Vicky Grammatikopoulou, CE)- Vie Aesthetics, Vie Derma, London Hill Medical, London Hill Marketing
Which Hat Am I Wearing Today?
One of the greatest challenges for an entrepreneur is moving from business operator to business owner. It is an art that needs time, focus and determination. I must admit, I am still working to improve and develop in that department, but there are some tricks I have picked up on the way, all invaluable bits of advice from different professionals via books, seminars, podcasts, and courses I have attended.
I feel that having such a tranquil and uplifting workplace is like having my very own oasis, I am always so eager to come into work, set up my desk and get ready to work on our next project. This may sound cliché but if you find a role that you love, you will never work a day in your life; I truly believe in this saying. Having said that, it is important for your mental health to find a structure that works well for you, where you can reach your fullest potential and hit targets at work while embracing life outside of work in the best way possible. Maintain a healthy work-life balance.
I find that weaving my work schedule around my personal schedule ensures that I am kept occupied on days off and will not fall back on thinking about work. I allow myself time in my schedule for my personal training sessions. Exercise is a useful tool to release any stress or tension so these feelings do not follow me even when I have swapped my ‘CEO’ hat for my ‘mum’, ‘wife’ or ‘just time for me’ hat. Cooking can also be therapeutic; it is an incredible way to reflect on your day at work and plan upcoming projects while creating delicious and rewarding meals to share with your family and friends.
One of the things I have learnt is the Eisenhower Matrix method of prioritising my To-Do lists, in both my personal and professional life. The matrix works by asking yourself how important or urgent something is and actioning on it from there. While I see everything I do as important, I know that not everything is urgent – it is a matter of having patience and allowing yourself flexibility, which may mean rearranging a meeting or prioritising one matter over another. I adopt this even when doing my personal admin tasks too! I share this tool with my staff in their personal development training because I believe that aligning systems throughout the workplace is one of the most effective ways of ensuring efficiency. This works in the same way that we have implemented the use of the cloud or a new CRM system, having the whole team on the same page means we are all communicating on the same level.
Maintaining a healthy work-life balance means knowing your realistic goals and targets even if this means saying NO to some things. It also means recognising the expertise of the people around you. As I mentioned earlier, I do enjoy being hands-on and want to learn everything there is to know about anything and how we can grow using this newfound knowledge. I remind myself that networking with people I have met over my many years as a businesswoman is just as important as nurturing those relationships and learning from the expertise of others. Having an expert working for you does not mean you are incapable of doing your job and that is something that I struggled to grasp in the beginning. It simply means you are saving time; attempting to learn it yourself can take up a lot of your time, specifically time that you can use to develop other parts of your professional career.
As a businesswoman, a mum, a wife, a sister, an aunt, a friend, and simply a human being, I find myself inundated with plans, deadlines, and to-do lists; I view this as a positive. I feel grateful to have a successful business, I feel lucky to have a healthy and loving family and I feel fortunate to be alive, experiencing the highs and lows that professional life and personal life bring. In leading my team through our many highs and lows I aim to teach them the meaning of a genuine work-life balance in order to grow an efficient team. We have won 15 awards over the last year recognising our clinics and our team; our most recent accreditation was the GOLD status award from Global Investors in People. This Gold status is truly hard to achieve, having this accreditation means that we are recognised as a Business that nurtures and grows our employees through the stages of their career- something I take great pride in doing as a leader.
A note to remember is that we all have 24 hours in the day, nobody has more and nobody has less. We allocate them according to what we feel is important. The question is not whether you have the time for something, it is what you decide to have time for. If you take anything from me today, remember do not act busy, be productive.
