“THERE IS NO ONE who became rich because he broke a holiday and no one who gained weight because he broke a fast.” (Ethiopian proverb) The Covid mask mandate and the Basketball Africa League finals have now ended here in Rwanda. The long, long rainy season is coming to a close (climate change permitting). And up to 5,000 people will soon be descending on Kigali for the CHOGM Commonwealth leaders’ summit. As a result, many people here are thinking about taking some time off from work and escaping Kigali with their families to enjoy a much needed vacation in the hills, at a lake resort or even abroad. The same is true for workers and their plans for summer vacations in the Global North or winter breakaways elsewhere in the Global South. But what about leaders? Especially in the new high-pressured, hybrid workplace that many people are still trying to get used to? Can they really afford to take a break from work, both literally and figuratively? Or as one leader told me recently: “Is a holiday really worth all the stress of getting ready for it beforehand and then catching up afterwards?” On a very simple level, leaders are also human beings and they definitely need time to rest and recharge too. Another leader told me why Europeans say that they “need” three weeks of vacation every Summer: “The first week is to get out of work mode and start relaxing. The second week is to have pure fun without any work distractions. The third week is to gear up again for returning to the office.” While many leaders cannot or will not take off three weeks all at once, they can still greatly benefit from even a short time away from work and they should not have to compromise their professional integrity or team productivity to do so. Leaders just need to prepare accordingly: - Check that any possible days or weeks off for you do not clash with any previously scheduled events at work, such as an offsite retreat, a new key person coming on board or your main deputy being away on parental leave. - Let your boss, peers, team members and key counterparts all know when exactly you plan to be away. - Delegate you key ongoing duties to a designated deputy or spread the responsibility around a few people as a form of stretch assignment for each of them. Prepare each of them as well as you can. - Discuss these changes and any other related issues in team meetings and one-on-one conversations with those around you. Let them get used to and even excited by the idea that things will be different for a while. - Stipulate if, when, how and why you might be checking in briefly each day or each week (if you think that you absolutely must do so). - Let everyone know which people are empowered to reach you during your time away and, if need be, how and under what circumstances. - Create a re-entry plan, which will allow you to catch up on the really important news and information you missed while you were away and to ease back into the work flow gently, smoothly and efficiently. And then leaders quite simply need to let go and go away, trusting their deputies to perform while they are gone; keeping their own commitments to really switch off for everyone’s benefit; and not permitting the return to work to overwhelm them. This is obviously easier said than done for many high-driven leaders, which brings up a second important reason for taking a break. It’s not just healthy for their body and soul but also for their psyche and their ego. Returning to a point made in a ‘Leading Rwanda’ column on ‘Executive Presence, Confidence and Regeneration’ last October - https://www.newtimes.co.rw/opinions/leading-rwanda-executive-presence-confidence-and-regeneration - no one, absolutely no one, is indispensable to any organization or department or team. “Sometimes you just gotta be your own hero and save your own little heart. Because sometimes the people you cant imagine living without, can live without you.” (Original source unknown). Or in other words, leaders need to practice this mantra: “I can’t live without you but I will live without you.” At least for a few weeks! Trying to practice what I preach, this column will now take a break until 28 July to allow time for a four-week family trip to the USA (with a little bit of work). The views expressed in this column are entirely those of the writer who can be reached at jeremy@jeremysolomons.com
