Improving Work-Life Balance Can Make Leaders More Effective

Ignoring Your Work Email At Home Might Be The Path To Being A Better Manager

By ERIC HAMILTON, SPECIAL TO MORTGAGE BANKER MAGAZINE

Silencing your notifications and ignoring your email at the end of the workday could make you a better leader at your job, according to new research.

Managers who disconnected from their jobs at home felt more refreshed the next day, identified as effective leaders, and helped their employees stay on target better than bosses who spent their off hours worrying about work.

Less-experienced leaders were especially prone to becoming ineffective if they spent their time focusing on their jobs at home.

The upshot is that the key to effective leadership in the office might be a better work-li-

“The simple message of this study is that if you want to be an effective leader at work, leave work at work,” said Klodiana Lanaj, a professor in UF’s Warrington College of Business who led the research. “This is particularly important for inexperienced leaders, as they seem to benefit the most from recovery experiences when at home. Leaders have challenging jobs as they juggle their own role responsibilities with the needs of their followers, and they need to recover from the demands of the leadership role.”

Ability To Disconnect

The study surveyed managers and their employees at U.S. businesses in 2019 and 2022. The researchers assessed leaders’ ability to disconnect from

“What we found is that on nights when leaders were able to completely turn off and not think about work, they were more energized the next day, and they felt better connected to their leadership role at work. On those same days, their followers reported that these leaders were more effective in motivating them and in guiding their work,” Lanaj said.

“But on nights when leaders reported that they were thinking about the negative aspects of work, they couldn’t really recuperate their energy by the morning,” she said. “They saw themselves as less leader-like and they weren’t as effective, as rated by their followers.”

IMPROVE WORK-LIFE BALANCE

So how can leaders – and businesses – promote this kind of work-life balance to build effective leaders?

“My hope is that this study will give managers data to support their decision to be present at home and to disconnect from work,” Lanaj said.

While Lanaj’s study didn’t ask managers how they relaxed at home, other research points to well-known ways to unwind and reset: Exercise, socialize with friends, spend quality time with family, or engage with TV shows, books or hobbies. What helps one person leave work at the office might not help another. The key, Lanaj says, is to find the methods that let you decompress from work as much as possible.

And businesses that want the best out of their leaders on the job should help them recharge at home. Reducing after-hours emailing and expectations for on-call work is one way to do that.

Tech fuels a lot of this after-hours work, but also might offer a solution. You can set your phone to disable notifications after a certain hour or leave work devices in a dedicated office.

“You can start small,” Lanaj said. “Say, ‘After this time in the evening, I won’t check my work email.’ See where that takes you.”

Scott L. Luna Partner

sluna@ravdocs.com

469-730-4607

Scott Luna’s practice is focused on real estate law with an emphasis on mortgage document preparation and land title issues. Scott managed a successful multistate highvolume title and document preparation business for over 20 years before joining RAV and is recognized throughout the real estate legal community for his expertise. As a past President of the Oklahoma Land Title Association, Scott’s ongoing involvement in the industry adds to his wealth of title-related knowledge. Scott received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law in 1991 after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University. Scott is currently licensed in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Kentucky.

Mitchel H. Kider Managing Partner

kider@thewbkfirm.com

202-557-3511

Mitch Kider is the Chairman and Managing Partner of Weiner Brodsky Kider PC, a national law firm specializing in the representation of financial institutions, residential homebuilders, and real estate settlement service providers. Mitch represents banks, mortgage companies, homebuilders, credit card issuers, and other financial service companies in a broad range of litigation and regulatory and compliance matters. He defends clients in investigations and enforcement actions before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Justice, Department of Veterans Affairs, Federal Trade Commission, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, and various state and local regulatory authorities and Attorneys General offices. In addition, Mitch acts as outside general counsel to smaller companies and special regulatory and litigation counsel to Fortune 500 companies.

Gregory S. Graham

Co-Managing Partner

ggraham@bmandg.com

972-353-4174

Black, Mann & Graham CoManaging Partner Gregory S. Graham has practiced in the areas of real estate, litigation, and bankruptcy law since 1989, and is currently licensed in Texas and admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas.

Mr. Graham is also currently licensed to practice law in Georgia and has been since 2017. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law in 1989 after receiving a Bachelor of Arts cum laude from UT Dallas.

Mr. Graham’s affiliations include the Dallas MBA, where he previously served as a Director & Chairperson of the Legislative Committee; DFW Mortgage Brokers Association, where he previously served as Legal Counsel; MBA; NAMB; Texas AMB prior to its closure; and Texas MBA.

James W. Brody, Esq. Mortgage Banking Practice Group Chair

jbrody@johnstonthomas.com

415-246-3995

James Brody actively manages all the complex mortgage banking litigation, mitigation, and compliance matters for Johnston Thomas. Mr. Brody’s experience centers on those legal issues that arise during loan originations, loan purchase sales, loan securitizations, foreclosures, bankruptcy, and repurchase & indemnification claims. He received his B.A. in International Relations from Drake University and received his J.D., with a certified concentration in Advocacy, from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. He was a recipient of the American Jurisprudence BancroftWhitney Award. He is licensed to practice law in California and has been admitted to practice in front of the United States District Courts for the Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California. In addition, Mr. Brody has served as lead litigation counsel for numerous mortgage banking and commercial related disputes venued in both state and federal courts, in a direct capacity or on a pro hac vice basis, in AZ, CA, FL, MD, MI, MN, MO, OR, NJ, NY, PA, TN, and TX.

Attorney marty.green@ mortgagelaw.com 214-691-4488 ext 203

Marty Green leads the Dallas office of Polunsky Beitel Green, one of the country's top residential mortgage law firms. Mr. Green is an accomplished attorney with more than 20 years of experience in the legal, banking and financial services industries. He is the former Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Dallas’ CTX Mortgage Co. and previously worked with the Baker Botts law firm in Dallas as Special Counsel. In his role as leader of the firm’s Dallas office, Mr. Green advises clients on the latest rules and regulations covering residential lending, in addition to building on Polunsky Beitel Green’s long tradition of delivering loan closing documents with speed and accuracy. Mr. Green is admitted to practice before all Texas state and federal district courts in addition to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. An honors graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, he earned his undergraduate degree at Southern Utah University. Texas Monthly has selected him as a Super Lawyer multiple years.