Have you ever considered that your vacation time might be exactly what you need to supercharge your productivity and boost your mental health? That's what we are exploring in this fascinating episode. We take a journey into the past, contrasting the then-discouraged notion of taking time off with the now more progressive corporate culture. We fervently emphasize vacations' crucial role in fostering healthier work habits and promoting mental well-being.
For many, the thought of leaving work behind can be daunting. How should we delegate our tasks? How do we ensure our teams know what to do while we're away? And, is there a way to have fun with out-of-office messages? We delve deeply into these and more, discussing the power of setting boundaries and empowering your team during your absence. Wrapping things up, we stress the importance of staying engaged even when away, inviting you to connect and share thoughts on different platforms. Remember, vacations are not just about rest and relaxation, but also about recharging and enhancing your overall productivity. Come along on this journey, discover how to truly disconnect, and why it matters to your well-being.
This episode is sponsored by LucidPoint
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CONNECT WITH SUSIE:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susietomenchok/
CONNECT WITH JAMES:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/capps/
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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Quick Take podcast, the show where you
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get targeted advice and coaching for executives by
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executives.
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I'm Suzy Tominczuk.
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Speaker 2: And I'm James Capps.
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Give us 15 minutes and we'll give you three secrets to
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address the complex topic of issues that are challenging
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executives like you today.
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Speaker 1: Welcome Quicksters.
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This is Quick Take.
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I'm Suzy, along with my good friend and co-host, james Capps.
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How are you, james?
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Speaker 2: Hello, i'm fantastic.
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Happy day to you.
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Speaker 1: Happy day to you.
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Yes, well, i'm so excited to be here because it's summer.
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Speaker 2: I know it's summertime.
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It's got all the fun feeling.
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It's warm outside, we've got the breeze going.
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We've had some smoke on the east coast for the summer, which
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is always weird and exciting.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: I'm sure we're due out here in Colorado any moment.
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But yeah, summer's on us.
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Speaker 1: And you think I'm just kind of talking about the
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weather, but I'm not.
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We're going to talk today about vacation And this is, yes,
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we're talking.
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It is summer, but this is very applicable and this is this will
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have a very long shelf life.
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So I know that you and I were kind of reminiscing about our
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past, so tell our Quicksters what you had just shared with me
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.
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Speaker 2: You know it's an interesting story And I think
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why it's relevant today is it really talks to maybe the way
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that we have changed as a culture and as corporations on
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about how vacations and really the mental health element and
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importance of taking time off, And I was thinking back to a
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time when we were working for a firm and there was a requirement
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that you would fill out the paper vacation request form A
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physical paper, a physical piece of paper, and that piece of
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paper had to be filled out and then put in the basket of the
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leaders, of the leaders desk.
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You're so old And I know it.
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Speaker 1: It wasn't chiseled Okay.
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So it's certainly not old because it wasn't chiseled Okay.
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Speaker 2: But this particular executive did not would not
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approve the forms until, literally.
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You know, if you were going on a holiday on Monday, he wouldn't
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approve it until like Friday at five, and it was this power
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game about whether or not you really should be taking on time
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off, and it was.
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There was a huge amount of guilt and pressure and that
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unhealthy, you know, just a feeling of taking time off, and
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it wasn't encouraged, and he had .
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One of my favorite stories, though, is we had a very
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seasoned executive that was one of our peers and he had not been
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signing the form and she was coming up on holiday and it was
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close to time, so that our leader was not signing the forms
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, but she filled it out.
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She'd filled it out and we you know well in advance, and it was
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.
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he kept, she kept pestering him to sign that form And finally
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it was like the Friday before and he she, said to him, are you
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going to sign that form?
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And he said I will get to it.
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And she looked him dead in the eye and said whether you,
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whether or not you, sign that form, is not going to keep me
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from going on vacation.
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It's only going to make it really hard for me to come back.
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He was so mad he signed that form and threw it at her.
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Gosh, it just makes me look back on how far it's, how far things
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have come and how we really treat taking time off
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differently.
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Speaker 1: I think it's very true, but I do think there is
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like this effect that there is a bit of guilt or we feel badly.
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Speaker 2: And so it's still part of the culture.
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Speaker 1: It totally is part of the culture And there's an
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emotional piece of it.
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So, just having that awareness about that because we all know,
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like you said, from a mental health perspective, you really
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do need to take that time and really unplug.
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So you're going to give us some best practices on how to
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approach this.
