10 Key Things Great Leaders Do During Their Weekends

Sheryl Sandberg / Facebook

Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl Sandberg / Facebook

Ellie Nieves
Ellie Nieves100
Women's Leadership Speaker & Coach




It takes a special set of qualities and traits to rise to a successful leadership position. Effective leaders have the ability to make decisions that build successful teams. They have the ability to project their vision onto their team members, molding them with similar, effective traits and skills. Transformative leaders are great communicators that have mastered the decision-making process, and know how to project these abilities onto those around them. And their leadership role isn’t limited to just business. They're effective leaders in all aspects of their lives because of their passion, ambition, and drive.
And they know what to do with their down time.
Great leaders understand the importance of managing their time and team effectively so that they can maximize every opportunity to achieve their goals. Many of the distinctive traits and qualities, like emotional intelligence, that we attribute to effective leaders can be linked to the decisions they make about how they spend their weekends. For great leaders, weekends are an important time to engage in activities that enhance their leadership styles, skills, and quality of life. Here are 10 things many of them do on their off days:
1. They Rest: For those in successful leadership roles, weekends are a wonderful time for rest and relaxation. Resting, however, can take on many forms. From an afternoon nap to binge watching a favorite show on Netflix, great leaders find time to rest and reset.
2. They Read: Saturdays and Sundays give great leaders the opportunity to catch up on some good reading. Many great leaders are voracious readers who enjoy reading books and periodicals about current market trends and personal development. They learn how to enhance their decision-making process and leadership techniques. But, in addition to reading materials that enhance their business acumen, great leaders also enjoy books and reading materials that get their mind off of business affairs like fiction novels and travel magazines.
3. They Catch Up on Work: For great leaders, weekdays are often filled with meetings, business activities and parenting obligations. Weekends provide great leaders with an opportunity to catch up on work they aren’t able to complete during the week.
4. They Spend Time with Friends and Family: Some great leaders use their weekends to connect with the important people in their lives. Whether it’s going out to a special event, hosting a dinner party or catching a movie, weekends afford great leaders the opportunity to carve out quality time for those who mean the most.
5. They Disconnect: For some great leaders, weekends present a good opportunity to shut down the lap tops, turn off their cell phones and unplug from social media. In our hyper connected world, great leaders recognize the need to disconnect from technology to clear their minds and improve their sleep.
6. They Plan: For great leaders, weekends are an important time to plan. Whether they’re planning for the week ahead or their next vacation, the weekends provide the right mental space to be thoughtful about the little details that might otherwise get lost in the hustle and bustle of the work week.
7. They Engage in a Hobby: Great leaders like to use their spare time to cultivate an interest or a hobby. Hobbies and outside interests help great leaders to become multi-dimensional people who can relate to others better.
8. They Travel: Great leaders enjoy traveling to local and exotic destinations. Travel and diving into new cultural experiences allow great leaders to expand their horizons. Experiencing new places and interacting with diverse people helps great leaders to become more culturally aware.
9. They Go Back to School: In today’s competitive global marketplace, great leaders know how important it is to continue to develop themselves both personally and professionally. These days, we see an increasing number of business leaders entering executive MBA programs to stay on top of evolving business trends and maintain an edge in their industries.
10. They Volunteer for a Worthy Cause: Many great leaders use their weekends to give back to their communities. There are many charitable groups and organizations that allow great leaders to spend their time making a meaningful contribution to a worthy cause.
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Ellie Nieves, JD, MBA, develops webinars, seminars, and coaching programs to help high achieving women show up, speak up, and step up in their careers. She is also the host of the Leadership Strategies for Women Podcast where she shares success tips to help women achieve more both personally and professionally. To learn more, go to:  www.EllieNieves.com.