Leadership Isn’t on Vacation: How to Recharge Without Checking Out

Welcome to Summer Stretch, WhiteWater’s seasonal, four-part series to heat up your thinking, goals, and business potential.

Let’s be honest: a lot of leaders are bad at taking time off. 

Some don’t do it at all. Others head to the cottage but keep their cell phone in their shorts pocket and one eye on email, convinced the whole place will fall apart without them. 

But taking a real break doesn’t mean checking out entirely. Or that disaster will inevitably ensue if you take a little break! In fact, the best leaders use downtime to recharge and return even stronger.

Here's how. 

• Set Leadership Boundaries Before Taking Time Off.

Before you log off, make sure your team knows what you expect of them and what they can expect from you. Do they have the clarity, capacity, and confidence to keep things moving? If not, the issue isn’t your vacation, it’s your leadership pipeline.

• Model what you want to see.

When leaders brag about never taking vacation, what they’re really showing is poor strategy. At Whitewater, we talk a lot about how leaders set the tone at the top and how that trickles down through your organization.

If you want your team to be rested, resilient, and at their best, start with yourself. Take your time off. Don’t apologize for it. Show them what a sustainable pace looks like.

• Model Sustainable Vacation Habits as a Leader

Here’s the magic: rest creates room for new thinking. I can’t tell you how many business owners I know had their best ideas not at a boardroom table, but in a kayak, a hammock, or on the back nine (my personal favorite!). Downtime doesn’t mean doing nothing. It means creating the mental space to zoom out, reflect, and, if you’re lucky,  return with a fresh perspective. As a piece in Fast Company explains, to many leaders, rest seems like an aspiration, or a sign of weakness in our hustle-and-grind culture. 

But here’s the truth: Rest is productive. As the article explains, “rest is part of the process and is integral to our journey to success.” Rest isn’t the opposite of productivity; it’s its partner. I’d also add that it’s almost always the sign of a confident leader.

So yes, go to the beach. Unplug. Let your team step up. But bring a notebook. You never know what treasures might wash ashore!