Today, CEOs face extraordinary pressure to perform and keep their organisations in growth – we know this is true. What’s also true is that CEOs aren’t robots with an endlessly replenishing battery of energy. Just like their employees, these leaders need to take breaks to recharge energy and rejuvenate their creativity to propel their organisations forward with new ideas when they return. Given these pressures, a simple one-week vacation just isn’t enough to rest and recharge.Â
Increasingly, CEOs and today’s top leaders are taking strategic sabbaticals (a break for 1-3 months) to step back and truly decompress. This allows their leadership team to strengthen in their absence. A CEO can then return in a more strategic and innovative capacity to lead the charge into the next chapter. While many may feel this is totally out of reach, following five simple tips brings an executive sabbatical into the realms of possibility and positions the break as an advantage not just for the leader, but for the long-term sustainability of the organisation.
Lyndall Farley is a Sabbatical Coach guiding executives through transformative sabbaticals and supporting companies to build Sabbatical Leave Programs for resilient organisations. She co-founded BreakSpace – a community for people wanting to plan and navigate life-changing sabbaticals and career breaks. Here Lyndall Farley, shares 5 tips.
Plan the break strategically
The timing of the sabbatical is critical. Look for natural down times in the organisation’s operations. This may be summer, winter, holiday periods, or based on an industry’s natural business cycle. Shift the mindset of the break from being a burden to being a strategic opportunity. Prepare for the break well in advance – more than one year before the start date. Look for leaders who are ready to step into more responsibility and start upskilling them for the challenge. Look for dependencies on the CEO and build support and systems ahead of time to address them. A CEO sabbatical is a strategic opportunity to strengthen the executive leadership team, build organisational resiliency and pull dependencies into focus. Ultimately, if an organisation can’t survive without the CEO for a few months, there are systemic problems that need to be addressed to build organisational resilience – and a sabbatical is a strategic tool that allows resiliency to be built safely.
Be clear about the purpose of the break
Planning an executive sabbatical takes as much focus on the work coverage plan as the time spent on the break. Be clear about the purpose of the break. It could be to recharge and refocus for the next chapter, to reconnect with family or live a bucket list dream. Get clear on the “why” of the break and then craft a few areas to focus on that will help deliver that purpose. The most common focus areas are health and wellbeing, family connection, travel and having time to do things that are adventurous, fun or joyful. These are all valid pursuits and planning the sabbatical well means being honest about the true needs and desires of the CEO.
Prioritise decompression
Ensure the sabbatical plan is balanced and not overstuffed with activities. A key benefit of a sabbatical is the ability to truly decompress which involves three key components of recovery outlined in the Sabbatical Decompression Model.Â
- Physical recovery – looking after the basics to reduce stress level and improve wellbeing by focusing on healthy sleep, diet and exercise.Â
- Psychological recovery – complete disconnection from work, feeling autonomy in choosing a daily schedule, keeping the mind active with non-work, pleasurable activities and building human connection.
- Supporting environment – spending time in nature, seeking out new experiences, building healthy routines and being supported by loved ones.
Don’t return to how things were
A sabbatical is a unique opportunity to transfer operational responsibilities to other people in the organisation. The CEO can then pick up only the strategic, high value work upon return. It’s a chance to reset how the CEO interacts with an organisation and at what level they’re operating. Too often, CEOs are stuck in the weeds. A sabbatical is a forcing factor for allowing the CEO to extricate themselves and return in a more strategic role. And this is a win-win for the executives stepping up who get more exposure, experience and preparation for their next career step.Â
Integrate insights into life and leadership
Every CEO will have ideas and insights when they step back, relax and allow ideas to flow – it’s the nature of creativity. The insights could be about how to be more personally effectively by allowing more space for rest, reflection and family connection. They could also be about the organisation or future career directions. Whatever the lessons, the return is a chance to integrate these into life and work. If CEOs capitalise on their insights and take action post-sabbatical, they will amplify the value of the sabbatical and have the benefits compound over time.
The ultimate challenge for leaders is not taking one sabbatical but strategically planning them into their careers and organisational growth plans as pivotal moments of reflection and recharge. That will ultimately give CEOs a long-term system for rest and recharge that will propel their organisations and performance forward sustainably.
