School Holidays: The Leadership Flex

If you've got kids who are school age, you might currently be juggling school holidays with your leadership responsibilities. Good. This is going to be great for your leadership.

That's because if you do it properly, you'll find out what your people are capable of (which mostly comes down to what you're capable of).

So, use that OOO function on your email and leave whatever greetings on your phone to let people know you're not available, and who they can contact instead. If you're on leave, be on leave. You only get so many days of leave in a year, and you only get so many days of children wanting to be with you in your life, so let's not pretend otherwise. Tell the world you're on leave and make yourself unavailable.

You'll be able to do this because you'll have agreed this with your boss up front, and you'll have nominated a very well-briefed delegate. They'll have your decision-making authority and you'll be clear on what needs to wait until you return.

This is the greatness: as soon as you actually trust someone else for a few days, you'll see them grow. I had terrible guilt having time off with my kids at first, thinking I was burdening my team. What I learned was, I was actually empowering them to step up and into more complex decision-making, and that they thrived on it. So, skip the guilt bit and arrive at the empowerment bit, fast. Expect missteps from your delegate. It's not as if you get it right every time.

Finally, remember if people still contact you, that's on them. If you engage, that's on you.

My kids are both (almost) adults now. They don't need me to take time off to juggle their care with my work. I couldn't always be available on school holidays, but I did what I could, when I could. It was always a push.

I look back now and I'm so grateful I found a way to see it as an opportunity for my business and my team. Everyone always said it to me, but now I feel it keenly: these are precious, finite times.

Choose a more powerful path.

(and here's me holidaying right now with Charlie)