The Art of Taking a Vacation

I feel very strongly about this subject–and it’s one that employers typically don’t like to discuss or mess with. As this article moves, it will subdivide as it reflects on my personal thoughts about the value of vacations for myself, and how time off and the quality of that time affects your employees as well. High stress careers and mid-level to upper management roles take a toll and burned-out management equals bad decisions and the squeeze begins to hit profits and the bottom line. Time off work, it matters big time, it affects profitability in a surprising way.
Early in my career, I threw myself at work relentlessly and burned the midnight oil literally–nobody could outwork me. Funny thing about stress and the physical effects–it slips up on you with no warning flags, there’s no canary in the coal mine, no yellow lights.. You can’t see it–but it shows up in subtle and ugly ways–performance suffers, interpersonal relationships start to slide, and decisions become lousy, or even worse you can’t make a decision.. Indecision is the greatest debit to profits ever!

When I was in my mid 30’s I was managing a huge business platform, and one night in a moment of serious reflection (with a crystal highball full of Scotch on the rocks) I decided that I needed to do a better job with recognizing my pace, stress build up, and I realized that I had to “fully decompress” to remain effective at work, have a better personal life and manage my health better. I always took pride in my health and physical well being. I had already seen too many guys have serious problems on all of those fronts, and I firmly decided “that ain’t gonna be me”..
I called a guy who was like a 2nd Father to me and asked him if I could book time at his house on the north shore of Grand Cayman, very close to Stingray City right on the beach–he listened intently and was adamant that I go asap.. He was a good guy and a billionaire. Yes, you can be both good and rich too. He cared about me. To be clear, I had no problem taking vacations, but in reality, I was taking work with me on vacations, and I now realized that all I was doing was spending money, killing brain cells and not recharging the batteries.. It was pointless. The epiphany over a highball of scotch, was to essentially burn the boats, leave it all behind and pretend that I had quit my job. Also, I knew that I needed to wind down mentally and physically before I left for vacation, so that every day of the vacation was going to be truly beneficial “every single day”. So, the new plan was to relax early, unwind 3-4 days BEFORE vacation started. Flying or traveling to a destination can take up to 2 days each way, so a 10-day vacation becomes 6 days which isn’t enough. An anecdotal item to add to this scenario, is that if the person you answer to is an unconscionable ball buster (ever work for one of those?) you need to get him off your back several days before you leave so you can begin to unwind early. So, when in that scenario here’s what I did–I sent multiple requests for heavy capital expenditures intended for projects and equipment 4-5 days in advance of leaving. Believe me, upon seeing the costs of the requests your Boss will leave you alone–some of them will actually avoid you so they don’t have to discuss or make a decision about capital outlays–IT WORKS! So now the vacation is stretched an additional 3-4 days..
BOOM–the Grand Cayman trip was on, and the advance plan was in motion. The day before leaving at work, I had gathered all my Managers together from 6 geographical locations and I said “Boys, I don’t care if the buildings burn down–you’re in charge, make decisions. If there’s any grief or heavy drama, handle it and I’ll see you in 2 weeks–BYE”. In the car on the way to the airport, I said out loud “I QUIT, I’m unemployed” as a commitment to my time away.
A couple of drinks in first class and I’m gone in more ways than one. Off to Grand Cayman–this trip would become the prototype for vacations for the balance of my life. While there, I preoccupied myself with Red Stripe beer, free diving over the reef daily, zero TV and reading books which I absolutely loathe in reality, but I forced myself to get into books. NOTE for fun: Pour Red Stripe beer in a small bucket, toss in some land crabs for 5 minutes and then turn ’em loose–it’s a riot watching them go down the beach drunk! SECOND NOTE: Stay away from 151 Rum..
I was so far removed and unplugged in Grand Cayman, that when I came back to the Miami airport, I didn’t know that there had been a coup against Gorbachev–perfect!
So, what were the results of that trip Bruce? I was totally relaxed, recharged and mentally prepared to make great decisions and set new records. And about those books I had read–what book had I finished that changed my business outlook? “In Search of Excellence”. It changed my entire outlook on management–in fact I had been contemplating on getting out of my business life as I knew it, yet between the Red Stripe beer and the book, I was recommitted anew. I went back to work, made decisions I had been postponing and created new levels of high performance across the company.
What’s the message out of all that besides having fun in Grand Cayman? I soon realized that if it was good for me, it would be good for ALL my employees. I began not only encouraging, but in some cases forcing employees to take quality time off–that means a minimum of 9 days off straight. I also began vacation planning for all employees on 12 month calendars to assure they were taking the time instead of just working.
In research of company records, I was amazed to find out that 1 of my key Managers had not taken a significant vacation in 9 years! He had only taken off a day here and there. I met with him and I said Jimmy, I am mandating that you take 10 days off next week–he was astounded, and he argued against it. I said Jimmy I’ll cover your job personally, now get the hell out of here by Friday and go. Guess what happened–his next month was an all-time record! He had been totally burned out. When I reviewed the historical business trends–he ran a solid business, but it was basically flat, not growing.. Not anymore–after that he ran a growing business.
Bottom line–you can’t afford NOT to take great vacations–it’s a must and the benefits outweigh the costs. What’s good for the goose is also good for the gander–your employees will benefit and do a better job when refreshed. Review your employee records and see when the last time was, they took a REAL vacation and then help them make it happen.

Link: In Search of Excellence (I picked it up and couldn’t put it down)
https://www.amazon.com/Search-Excellence-Americas-Companies-Essentials/dp/B0007M2K8Q