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Why Hobbies Make A Better Leader

Updated: Jul 26, 2024

In 2016, I had just moved to Vietnam for my husband’s work. We both were in new jobs, in a new country with a toddler. While struggling to find house helpers and finding my ground at a new workplace, I sought out and discovered a new hobby - Lindy Hop.

2 years later I found myself on the flagship TED stage in Vietnam, talking about my hobby experience and connecting with thousands of people on the topic of empathetic leadership.


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Over the following years, many people ask me about how I ended up there. In hindsight, I truly believe it all started with a need for a creative outlet, creative expression…in other words, a ‘hobby’.


As a facilitator, I often encourage people to share what they do for fun as their introduction. A common refrain is ‘Oh, I used to read/ play a sport but not so much now’. A recent HBR article noted that in surveys, most people “could name several activities, such as pursuing a hobby, that they’d like to have time for.”


Somehow there is a widespread acceptance that as you progress in your career, you will let go of your hobbies. In this issue, we explore how having hobbies is not just great for mental wellbeing but essential for better leadership & relationships!


Taking Hobbies Seriously

From the HBR piece on Why You Should Work Less and Spend More Time on Hobbies: “This is more significant than it may sound because it isn’t just individuals who are missing out. When people don’t have time for hobbies, businesses pay a price. Hobbies can make workers substantially better at their jobs.”


My personal lived experience convinced me of this. In the TEDx talk, I speak about how my hobby exposed the leadership gaps I had and helped me fill those gaps in such an effective (& entertaining) manner. Research shows that people who invest in hobbies perform at a higher level. 


It’s not hard to see why.

  1. The world is changing, you need to be multifaceted to thrive as a leader. Our jobs exercise particular parts of our brain, but working on hobbies can activate the other part. (Lindy Hop dancing helped me develop more empathy as a leader.) Imagine the improvement in quality of decisions, sense-making and creativity when you activate your whole brain! In today’s crowded and constantly changing business environment we need new, innovative ideas that will rise above the noise. A creative hobby pulls that out of you!

  2. Makes you a more Authentic Leader. When I facilitate leadership workshops, I often share about my hobbies which help me more relatable with the participants. In a remote world, you need to showcase more of yourself to make deeper connections! Even Marc Zuckerberg shares how in Facebook interviews they always ask about hobbies. Hobbies break down barriers and encourage the team to share more of them with you, offer their whole personality & skills set which undoubtedly makes them more productive.

  3. Takes The Pressure Off of your Job: We need to stop putting 100% pressure on our 1 job to fulfil us financially, creatively, socially, intellectually! Phew! A lot of job dissatisfaction stems from this because even the best jobs in the world can’t do ALL of that. Having a hobby helps you get the balance, fun, creativity, community which your job may not be able to provide - while destressing you and preventing burnout. #MentalWellbeing

  4. Builds Essential Skills for Succeeding in the New World: The process of pursuing something new requires a growth mindset, ability to fail and take a long term view. Progress is slow. The odds are there will be a learning curve, and you will need to be patient in order to build your skills. These are literally the things all organizations want to build as a culture! Skip the leadership course ;) pick a hobby and have fun!

  5. Networking: Making time for the hobby is easier with a friend or a buddy. (Although don’t let it stop you). Hobbies with colleagues can also help you build a solid professional community. (A very popular reason for acquiring golfing as a hobby for some).


Reflection

Did you have a hobby that you left for any reason? What have you stopped doing it just because it stopped being lucrative or adult responsibilities got in the way?

Time to rekindle it. If you need more inspiration, check these out:


Action: Finding Hobbies As An Adult

It can feel a little awkward trying to find a hobby as an adult. Hobbies also have some traditional associations - some are cool, some are for kids, some are for the elderly etc. which can stop you from attempting them.

It’s obvious if you are passionate about something. But what if you’re not particularly passionate about anything?


Here’s how:

  • Identify options: If you don’t know where to begin, think back to what you loved doing as a kid. Chances are, you still enjoy that as a core interest. Ask yourself, what did you want to become when you were 5? (I wanted to become an astronaut, but really what it means is that I want to explore different worlds). Or identify things which you ‘used to do’? Or any ‘non-work projects’ which got you excited (like building groups, redecorating, organizing events), even though you didn’t explicitly think of them as ‘hobbies’?

  • Find online/offline venues/ groups in your city or neighbourhood: I discovered dance class thanks to a Facebook group. Now we have many other online channels for possibly any hobby you can think of. Try meetup.com / PMIT (Put Me In Touch) group series on facebook for major cities (e.g. PMIT Mumbai, PMIT Pune etc.). Go there and simply ask for what you want to explore.

  • Get out there & try it: Don’t just ‘read’ about it or check online reviews. Go there physically. Nothing prepares you for the actual experience. I attended Lindy Hop Social Clubs 3-4 times as an observer before I started ‘participating’.


If a hobby makes you forget about your general stress triggers for at least 60 minutes, shortlist it! And then repeat. When you find something that gives you joy, answers to your personality, schedule and interests, that’s it!


Do note that, you don’t ‘have to commit it forever’. Pursuing a hobby can take some time and needs some reflection - it can be iterative and can manifest in different forms too.


Mark Manson, the author of The subtle art of not giving says about hobbies:

“It wasn’t until I gave up the games that I realized my passion wasn’t for the games themselves (although I do love them). My passion is for improvement, being good at something and then trying to get better…Maybe for you, it’s something else. Maybe it’s organizing things efficiently, or getting lost in a fantasy world, or teaching somebody something, or solving technical problems. Whatever it is, don’t just look at the activities that keep you up all night, but look at the cognitive principles behind those activities that enthral you. Because they can easily be applied elsewhere.”



Consistency Vs. Mastery in Hobbies

Hobbies are meant to be relaxing. You don’t have to be world-class at it. Having said that, there is a school of thought that hobbies should be taken seriously and pursued to the level of mastery. While that is a worthy goal to aim for, I don’t think it is necessary to do that to harness the benefits.


Finding something that makes you tick outside of work can already seem like a giant task in and of itself. Putting more pressure on it, for me, defeats the purpose of creative fulfilment.


Instead, I vote for consistency. If it ends up in mastery - great! But the creative expression is my primary aim for pursuing Lindy Hop.


What is it for you? Be clear about the role of the hobby in your life - is it joy, mastery, community, connection, service, a creative outlet or something else?


Until next time,

Keep Thriving,

Rashmi

 
 
 

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© 2025 by Rashmi Sharma

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