Lifes A Beach

'Lifes a beach?' Well holidays can be, especially if you get into a state not just about where you go but whether to go at all.
Naturally, if you employ no staff then a holiday break can seem unnecessary and even dangerous but with all the mobile media at our disposal today even you should be prepared to give yourself a short break safe in the knowledge that you are extremely unlikely to miss that all important sales call.
If you do employ staff in your own small business then the holidays you take, or whether you take them, says a lot about your management style and what you think of the people you employ.
If you take no holiday at all or only dare venture a few miles away on a 'long weekend' in order that you can come back in at short notice to deal with some 'emergency' you are simply not running your business effectively. It also smacks of crisis management which, trust me, attracts nothing but contempt from employees however good it may make you feel. What on earth are the point of the people you employ if they can't be left to manage things during your absence? If your answer is to take no holiday at all then you are adding extra pressure on yourself and possibly hastening the day when you have to take time off whether you like it or not; what will happen to your business then?
Think too what impact this has on your employees who will feel that they are not trusted to run things while you are away or to use the skills and judgement they undoubtedly have. Horror of horrors they may even have some ideas on how to manage the day to day that haven't occurred to you!
Naturally, your business needs the leadership and strategic direction that you provide but even for that to be effective you will need talented committed people around you. The first thing to admit to yourself is that you are not indispensable, then ask yourself who in your team shows genuine promise and ability, start to think about how you may be able to bring this out more by putting together a formal training plan for them using your knowledge and industry experience, there may even be some external supervisory or management training you could provide. The effect on the staff you deal with in this way is often out of all proportion to the time or money spent on it. If you are able to do this then not only will you eventually be able to to take a proper holiday you will genuinely enjoy it and be a far more effective manager when you get back.