Laizer Kornwasser
Based in New York, Laizer Kornwasser is a mindful and strategic professional who believes thinking outside of oneself is the foundation of becoming an extraordinary leader. However, as stressed throughout his recent TEDx talk, Laizer is a proponent of not only giving but seeking feedback.
With that in mind, Laizer seeks feedback every time he is presented the opportunity — whether that be in his day-to-day activities as President and COO of CareCentrix, or while he is teaching young minds the basics of entrepreneurial leadership at Yeshiva University.
To glean further insight into Laizer Kornwasser's professional background, as well as his passion for leadership, be sure to visit his website.
How To Avoid Burnout When Everyone Relies On You
Entrepreneurship is rewarding, but it comes with its own challenges. When you’re a leader, it can feel like everyone is depending on you as you hold numerous responsibilities, from keeping your employees happy to meeting payroll. This kind of pressure can begin to wear a person down. If you’ve ever felt burnt out, take comfort in knowing that you are not alone. There is a recent mental health crisis in entrepreneurship; in fact, a 2015 study found that entrepreneurs are 50 percent more likely to suffer from mental health issues. In addition, they’re also twice as likely to experience depression and three times as likely to suffer from substance abuse.
It’s important to take care of your mental health, especially when you feel that many people, from your investors to your family, are relying on you. Here are a few tips for protecting your mental health and avoiding burnout.
Create Non-Negotiable Personal Time
It pays to keep a work-life balance. Focusing too much on work can lead to work responsibilities taking over to catastrophic proportions. Whatever you value outside of work deserves your time. Just like in investing, it’s good to have a diversified portfolio, so you too should diversify your time investments in something other than just work. This way, if work doesn’t go as you had planned, you don’t lose sight of who you are outside of your business.
Ask For Help
As a leader, you probably feel like you should know everything. If you’re running a company, you should have all the answers, right? It’s a good idea to set a limit on how much time you invest before asking for help. For example, start by spending an hour brainstorming. If you get stuck, try to do your research from a different perspective, and then reach out to a colleague or mentor to test out your ideas. It’s easy to keep a facade of confidence when you don’t have all the right answers, but it’s okay to admit that you don’t know everything. The first idea you come up with is seldom the only way, or even the best way, to do things.
Practice Compassion
One thing all entrepreneurial leaders should do is feel confident in determining what kind of behavior you will accept from employees. Even though you should keep a stiff spine, it is still vital to be compassionate. This means giving some grace to your employees who may be struggling with challenges outside of work. If employees push the limits of acceptable behavior, it warrants a conversation about what needs to be done during these trying times. You want to show the same kindness you’d expect if you were struggling, but you can still issue reminders about the standard of performance that needs to be maintained.
Ultimately, the key to preventing burnout is knowing how and when to set boundaries. This means taking time for yourself and your commitments outside of the workplace and knowing what your threshold is so that you don’t end up needlessly suffering. Compassion goes two ways, for yourself and for others. Give your employees the same compassion you’d like to receive, but you can still set a limit for acceptable behavior.
This post was originally published on LaizerKornwasser.net
Healthcare Tech Making Waves in Africa
New technologies are redefining healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the World Bank, the region has the worst healthcare in the world, accounting for nearly a quarter of all disability and death caused by disease worldwide, while only accounting for 1% of global health expenditure and 3% of the world’s health workers. Access to basic medical care is difficult due to poor infrastructure, but drones, apps, and computer-controlled vending machines can help remove some structural barriers and increase access to medicine.
Drones could be used to transport blood to tackle the high mortality rate among birthing women across the continent. Roughly 295,000 women died globally from preventable causes related to pregnancy in 2017, according to statistics from the World Health Organization; sub-Saharan Africa accounts for roughly two-thirds of these deaths. Amit Singh, head of drone operations, told CNN Business, “This was [in part] due to the fact that blood could not get to the patient fast enough, as traditional transport means take far too long due to poor road infrastructure and the distance that needed to be covered.”
The drone services are still undergoing tests with the Civil Aviation Authority. The South African National Blood Service (SANBS) program follows in the footsteps of Zipline, a successful Californian startup that delivers blood to remote parts of Rwanda and Ghana. Naa Adorkor Yawson, an executive at Zipline in Ghana, said that their service cuts delivery times down from hours or days to just minutes, which can make a huge difference in saving a life.
Even though infrastructure is lacking and in poor condition, the number of mobile internet users in Africa is growing quickly. GSMA, the mobile industry’s trade body, estimates that smartphone connections in the region reached 302 million in 2018, and that number is expected to rise to almost 700 million by 2025. Because of this, developers all over the continent are creating apps that enable remote access to medical advice and diagnosis. One of these apps is Hello Doctor, based in South Africa, which provides access to healthcare information, advice, and a call from a doctor for the equivalent of $3 a month. Clinical trials have started in Uganda for a system for diagnosing malaria. Matibabu has developed a tool that diagnoses malaria by shining a red beam of light on the skin to detect a malaria-causing parasite on the skin; the results can then be viewed through an app.
Despite the condition of sub-Saharan Africa’s infrastructure, there are several innovations in technology that are redefining healthcare in the region.
This post was originally published on LaizerKornwasser.com