Fully Connected: How great leaders prioritise themselves, reclaim their energy and find joy

by Mel Kettle

Are you feeling exhausted and overwhelmed? Do you feel like you have no time for yourself? Are you wondering how to regain your energy and find joy? Being a leader today is hard. We are pulled in so many directions, with big responsibilities and many livelihoods reliant on us. It may surprise you that our first responsibility is to care for ourselves. To make choices that are right for us, instead of right for others. With blurred boundaries between work and life, it can be difficult to find time for this. We've glorified being busy to become over-scheduled and over-committed and feel guilty about taking time for ourselves. Fully Connected is for leaders who want to take back ownership of their lives and reclaim their health and energy. On their terms. When you figure out what lights you up and how to say no to what doesn't bring you joy, you become a better leader as you energise your co-workers, communicate with conviction and create a culture of belonging. In these pages Mel Kettle shares practical, simple and actionable ideas for you to increase your self-awareness, understand what motivates you and prioritise self-care so you can become a fully connected leader.

Genres: Nonfiction

193 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 19, 2022

Reviews

[Matthew Hodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some sensible advice on how leaders should look after themselves in order to better able to do their jobs, but I did feel like I'd read most of it in other places.

[BirnitaB · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the world returns to the new post Covid normal, the ongoing effects of the pandemic are only just being realised. One of these has been the impact on middle and upper management in particular.
Those leaders who held things together at work and at home are only now starting to fall apart.
Fully connected is a practical reminder of how we can work to correct this and manage the work life balance to be better leaders. It’s simple, practical and conversational tone peppered with anecdotes and examples is an easy read. My copy has been on my nightstand for some time as I dip in and out and reference it. Great tool with lots of references to other work and reading.
Many of the points Mel makes are things you think you know, however you probably aren’t doing them, so a great reminder to treat ourselves well so we can lead others better.

[Caelan Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about internal leadership and communication with oneself, which is not what I expected.

When I opened 'Fully Connected' by Mel Kettle I expected plenty of stories and insights about leadership and communication, since she has been a leading voice in these fields for some time.

Reading her latest book, I was delightfully surprised to see how much of the leadership lessons were focused on leading yourself. Rather than sharing typical stories of how leaders communicate with their team, the author provides insightful stories of how communicating with yourself about your own needs is what enables you to show up as a fully connected leader.

'Knowing your motivation impacts your decisions and choices,' she says. 'Motivation is the driving force behind getting things done.'

If our motivation is out of alignment, our ability to motivate others, to communicate with others, and to lead others are all at risk.

Filled with vibrant storytelling and practical takeaways, Fully Connected is a good read for any leader who wants to flourish.

[Janet Camilleri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know somebody else left a review here saying a lot of the content of this book they'd read elsewhere. While this may be true - the author refers to numerous sources - they are all publications / podcasts I would never have touched, so Mel has made all this wisdom much more accessible. I like her writing style, it's very relatable, and I found this to be an inspiring read.

[Bree · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable guide to self care in leadership. The things we need to do to get on track and stay on track are easily squashed out of our lives by ever increasing and competing commitments. This is a reminder about the good habits we need to maintain in order to live a healthy and balanced life. Not much new here but useful all the same.