I’m departing from our standard “Questions from CEOs” format to share some news and perhaps inspire some questions for you to consider:
From May to August of 2023, our company’s two executive leaders - my wife Diana and me - will not be connecting with or participating in the roles we have been serving in Trebuchet Group. Our remaining five team members will be running the business and working with our amazing clients and partners.
We’re taking a four-month-long sabbatical.
When we’ve shared this news with others, we’re typically greeted by a couple of responses, which are listed below along with with some of our thoughts. Following that I’ll encourage you to consider giving the gift of a sabbatical to yourself and your business
1. Good for you! But what’s going to happen to the business?
Exactly what’s happening right now. Years ago, I was very fortunate to have connected with Bo Burlingham, his book, and the Small Giants Community it inspired, which led me to Jack Stack and Steve Baker and the Great Game Company, which inspired us to create fully open books for our company. Fully open as in every person’s salary is a line item in our budget, as is the dividend Diana and I receive as owners. While Diana and I are as transparent as possible around business decisions, this year we created a RASCI chart of major and typical decisions. And we recently made a Sabbatical version that doesn’t have Diana’s or my name on it.
Our business is already better because we’ve chosen to be more deliberate and clear about how we do things, what the desired outcomes are, and how those connect to our bigger why:
Photo Credit: The Author
I believe our business will continue improving and we and our team will thrive at work even while we’re away.
2. What amazing trips do you have planned? What book are you going to write?
Actually we’re deliberately not packing our schedules full, nor am I going to be working on my next book.
After a few iterations of supporting other leaders as they dreamed up and went on their own sabbaticals, we received some wisdom around leaving lots of space and time for choices as we go. We are considering a couple weeks in Alaska, New Mexico, and maybe the East Coast, and want to build stronger habits of self-care for ourselves - as well as doing some decluttering and organizing of some of our personal space.
3. What will you do when you get back?
Our plan is to sit down with the team and share together:
What did we learn?
What did they learn?
What went well? Not so well?
What do we want to keep, try, and drop going forward?
Something I tossed out to the team for them to consider during the sabbatical is how we all might move to a 4-day workweek while still achieving the impact, revenue, and profitability the company needs. (This change wouldn’t take place until after we get back and discuss it - unless they figure it all out sooner!)
4. Oh, I could never do that!
Even at this point in the process, I wish I would have believed I could have done this years ago.
Diana and I have been thinking about this - for ourselves and the rest of the team - for some time. Here are some of the reasons/excuses that held us back and what we did about them:
We can’t afford this.
Thanks to the 2008 Recession and resulting deep debt hole, after we climbed out we kept putting cash into a “just in case” reserve for the business. This reserve not only enables the whole company to sleep better at night, it also gives us the buffer needed to support a sabbatical policy. We modeled ours after our extraordinary client Essential Ingredients/Cathedral Holdings so everyone in our company can, over time, participate in a sabbatical. Having people willingly invest their lives with us and our clients is priceless, and we want the business to honor that commitment.
Nothing would happen without my contributions.
I’m sure you’ve heard the story of the worker who thinks they are irreplaceable and goes to tell their boss, who surprisingly asks them to stick their hand into a bucket of water and then take it out. “If you leave a hole in the water, then we’ll talk about irreplaceable” says the boss. There are indeed things Diana and I do well - and since our Why (see above) is about people thriving individually and together at work, we want to provide others the opportunity to learn more about what they can do differently (and possibly better) than us. Having worked with many leaders, I am hyper-aware how often a leader can unintentionally overshadow and stifle others from using and further developing their own strengths.
My email would be overwhelming when I got back / Clients and staff would be let down / Our industry or company is different and it just won’t work for us.
Someone recently told me that they just figured out that life is actually live - there’s no fixing mistakes in post-production. In my humble opinion, all the reasons above are simply smokescreen for fear of loss of control and “What am I without my work?” Someday, we will all leave the business or organization we’re in - one way or another. A sabbatical is one way to create space between me and my work so (after I get back) I will be more able to see the need for and support changes without taking things as personally. I’m pretty sure my team will appreciate that as well.
P.S. Ok, the email is a real challenge - and that’s why all my business email is going to be professionally handled while I’m away ;o)
Diana and I are planning to attend a few business community events around the country in the month of May as sort of an off-ramp to the sabbatical, so you may see us around. We’ll start to reconnect with our team in mid-August to be ready for a great September and rest of the year.
Do yourself and your organization a favor - plan for and take a sabbatical. And if you need a helpful nudge, send me a note. If I’m not around, I’m sure our team will figure out how to handle it.
