How to prepare your team before going on holiday

Over the next few weeks, a lot of us will be packing the work bag for the last time before heading off on holiday. And if you’re a leader, there’s a good chance you’ll be carrying a quiet, nagging worry alongside the suncream and the out-of-office: what’s going to happen while I’m gone?

In this episode of The Leaders Kitbag, I explore why how your team performs in your absence tells you more about your leadership than almost anything they do while you’re stood watching.

I take you back to my second tour of Iraq, when a period of leave landed me away from my team during the busiest, most volatile stretch of the entire deployment. What I found when I got back taught me something I still talk about today: one of the real tests of your leadership isn’t how things run when you’re in the room. It’s how they run when you’re not.

A lot of leaders read a smooth-running team the wrong way. When things tick along fine without them, it can feel uncomfortable – almost like a sign they’re not needed. It’s the opposite. A team that performs well in your absence is a sign you’ve trained, developed and supported them well enough that they don’t depend on you being there.

I share a few simple, practical things you can do now to set your team up to succeed while you’re away, so you can actually switch off on holiday – and come back to find things went brilliantly without you.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why how your team performs in your absence is one of the clearest tests of your leadership
• Why a smoothly running team while you’re away is a sign of strength, not a threat
• The warning sign to watch for if things fall apart the moment you step back
• Practical steps to prepare your team before you go on leave
• How to actually switch off on holiday without worrying about work

Ben’s Key Takeaway

It’s easy to read a smooth-running team the wrong way while you’re on leave, and feel like you’re surplus to requirements. But that’s backwards.

A team that thrives in your absence hasn’t happened by accident. It’s the result of work you’ve done well before you left: delegating clearly, making priorities visible, and making sure people know who to turn to when you’re not there.

Scan ahead, start that work now, and you’ll come back from holiday to find your team did just fine without you – because you set them up to.

Want to learn more about how to be a leader?

The expression of interest form is now open for the next cohort of my ‘Leader in Me’ programme.

If you’re ready to:

• Build confidence and capability as a leader
• Break free from firefighting and become more proactive
• Learn how to inspire your team and deliver results…

Find out more here.

 

Podcast Transcript

How to prepare your team before going on holiday 

Over the coming weeks, a lot of you will pack your work bag for the last time… and head off on holiday.

And somewhere in the back of your mind, there’s a good chance you’ll be carrying a quiet, nagging worry. What’s going to happen while I’m gone?

If that’s you, then today’s episode of The Leaders Kitbag is for you. Because how your team performs in your absence tells you more about your leadership than almost anything they do while you’re stood watching.

Let me take you back to my second tour of Iraq. I was a young captain, and it remains one of my proudest leadership moments.

On a six-month tour, everyone gets around ten days back in the UK — R&R, rest and recuperation. My wedding had been booked before I deployed, so I took my leave right towards the end of the tour.

Now, here’s the thing about R&R in the Army.

You don’t stay in touch. No phone calls, no checking your email.

You’re sent home to rest – or in my case – get married.

And the team you leave behind simply cracks on.

And as it turned out, those ten days were the busiest, most volatile, most demanding stretch of the entire deployment.

I didn’t know any of that while it was happening. I only found out when I got back.

And what I found when I returned was that my team had performed brilliantly. Without me there. Without me hovering. They’d handled the hardest period of the whole tour entirely on their own.

That taught me something I talk about all the time now.

One of the real tests of your leadership isn’t how things run when you’re in the room. It’s how they run when you’re away.

A lot of leaders get this backwards. When things tick along fine without them, they feel a flicker of something uncomfortable. Am I even needed?

But that’s exactly the wrong way to read it. A team that performs in your absence isn’t a sign you’re surplus to requirements.

It’s a sign you’ve trained, developed and supported them well enough that they don’t depend on you being in the room.

The opposite is the real warning sign. If everything grinds to a halt, or starts to fall apart the moment you step away, that’s worth paying attention to.

Two things brought this back to me recently.

The first is the time of year. We’re heading into the summer holidays, and you’re probably starting to think about getting away.

The second was a leader on the final session of my Leader in Me programme. She’d come back from her holiday that very day, and she told the group that everything had gone brilliantly well while she was gone.

And the key point is this. That doesn’t happen by accident.

A team that thrives in your absence is one you’ve set up to do exactly that — and usually, that work happens well before you leave.

So here are a few simple things you can do to set your team up to succeed while you’re away and allow you to relax.

I’m always banging on about scanning ahead, and this is the perfect moment for it.

Look at when your holiday actually falls and start building the plan now -several weeks out, not the night before you go.

Begin delegating jobs today.

Make sure everyone’s priorities are clear.

And make sure your team knows exactly who to go to in your absence.

Do that, and you can leave the office and head off on holiday without worrying about things going wrong in your absence.

You’ll most likely come back and be surprised at how well your team did without you.

That’s it for this episode.

Look after…

And until next time… lead on.