Good leaders help people take good breaks

Do you know the fastest route to Burnout Town and Resentment City? Try working somewhere where you never feel like you can take leave.

I worked somewhere like this once. Looking back there were two main reasons why I felt like I couldn’t take time off.

NO BACKUP & BAD LEADERSHIP

In my role I carried a fair amount of responsibility and the company ran very lean. Aside from having no backup, the way senior leaders handled leave requests turned the process into an ordeal.

Instead of encouraging staff to take much needed breaks, they would give us the third degree. I needed a water tight plan to ensure my leave would in no way hamper progress.

Because ‘momentum was precious’ I chose times that were terrible for my family but had minimum impact on my department. Instead of two or God forbid three week breaks, I took mostly breaks of one week or less.

I worked myself to the bone in the buildup to try get ahead and ensure no loose ends haunted me while away. So I started leave exhausted and eventually associated taking time off with extra work instead of rest.

Sometimes this approach is genuinely necessary and worth the sacrifice to achieve great things. But when it’s always instead of sometimes, and when it goes on year after unrelenting year, you burn out and become resentful.