If you are a front line leader, there’s something you’ve got to realize. Virtually no one is looking out for you. Oh, they may be looking for you, but not looking out for you. You’ve got to be sure you are taking care of yourself.

I don’t mean this in a selfish way, and I realize that it could sound a bit cynical. But its my observation that there are two kinds of people in the world, the suckling (the sucker), and the suckled (the suckee). Front line leaders are typically being sucked—in some cases—to death.

Several people need you, and many people want part of you. They want your advice, your input, your help, your direction, your thoughts, your comfort……..and leaders tend to love giving advice, input, direction, thoughts and comfort. They want you to serve on boards, give input to committees, and sit on conference calls. But here’s the thing: most of it doesn’t matter. For the most part they are going to do what they are going to do without really valuing your input. And, the input they need is actually available from many sources besides you. Since one of the signs of maturity is the ability to feed oneself, perhaps it would be wise of you to consider whether you really need to dish up all the meals you are serving, or whether you need to kindly allow them to feed themselves—elsewhere. (Michael Hyatt has written an excellent piece on saying “no” that you should read.)

Here’s the deal: The masses who need you aren’t going to be concerned with whether you’ve gotten enough exercise, or whether you are prayed up, or whether you’ve gotten enough think time, or whether your family is well-loved. They are just going to keep asking for more of you, until one day you discover that there’s nothing left of you to to give. Therefore, its your responsibility to take care of feeding and nurturing yourself so that you can be what other people truly need you to be.

There’s an old saying on the farm: “Good fences make good neighbors.” Be sure and build strong fences around yourself, not to keep people out, but to control the times and methods of access so that you can do the most important work of keeping yourself physically healthy, mentally energized, and emotionally and spiritually well-supplied.

Be sure and take care of you.