Tag Archives: Vacation

How Do You Maintain a Healthy Work/Life Balance? Three Perspectives

Situation: A CEO finds that even on vacations he is obsessed with what is happening at the office. This keeps him from relaxing even during time off. Moreover, his family notices this and is unhappy that he isn’t spending his vacation time with them. How does he turn this around? How do you maintain a healthy work/life balance?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • If an individual is still working most of the time when on vacation this has a number of negative effects.
    • It makes the vacation even more stressful than normal work. First, a vacation is meant to provide distance and perspective from the workplace, as well as to allow time to relax and recharge. Second, this is time set aside to enjoy being with family and focus on work robs everyone of this. Third, while on vacation, there are fewer resources at one’s disposal so solving problems from afar is more difficult that when in the office.
  • To address these issues, plan on the next vacation to be “fully unplugged.”
    • Designate a “substitute” to act as CEO during this vacation. Assure that this individual has their own “go to” person to work with if they encounter a situation that puts them in over their head. Perhaps this can be a member of the board or another senior officer.
    • Plan the next vacation for two weeks to test the substitute model.
    • An additional benefit is that this can provide assurance that even if an unexpected situation prevents the CEO from being present, there is an assurance that the company can operate without the CEO if necessary. This boosts the value of the company.
  • Remember that success as a CEO is measured partly on the ability to have a fully operational office when the CEO is absent. Build and conduct the role so that the company operates well when the CEO is not there. This is consistent with a healthy growth model and long-terms plans for building a successful company.

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Do You Sell the Company or Grow Bigger? Four Options

Situation: The CEO of a successful company is considering two options: sell the company or grow to the next level. She believes that the company could be sold for an amount that would satisfy her financial needs. Also, the prospect of a long vacation and more time for family is appealing. Do you sell the company or grow bigger?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • First Option: Pursue funding to take the company to the next level – through either private equity or venture capital. Present an optimistic, but credible, upside return for the investment; back this up with a realistic lower estimate to cover exposure.
    • Both funding sources only buy the home-run model. Two reasons:
      • They need potential and credible home runs to sell to their investors; nobody invests in solid base hits because the return is insufficient for the risk.
      • They assume that the funds recipient is overestimating what they can do.
      • Given the existence of new technology to expand the company’s presence, it has a legitimate home-run model.
    • Hire a pro to help obtain funding.
  • Second Option: Take a shot at buying the company’s principal competitor – this provides the opportunity for rapid growth at low risk in the existing market and will make the company more appealing at a higher price.
  • Third Option: Based on personal goals, if the company can be sold now at a good price – do it. This will enable you to fulfill your life goals.
  • Give the first two options 12 months. If there is no or limited progress in 12 months start taking two successive months off on vacation – allowing minimal time to monitor the company. If vacations are satisfying, sell the company.
  • Ask yourself a serious question – do you really want to be on extended vacation now or is this an objective for 3-5 years out? If the company already has strong momentum, why not see what can be built and then sell. There may be more adventure in this.
  • Fourth Option: Take some money off the table – enough to build your dream – but continue to own controlling interest in the company. This offers both choices.

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How Do You Set Up an Office in China? Seven Suggestions

Situation: A company has an opportunity to build an office in China. Their principal objective is to reduce their cost of providing services. A partner company has offered them space in its existing office in China. What is your experience working with Chinese culture? How do you set up an office in China?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Hire someone in your US office with an engineering background who is fluent both in Mandarin and in the subtleties of Chinese language and culture. Fluency in Chinese language and culture is particularly critical when you are dealing with difficult process issues.
    • Investigate local organizations such as the Silicon Valley Chinese Engineers Association. Through these organizations you may find candidates for this role who are also excellent engineers and additions to your team.
  • Employee loyalty issues in China will be more challenging than in the US. Chinese employees want to build their resumes as quickly as possible and perceive that job-hopping will facilitate this, just as was the case during the dot.com boom in Silicon Valley.
  • Offer a significant carrot to Chinese employees – after X years of work for us in China, you get Y months of work, at our expense, in our US office. This is a much sought-after experience for Chinese employees.
    • Be prepared to deal with departure soon after return to China, or employees declining to return to China at the end of their US stint.
  • Build a stronger process documentation system than you need in the US to assure both that work is done to your standards, and so that you can easily replace talent lost to turnover.
  • Have a recruiting program based in China to fill your personnel needs.
  • You will experience a culture clash when it comes to the value placed on equity and in understanding the meaning of a contract. For China in its current state of development, neither term is well-established by US standards.
  • Time tracking is not clean cut in China and vacation time needs differ. An example is the month of February for Chinese New Year.

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How Do You Take a Guilt-Free Vacation? Seven Suggestions

Situation: A CEO has not taken a vacation for years due to focus on the company. He knows that he needs a vacation and wants to take one. However, he feels guilty taking time off. How do you take a guilt-free vacation?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • For your general health, you need to take time off to refresh and recharge!
  • Think of the vacation as your CEO Test – have you created a team that can perform in your absence?
    • You may be amazed at the initiative that some will take given the freedom to do so. As a corollary, initiative is accompanied by risk and your employees may make some bad choices. Be patient. Congratulate them for taking initiative and coach to improve choices.
    • Stay out of touch. Don’t call in daily and see what happens. If and when you do call in, don’t solve challenges that come up – let your people solve the challenges. Keep a few notes. On your return see where you need to adjust procedures to allow employees to make independent decisions.
    • More than one CEO has found that taking 3-4 week vacations each year has had very positive results. The company actually performs more efficiently and with more energy upon their return than it did when they left!
  • To ensure that you take a vacation, schedule it in advance. Let everyone know that you are going to take it and Just Do It!
  • If you can’t take the time to plan a vacation, have your spouse or a loved one plan the vacation.
  • If you need to feel in touch during your vacation, take your laptop. You may never even use it, but it will be there as a security blanket. Once you are on vacation, let family and personal priorities rightly take precedence over your need to stay in touch.

Key Words: Vacation, Company, Focus, Guilt, Health, Refresh, Recharge, Initiative, Patience, Coach, Problems, Valuation, Performance, Planning, Priorities, Family, Stress, Support

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