Hippie CEO Life #38 - Be a Good Example
December 31, 2022
“What you are speaks so loudly, I can’t hear what you are saying.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
i’m a day late getting this week’s newsletter out because i honestly didn’t realize that yesterday was Friday.
It’s the first time since starting 33 Sticks back in 2013 that i truly took some time off at the end of the year. i’ve ALWAYS given the entire team fully paid time off between Christmas and New Years but i’ve never taken that time off myself.
In the beginning, it was making sacrifices so i could work uninterrupted during the company shutdown to help bail a client out of a mess they were in — i remember one year working 10 hours a day between Christmas and New Years to migrate a large travel company from Google Analytics 360 to Adobe Analytics — i felt it was what i needed to do to get the company off the ground.
Then later as the company became more established, the excuse was that i finally had some uninterrupted time, no meetings, no client deliverables, to catch up on things i was falling behind on. It felt like it was always something, something pulling at me, telling me that i shouldn’t be taking the time off.
But this year, i realized that i wasn’t setting a good example for the team with my actions. i kept saying, it’s important to take this time off to rest and recharge, but i wasn’t doing it myself. What kind of confusing message was i sending to the team?
When we are leading, we have to remember that our teams are watching us, they are paying attention to what we do, far more than the attention they give to what we say.
Are you modeling the behavior that you want your teams to follow?
Thank you for staying connected to me this year, i hope i have given you a few nuggets of wisdom that have helped you in one way or another in your career, in your life.
Happy New Year!