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Speaker 2: And I think one of the things I want to chew this
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up with, really, though, is that , look, you're a leader.
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Whether you're the C level guy listening to this call, you're a
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CEO or you're just somebody below the C level, you're a
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manager, you're a leader.
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Any way you do that, or any position you're in, your
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behavior is going to reflect and influence the people underneath
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you, and so it is so important that we behave in a certain way
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when it comes to this, because we are going to set the tone
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Right, and so if, if, while I'm going to give you some good
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advice for your mental health, these things are also setting
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the tone for how time off and how your employees are going to
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treat.
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That, and I think that's just the most critical part of this
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is because there is, as we described, our culture, whether
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it's corporate culture or American culture doesn't really
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embrace the holidays like we should, and so these things move
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the needle pretty considerably.
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You know, i have a lot of European coworkers and friends
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and peers, and it's a very different thing And and and some
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of most of the rest of the world, frankly, but in the US, i
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think it's key that we think about the influence that we have
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when it comes to setting the tone here.
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Speaker 1: Awesome Yes, i totally agree with you and
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making that mind shift as well.
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So tell us what the first one is.
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Speaker 2: Look, i think the first one is in it, and this is
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going to be really hard for a lot of you is it's actually
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blocked the time off, meaning, do not work during your time off
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, I do it myself, i'll just squeeze in a call, i'll take
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that call on Thursday, i'll get that in, but at the end of the
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day, you are stating that my time off is not important And we
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as a group, as as executives, as Americans in particular, you
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know we, we fetish the overwork, we really enjoy being overtaxed
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and there's a badge of honor to that.
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It is so important that when you tell your peers, your, your,
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your superiors, your staff, that you're taking time off,
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that you do it and you will be much more healthy and you will
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enjoy that time off.
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With that time is blocked because you're not going to be
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thinking about that quick 15 minute call, you're able to
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disconnect from work And I think that is so important.
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In doing so, blocking off your time really allows you to do
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that.
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Speaker 1: I think that's so important.
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And from the other side of it, when you don't, you know the
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leaders out but then you see that they're Friday's open and
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you're like, are they back?
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Are they back online?
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You don't want to send something, like you might hold
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off on sending an email until they get back.
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So then you're uncertain, you want to be.
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So there's like this whole psychology that waste of time,
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that if you just don't do that, that you give to the
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organization and then I go.
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Should I not block my calendar?
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What?
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Speaker 2: is the best practice around it.
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Speaker 1: So I think that's a good one.
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But I just wanted to kind of bring the other side of the
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equation to the table.
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Speaker 2: Because we are setting the best practice in
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these areas.
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You know, as a rule my experience has been and people I
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talked to before this episode you know there isn't really a
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well documented use case or well documented guard rails and
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rules around this at any company .
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It's the unwritten rule.
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You know there's always that, well, this is what the boss the
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boss we have for this next five years does, and so the truth is
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is you should?
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you can set the tone for your team and you should, yeah.
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The second item I really think is important is you, as the
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leader, need to communicate to your stakeholders that you are
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out, yeah, just don't go dark, don't go half.
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Explain to them that you're taking time, and I think that
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that sets the boundary in and enables you to be very good at
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not being out.
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What I think so many of us, as leaders, want to do is we want
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to do everything.
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You know you want to have three meetings at two o'clock.
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Well, when you have three meetings at two o'clock, you
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have three crappy meetings at two o'clock, right, yeah.
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So do something well, do one thing well and do, and that one
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thing should be taking time off.
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And when you communicate that in a crisp fashion to your
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stakeholders that you will be doing them a favor and you will
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be doing yourself a favor by having that boundary.
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You know, i have one of my favorite phrases, as many of my
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people know.
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It's you know, good fences make good neighbors And this is a
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great line.
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Where you put that fence there, draw the line and things will
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be healthy.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and it provides that clarity And so that
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everybody knows If there's no doubt yeah, don't hedge, don't
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hedge.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah.
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And then I think the third one which is really an opportunity
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is I think that it's super important that you verbally and
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crisply delegate to your, to your team when you're out.
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Yeah, So many folks you know.
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It's so sad that many of us learn that we are the delegates
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by reading the out of office message right, Right, You know.
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I'm out.
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If you have any problems called James.
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Oh, i guess that's, i'm in charge.
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Speaker 1: I don't know.
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Speaker 2: Well, what does that mean?
