It’s the season for CEOs to take vacations.
After 6+ months of growing your business and maintaining family routines, the summer season calls for some downtime.
In my work with CEOs, I get a front-row seat to different ways leaders use their downtime to serve their work and spend quality time with the people they care about the most.
In July…
One CEO our team partners with went to Ghana on an annual business trip and mixed in pleasure by bringing his wife on the vacation. After vacation, he returned with new ideas to scale his business by getting the course accredited by a local university and launching an affiliate program. If I had to guess the one question he took on vacation with him was – How can I get more executives into my course and on Corporate Boards?
Another CEO we support frequently travels from Atlanta to Los Angeles, this summer she brought her 2 daughters along for a few weeks. Upon her return, she was ready to hire and onboard full-time IT Support and a Communications Director. If I had to guess the one question she took on vacation with her it was – What are the roles that the company needs to reduce overwhelm across the team and prepare for growth?
One of our CEOs spent a week in Rome, where she finalized the edits for the 1st book. During our 1st check-in, she had great ideas to implement on how to streamline various internal retreat processes. If I had to guess the one question she took on vacation with her it was – How can I maintain this clear mind space to write? Where are we duplicating work and who can do these tasks instead of me?
Last month I found myself on a mini 3 days trip to Zurich. During these few days, I spent time thinking about what’s the next level of the business, how I can show up better for my family, and simply enjoy my life outside of my regular daily routine. I didn’t realize how overdue I was for this getaway.
In the past, I used to plan a weekend getaway once a quarter and it allowed me time to reset life. I have clients that regularly travel for a mix of business and pleasure throughout the year. After watching clients’ patterns of travel & work, I believe there is a connection between experiencing a change of routine with time off and leadership growth.
While the time off is much needed, many leaders don’t stop thinking about their business and what’s next. Vacation gives everyone time and space to step back to do some thinking on expansion and problem-solving the areas that aren’t working.
So in addition to packing a swimsuit, shorts, and a book to read, if you’re in a position of leadership in your company, here are some questions you might want to tuck in your suitcase:
- How can I get my business in front of more people?
- What projects can I remove myself from?
- Are there new ways we can retain members/clients?
- Are my employees happy?
- What are ways we can work smarter or be more efficient?
The common theme among our clients is that they are always looking for what they can do better in terms of expansion, improvement, and growth.
As a CEO the day-to-day in your business comes at you really fast. The change of pace that comes on vacation can give you much-needed space to step back and think about what’s happening and what’s next.