Vacations; good for the soul? Sure. In my opinion vacations are individual and subjective. One person’s vacation may not be an others. My husband and I have different ideas of what a vacation is; he looks for a place to be active and I look for a place to lay down. And sometimes I just want a vacation from hectic and interruption and schedules. I really enjoy heat, water and reading when I can appreciate each of them as I wish, when I wish and for as long as I wish.
I’m not opposed to doing a hike or going for a look-see or anything like that but I need a day or two to just check out of my busy, scheduled life, which I acknowledge is also created by me. It’s not a complaint it’s a realization. The kind of vacation I imagine is what will help me re-energize. And the other thing I know is that taking my vacation makes me a better partner, consultant, wife and parent. Taking my vacation makes me a better manager of my life.
But here’s the thing; it’s not a vacation for you if it’s the kind of vacation that doesn’t set you up for success. It’s not a vacation if it doesn’t provide you the opportunity to re-energize and re-charge. If anything it maybe the opposite. Vacations, like leadership are individual in approach. Trying to be the kind of leader that doesn’t suit you will only result in more frustration. We are gifted with our own styles and our own view of the world so none of us are meant to lead the exact same way.
Take my husband for example; who isn’t content with a vacation that is just about pool time. If he concedes to a vacation based on my needs he will leave dissatisfied and regretful for what he could have or should have done. So what do you do?
You compromise, you find a vacation that you can design that suits both your styles some of the time but not any one style all of the time. A little give and take. And in leadership; you compromise because you can’t be everything to everybody all of the time. You find a leadership style that suits you by being honest with yourself in terms of what kind of leader you really want to be and can be; then you fine tune it to suit your current situation and challenges. You allow yourself to relax into the opportunity so you can be energized with the role and the tasks. You are open to new ideas or new challenges and you understand that sometimes in life getting what you want is just as appealing as seeing people you care about get what they want.
It’s about being authentic, being honest and being fair to yourself so you can be those things to others. And just like a suitable vacation a suitable leadership approach will leave you feeling fulfilled but content, energized and motivated, ready and real.