern approach to the pressures of presidential life will provide you insights into how you too can better manage the stress and responsibilities in your own day-to-day.

Put Your Body to Work: Obama started most days of his presidency with 45 minutes in the gym, alternating between lifting weights and cardio. It was a way to clear his mind and prime it for the day to come, especially since he steered clear of caffeine. Obama told journalist Michael Lewis, “You have to exercise, or at some point you’ll just break down.” The Lesson: Although it doesn’t have to be as soon as you wake up, all of us need to incorporate exercise in our lives. Studies show that the simple task slows aging, and improves cognition, among a slew of other benefits.

Preserve Decision Making: Look back at pictures of Obama over the course of the presidency and you may notice that he is usually wearing a blue or gray suit. Using the latest neuroscience findings, our former president attempted to extract all the little decisions one makes in a day (what to wear and eat, for example) so that he could avoid “decision fatigue,” and have more energy to decide on the life-or-death matters that come with leading a country. The Lesson: Form habits and routines that eliminate tiny and inconsequential decision from your day, so you can focus on the important stuff.

Understanding How You and Others Think: Obama recommended reading Daniel Kahneman’s book about decision-making, Thinking Fast, and Slow to better understand why and how people make decisions. In the book, Kahneman, a Nobel Prize-winning psychologist, explains the pros and cons between going with your gut (called a System 1 thinker, like George W. Bush) and thinking things through (or System 2 thinker, like Obama). The Lesson: Knowing your biases and approach to decision making, allows you make better decisions and understand competitors, partners, and employees’ mindset.

Compartmentalize to Survive: Obama became a master of compartmentalizing his time and focus over the course of his presidency. There’s no better example of his skill than the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner, where, just before Obama got up to poke fun at our current president for his insistence that was not a U.S. citizen, he had just ordered the raid to capture Osama Bin Laden. The Lesson: Have the discipline to compartmentalize the challenges and roles you need to play in your professional life.

Seek Advice: Obama is known for tapping experts from a wide range of disciplines, like Reid Hoffman, John Doerr, and Malcolm Gladwell for advice for his presidency and beyond. And although not all of us have the ability to set up meetings with famous writers and venture capitalists, we can consult our networks to get different perspectives and strategies. The Lesson: Broaden and nurture your network.

Communicate Decisions Clearly: Obama utilized a memo system with his aides, so that majority of them would come with three options: agree, disagree, or discuss. Stating clearly and concisely about how he felt about each issue allowed the president to communicate his decisions to his staff more effectively. The Lesson: If you have people relying on your decision, make sure you are clear in both what your decision is and the way you communicate it.

Be Prepared and Punctual: Unlike some other presidents (former and current), there was rarely a memo that passed by Obama’s desk that he didn’t read. Obama’s economic advisor, Larry Summers, stated it was a certainty that if someone had a meeting with the former president and had sent him a memo, he would have read and understood it, and would be irritated if the author tried to explain it. Obama would start the meeting on time, and end the meeting on time. The Lesson: Time is your most precious resource. Don’t waste yours or others because of a lack of discipline and expectations.

Make Time for Family:  Nearly every night of his presidency, Obama would sit down with his family at 6:30 p.m. to have dinner, despite the constantly emerging crises around the world. Obama would reconnect with his daughters and the First Lady to find out about their day and decompress. The Lesson: If the president can make time for his family, so should the rest of us.

Focus on Others:  Good entrepreneurs know that the best way to evolve a company or product is to not only listen to your staff, but, most importantly, the end users themselves. Obama had his aides sort through his mail to choose ten letters that he would read each day. The Lesson: Know your customers and develop strategies to make sure you hear them no matter how high up you rise.

Find Some Me Time: Maybe it’s the early morning, or the late afternoon, when you can finally attend to all the built up items on your to-do list, but for Obama, the self-proclaimed “night guy,” it’s the wee hours — that distraction-free time when he could hide away in the White House’s Treaty Room. There, he could take his time fine-tuning speeches, watching ESPN, or playing Words With Friends. He also went out of his way to read fiction and history, which gave him perspective and an escape from the daily grind. The Lesson: Find time every day to get away from work, rejuvenate, and put your mind in a different space.