Leadership Lessons from a Day of Hooky.

We all need to take days off now and then

On Friday, my wife and I decided that we were going to take a day off, take the kids out of school and go spend the day at the closest Six Flags amusement park.

Fun day?  Absolutely!  Relaxing?  If you have ever tried to schlep, chase and corral four children around an amusement park, you know the answer to that one!

However,  despite being bone-crushing tired on Friday night, I was mentally at ease.  I didn't even realize how calm and unstressed I was until I went to bed and drifted right to sleep.

At that is the lesson from a day of hooky - take time away to de-stress and calm down.

Who hasn't been here? 

I should know this.  Three years ago when I first got to Afghanistan, I was churning out 16 hours days, day-after-day.  My day started at 0700 with the Regimental operations and intelligence update brief, and it ended when I sent my final end of the day report at 2300 each night.  In between were staff meetings, coordination, communication and a whole bunch of stress.

Then, about three weeks into the deployment I noticed that most every afternoon the Regimental Commander - who is way smarter than me - would leave his office for a couple of hours to PT (exercise in civilian vernacular) and take some "me time."  And boy did he need it - his job was ten times harder than mine.  It occurred to me though, if the Big Boss could take a couple of hours away from his responsibilities, then I could as well.

So, when I wasn't traveling around and visiting my Marines through the battle space, I started a routine where I left my office to work out, went to my tent to unplug for a bit, showered, ate dinner and then commenced my "night shift."

After some me time! 

And, you know what?  While I took a couple of hours away from desk - nothing bad happened.  In fact, I think my staff was happy to have a break from me!  When I got back to the office, I was refreshed and ready to plow through a host of reports and draft my own.

There is no way I would have lasted seven months on my initial pace.  So, while I gave up a couple of hours every day, I ended up being more effective in the long run.

The lesson here is that Leaders need to learn to take care of themselves.  We all want to drive and push ourselves to the breaking point - we figure that that is our responsibility and how we set the example.  However, tired and stressed is no way to lead.

So, when you are making sure you take care of your people - make sure you include yourself.  A fresh and de-stressed Leader is a better leader.