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Speaker 1: even you know in that comical example.
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Speaker 2: To what extent am I now responsible?
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Yeah, and I think, as a leader, you have an opportunity to turn
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to one of your, your folks, and say look, during this time off,
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i want you to be responsible for these things.
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Do you need to make any decisions?
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we do and cover these meetings for me.
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It's a growth opportunity for them, it gives them a sense of
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confidence And it really does empower them.
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And I think, think about the realities as we are using our
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time off as a growth opportunity for our teams.
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That's a double win Could be a triple win.
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And so I think we really formally do that and work
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directly with our folks.
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It really makes a big difference.
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Speaker 1: You know and when you think about that from the other
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side, because I've been that person before And so so when you
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get that call your natural.
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It's not that you're trying to be a jerk or anything, but your
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natural thing is I don't really know who you are, what you're
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like to tell them.
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You didn't know you were going to be their backup.
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Speaker 2: And like that makes you look like you're not a great
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leader.
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Speaker 1: So now that whole feeling of that, like you know,
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not clarity and confusion you're actually like letting that flow
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further than you would like that to happen.
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Speaker 2: So that's yeah, absolutely Yeah.
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So this again makes it very crisp and clear And I think it
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gives everyone an opportunity to know how to succeed in that
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situation.
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Speaker 1: That's so good.
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Okay, before you.
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We crap, we crap your three.
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I always put my big foot in my mouth.
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Before you recap, james.
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I'm gonna add a bonus because I have to say this is my bonus.
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you have to recap it, but I want to challenge our quicksters
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.
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I love when people have an out of office that's comical or like
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give you some interesting like context to either where they are
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, maybe have chat, chat GPT right here right out of office
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and just say you know chat GPT, but I love getting that And it
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makes me go.
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good for them that not all they're like proud.
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That to me says I am probably taking vacation because you
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didn't use the one that's in, whatever your browser or
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whatever that's the standard one .
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that.
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That's a great one.
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Speaker 1: This is this think of you know, everybody says this
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might not be.
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I might not get back to you right away.
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I'm on vacation.
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Like how boring is that.
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Speaker 2: Right, right.
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I think that's a really such a good thank you, it's a good tone
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or shows that you are actively taking the time off.
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You're thinking about the message And actually a little
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bit of whimsy in the email may actually I'll drive people to
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read it.
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Speaker 1: Very true, very true.
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Speaker 2: All right, so you're going to recap and I'm going to
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recap all four, because I can absolutely see my bonus made the
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list.
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Speaker 1: Your bonus is making the list, so number one block it
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actually block your time off.
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Speaker 2: Don't squeeze things in.
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You're off.
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Take the time off to actively communicate to your stakeholders
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that you are off, show them that it's okay for you to take
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time off and that you have a plan to what to do when you are
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off.
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And that plan is a formal, structured conversation with
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your delegates to ensure that they know that they are in fact
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covering for you.
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That is an opportunity for them to grow, and I think that's
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huge.
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And then for bonus one or number four, which way?
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Speaker 1: the special sound.
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We need a special sound.
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I don't know.
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Speaker 2: That was a pretty good special sound That was
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special Is that have a little fun with your out of office, put
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something in there about where you're going, or, or, you know,
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just give bonus points to anybody who reads it.
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I think it'll sets a nice tone and ensures that people know
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that you are thinking about taking time off and you're happy
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to disconnect.
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Speaker 1: Awesome.
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I thought this is really good.
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I wish I would have heard this 10 years ago, although wouldn't
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have applied back then, But but yes, very good tips.
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Thank you, James.
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I love your story too.
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So glad that you joined us.
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We really appreciate you.
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All of our quicksters.
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You know we're going to have t-shirts.
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We'll let you know when those are out.
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But follow both of us on James and I on LinkedIn and message us
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.
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Tell us what you like about it, Give us your stories, Give us
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your questions.
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We want to hear from you So love hearing from you.
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Yeah, and share this with somebody that's about to go on
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vacation or that you think need to proudly walk out the door.
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Speaker 2: They'll know because of this Exactly right.
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Speaker 1: So thanks for being here.
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We appreciate you.
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Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Quick Take,
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where we talk about the questions that are on the minds
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of executives everywhere.
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Connect with us and share what's on your mind.
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Speaker 2: You can find us on LinkedIn, youtube or whatever
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nerdy place on the internet.
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You find your podcasts.
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All the links you really did are in the show notes.