On June 21, summer officially began. And if you’re lucky, you may already have a vacation planned over the next few months that will allow you to unplug and get a much needed break from the 9-to-5 grind.
At least that’s the hope. For some, vacations are instead a catch-22. On one hand, you get to enjoy some much needed time off. On the other, you worry things will fall apart if you’re not at the helm steering the ship — so in reality, you spend time micromanaging from afar, sending emails and checking in on things when you should be offline. Sound familiar?
If this is the case and taking a vacation is a catch-22, it’s time for a change. Why?
In an op-ed to Forbes, Jim Moffatt, the chairman and chief executive of Deloitte Consulting LLP, wrote about why he finds real vacations important.
“A true leader steps back, trusts his or her people, and allows them to succeed,” said Moffatt. “By taking a break from the day-to-day operations, not only was I spending some much-needed time with my family, but also I was able to focus on the bigger picture of where we were and where our business was heading.”
Here are a few benefits to taking time off (and I mean really taking time off).
- You empower your team to feel confident in their decisions.
- It feels good to be trusted, and your team will thank you for it.
- You get to actually unplug, which frees up your brain to think about long-term strategies versus day-to-day operations.
- You gain new perspective.
“But what if something goes wrong?” you may be asking. The fact is something could go wrong while you’re not on vacation. And even if it does, you may earn much-needed insight into where things can be improved in your business. Maybe a manager needs more training, or maybe another needs to be more empowered to make decisions.
I get it. Unplugging is hard. But it’s so worth it. And in fact, doing the opposite and staying plugged in 24/7 might be actually hurting your team and your company in the long-term.
So get to vacationing, for real this time!
Rachel Zabonick is editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
