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Monday 20 May 2013

Rest: the real Killer App

I just took my first week off in two years, and the first vacation with my wife and children in three years. Guess what: it was glorious. I purposefully dedicated a mere 20 minutes a day to email, and locked my cell phone in the room safe. We played and rested and laughed and ate and drank. And shared the whole experience with the joy of a family who loves being together.

And through the whole week one question floated through my mind like the lazy Caribbean clouds overhead: "Why didn't I do this sooner?"

For the last few years, and particularly the last six months, I have been pushed harder and stretched farther than any other time in my professional life. And my response, predictably, was to strap myself in and push back even harder. I saw the red flags. I heard the warnings of others. I felt the wear-and-tear physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. But predictably I believed I was immune to the effects of pressure and stress. Or at least that I would withstand them without any slippage in my performance. 


What a donkey I am.


Theory is a wonderful thing. It costs us nothing to claim to believe in a theory.....right up until we disprove our own claims by disregarding the very theories we espouse.
I believe - or at least claim to - in the theory of Activity and Rest being the two interdependent sides of a coin called Productive Living. No one can live on the side of Activity to the exclusion of Rest for very long without experiencing fatigue, slippage, and ultimately failure. And I preached this to the people around me, insisting they take time to rest and recharge at various points of the journey. After all, I claimed, how can you climb the upcoming hill if your legs are spent? Don't worry, I insisted, I will carry your load for a while so you can recharge.

Physician, heal thyself.

What is it about leadership that we inherently believe we are immune to the same effects of those we lead? Are we so arrogant we believe we can disregard the amplification of these self-same effects on leaders as we shoulder the responsibility of leadership? I can feel now how I have robbed myself, and those who depend on me, by refusing to rest along the way. I am not yet fully recovered from the effects of the last several months; the shaking has not yet fully stopped. And right now my wife is inside putting the final touches on another vacation for later this summer. 

I may be a slow learner. But my wife will make sure I learn this lesson well.

Don't cheat yourself and those who depend on you.
Rest.
Recharge.
Re-engage.
Repeat.

For leaders rest really is a killer app.

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