MAKING THE CASE FOR TAKING A VACATION

And How Your Team Can Thrive While You're Away

It’s officially summertime and hopefully, you are planning on taking a vacation. If you’re lucky, maybe you are reading this after you’ve come back from a vacation. 

Having vacation time is important to us, but somehow taking it isn’t always easy.  Many of my clients in employment negotiations ask for more vacation time but the sad truth is that 57% of Americans don’t end up using all of their vacation days. In fact, studies have shown that even when CEOs take breaks, they spend 70% of their time working. 

There are so many reasons that you should be taking vacations and breaks from the office and I will get into those later. First, let’s take a look at why you may not be. 

Why Don’t We Take Vacations?

As I mentioned 57% of Americans don’t use their vacation days. Why is that? These are some of the excuses that I hear often:

I’m too busy. 

I can’t stop. 

I love my work. 

I’m afraid things will fall apart.

I’m afraid things won’t fall apart. 

I feel addicted to my work (and even to the stress!) 

Even in cases when people do take vacations, their body is at the beach - or wherever they may be - but their mind is still at work. In these cases, you can’t get the real break that you need. 

If these excuses and scenarios feel real or familiar to you, take a hard look at the barriers that are stopping you. Acknowledge the block and figure out how to work around it. 

How Do You Do It?

First, you have to give yourself permission to take a break. 

Workaholics and stress junkies, you may need to play a trick on yourself to convince yourself to step away. Tell yourself that taking a vacation is good for your team. And it is! 

You are providing the right leadership for them and giving them permission to take a break by taking a break yourself. So often your team is looking to you for queues on proper etiquette at work. By modeling good “vacation behavior” you give your team permission to take the break they need as well. 

Now, think of the best leader you’ve ever worked for or worked around: the leaders who stepped back and empowered their team. How did they set it up before they left and how did they handle it while they were gone? How did you feel when they were gone and when they came back? Asking yourself these questions can help you prepare for your break. 

If it helps you, think about what you want to accomplish on vacation. You may be goal-oriented and more motivated to take a break if you set out to accomplish the goals you have made. These goals could look like: exploring a new city,  hiking 5 miles, or finishing a novel. Think about what you want your time to look and feel like. 

If you really want to check out, how can you allow that to happen? As a leader, you must trust and empower your team so that they can step up while you are away. 

Your team can’t step up if you never step out. 

Set boundaries for yourself and your time. If your team calls you, make sure it’s a true emergency. This is especially important if you’re used to checking in while you are away. 

If you get a call from your team you can respond this way: Is this really an emergency, if so I’ll give you a call back.  That extra filter step can help reinforce this behavior, for you and them.

If you do speak to them, ask them what you think they should do and empower them to do it (assuming it lines up with the expectations you established). This will make it easier next time you take a break. 

Make sure you’re meeting with the people you left in charge soon after you get back to check in on how things went and make any needed adjustments moving forward. If things didn’t go as smoothly as you would like, rather than having a conversation about what they should have done, discuss how to handle the situation if it comes up again. This shifts what could be a “gotcha” session into a developmental conversation.

When Things Go Well

If things go well when you’re away, that is a reflection of strong leadership. You have delegated well and you have assembled a great team. You have empowered them not only to handle things that come up while you are away but to take breaks for themselves. 

If things go well, you can feel great that you’re leading a team that is at its best even when no one is watching.

Why You Should Take A Vacation

Taking a vacation allows for a physical and mental change of pace. The reduction in stress is obvious. Taking yourself out of a stressful environment will reduce stress itself but also break the cycle of stress that we often perpetuate for ourselves. 

Taking a break from work builds clearer thinking, improves your memory,  increases creativity, and increases productivity. Taking a break is good for business.

Leadership is what we say but it’s also what we do. Leading by example is important. As I’ve said before, if you take a break, your team feels as if they can take a break and everyone can reap the physical and mental benefits of vacations. 

When your team feels like they can use their vacation days, you will sustain productivity and create loyalty and retention. 

For more insight into the topics coming up with my clients, tune into my podcast Fulfilling Career, Happy Life. It’s the podcast for accomplished professionals like yourself, who want to identify what's next in their career and then make it happen without compromising what matters most.