A Great Culture Starts with HOW the Leader Takes Their Vacation. A Checklist.

It is my experience that how a leader takes their vacation has a profound impact on culture.

In my opinion, it is one of the things that differentiates the great leader.

In this regard, I will admit that I have fallen into the poor leadership category many times through the pandemic for legitimate reasons (Managing the initial challenges, covering a teammate who was ill) and reasons that are nothing but rationalizations (No places to travel too). I recently fully disconnected and got back on track as a leader for my personal well being while knowing that my actions will set the tone for others within the team in 2022.

I do not intend on allowing myself to fail at this again.

Here is my checklist for great leadership when it comes to vacations:

1. Clearly tell the team the timing of the vacation in advance and commit to disconnecting.

Great leader: Mentioned it on a team call, sent an email, posted it on corporate social media like Chatter, ensured that the right team members know and committed to disconnecting.

This is why two phones is so important. Turn off the work phone, and only use your personal phone so you do not "accidentally" get sucked into work. Let the right people on the team know your personal email so that if it is a true emergency, you can be reached. Chances of a true emergency? I would bet it is less than 1%.

Over my vacation week I turned my work phone hard-off the whole time. I did not look at email or work text once. I had one item hit my personal email as we are in budget planning. I sent one text from my personal phone as we were finalizing a comp item and needed it locked in days.

Not bad - 2. Next holiday I will bring it down to 0.

Poor leader: Mentions it to no one as (s)he intends on going on vacation but staying connected the whole time. Recharge? No. This leader will not perform at their best as they are not taking a break to clear their mind and recharge. This was me during the pandemic.

Even worse it signalls two things to the broader team whether it is intended or not:

1) That (s)he does not trust the team to perform without him/her.

2) It sets a negative tone for the rest of the team. If (s)he will not turn off during a vacation, how can they? That leader will make it so that team members feel guilty about taking time off and that kills cultures.

Prior to the pandemic I was taking vacation regularly and our leadership team was modelling how to turn off. We had this. Which meant that during the pandemic my teammates kept telling me I was wrong to not take vacation (Thank you). I am surrounded by awesome leaders who have no problem telling me I was being very wrong.

2. Turn "Out-of-Office" on in Email to Let Everyone Know.

Great leader: Everyone who emails that leader gets a note back along these lines:

"Thank you for the email. I will be out of the office from X to Y and I will not be reading emails. If this is urgent, please email [email protected] and (s)he will ensure that the right team member assists you. Have a great week, Michael"

This reinforces with internal teammates that vacations are encouraged, that there is nothing to hide, while informing both internal and external contacts on what to do if they need assistance.

Poor leader: No out of office turned on because they are "checking in .. but only once a day".

In some cases this may be warranted. You are the middle of a big project that you cannot get out of, or you are doing what I do around American Thanksgiving .. go to a beach locale but work part time as it is not really a holiday for me as I am Canadian. But these should be one-offs, not the norm.

If this is the norm - it requires analysis if the leader wants to move from poor to great. Is the leader insecure about their position? Needing to show everyone that they work harder than others? Is there a talent gap that does not allow the leader to take time off? Is the culture toxic requiring this type of always on work? Does the leader need to reassess and get a hobby?

Start asking questions.

3. Log Days Off.

Whether in Workday, SAP or whatever system the team uses - it is critical to track time off to ensure people are taking time off. Those who are not taking the time to rest, recharge and enjoy their benefits need help.

I watch this metric carefully and work hard to get people to take time off.

Leaders have a profound impact on culture. Shutting off on vacation will have a big impact on the team ... as it means they can too.