As the cloying saying goes: “Suitcase packed, stress unpacked.” Really?
If you have had one recently, did you really take it? Fully present and on the job of being off the job? Failure to take holidays where you are really AWAY from work is a false economy driven by false promises of increased productivity. It needs thinking about. This month’s pondering is from Harriet Dodd.
Get Away!
Several years ago I was leading a large team in stressful circumstances. We all needed real time away sometimes. A chance to rest, refocus on family, friendships and/or interests; and, to rebuild readiness with a new perspective.
Work addiction?
In truth, I wasn’t great at them.
My heart knew well that holidays were a precious resource: time not only for me to re-find the human that sometimes gets lost at work, but also for the team, colleagues and manager who depended on my non-burnt-out performance. My family too needed me to reconnect with them and with a purpose beyond work, for once without half an eye out for a screen message or preoccupied with something back in the office.
My head played a different game. Of course, it varied from one holiday to the next but in general, I noticed, I took time - sometimes days - to stop, unwind and arrive. Even once there, an inability to resist a sneak look at emails and WhatsApp messages could too easily distract me from the fun or peace to be had in the moment. The modern ubiquitous connectivity is no help in this regard.
Like an addiction I suspect it was feeding some other need.
Being able to have a quality holiday was elusive. Of course, the amazing location or special adventure, or the need to plan and pack for an adventure helped, as did fixing to reunite with old friends. And they certainly made for those holiday-perfect snaps But was I really there? Fully there for them and for me? Only sometimes.
Once back faced with a huge backlog made me wonder whether I should have bothered, and justified my need to keep on top of it while away.
Mindful holiday mode?
If a holiday is a necessary part of remaining resourceful and well, I realised like all leadership, they need conscious management. To begin to help me improve, I borrowed a tip from a friend and reset my holiday with a new out-of-office reply. It read:
“Thanks for your email, I am away on leave. If your message is very urgent, send it to [insert name agreed]. If it’s not, please be aware that your email will be automatically deleted and should be kindly resent on [date inserted with a day or two allowance after return]”
That last line caused quite a reaction! But hear me out: there were the benefits in the moment and more generally.
In the moment, I was able to be on holiday confident that anything that really mattered would be seen first. On my return, my team and colleagues benefited as, untroubled by any need to read too many emails, I had time to listen and learn about key events, successes and issues that had arisen during the time. I enjoyed listening and they felt heard. I was able to hold on to the benefits of recent happy memories and restfulness rather than jettisoning it all by scrolling for hours to catch up on one or two week’s emails in 24 hours, late into the evening enslaved to my computer. I learnt the need t prepare and delegate in advance of going away. (As an aside -it was interesting to note how many emails are in fact a waste time and effort!)
More personally, I would be lying if I said it was easy to delete those emails. In fact, I didn’t always. I did however permit myself the space to get round to them in my own time and, something shifted over time in my sense of what mattered.
I realised I am deeply programmed to respond to the noise of technology and the sense that if we are not “on” we are somehow less valuable.
Many of us seem to believe deeply, but without justification, that work contact trumps restfulness in our effective leadership. I feared that something important will be missed. Was it? I can’t honestly say. What was clear was that my appreciation of the team and their work deepened from the more deliberate time and attention given and I suspect this led to greater efficiencies and impact.
What impacts on a great holiday well taken?
Some workplace leaders are better than others at respecting the need for holidays
Some types of work and the pace they set seem to require regular breaks which may not be recognised
Some people are better than others at taking holidays
Some are better a being on holiday
What about you?
How good are you at really taking time off?
How good are you at really letting others have time off?
What could you do to make the quality of your holidays better? (please tell us below!)
What is the cost of not being good at having holidays?
My Human Matters- leadership rap around
This note has been about an aspect of leadership. There’s more! JOIN US Starting SEPT 8th 17:00-18:30 for six weeks our fourth season of group coaching begins. We would love to see you and continue the exploration of what it means to be a human leader today.
