Judging by this Harvard Business Review report there may still be hope for many of us (or well, perhaps me — as I continue to be in denial as to the idea that perhaps I am no longer a gig-going indie kid first and foremost!) who want to pursue a successful career and also want to retain our authentic selves and indulge our spare time with serious leisure activities.

The review considers why leaders make time for passionate leisure interests in their already impossibly busy schedules — and whether they feel it helps their job performance. 

Common themes that I think we may all be able to relate to are:

• It provides detachment like nothing else can (as Electronic Arts CEO Andy Wilson has said: “I train a lot of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and you know, when someone’s trying to take your head off, you pretty much can only think about that.”)
• It means constantly striving for your “best self" (Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, led his squash team to the gold medal in the Maccabiah games in his first year as CEO — although perhaps he is just an overachiever!)
• It can provide a welcome humility lesson (“I think it’s always good to do anything that keeps you humble.”)
• It offers a “full control” experience. (While feeling in control of one’s work is a basic psychological need, it may paradoxically be harder to achieve in the top job.
• It creates different, deeper connections with your followers. (Dennis Muilenburg of Boeing and Arne Sorenson of Marriott engage in their favourite sports (cycling and running, respectively) with large teams of employees during their visits to company offices around the world.)
• It strengthens your authentic leadership. (It helps leaders tell the story of “how they became who they are.”)
• It may simply make you a better leader. (PayPal’s Dan Schulman: “I’ve learned more about leadership from martial arts than I have from my formal education.”)

So, next time you wonder if you should take some time out in your day or at the end of a hard day of work to submerge yourself in your hobby, think about the fact that you may not just be enjoying your leisure time but you may be growing as a leader too.