{"id":330,"date":"2018-06-26T18:05:22","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T18:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.darrinthomason.com\/?p=330"},"modified":"2018-07-01T15:00:54","modified_gmt":"2018-07-01T15:00:54","slug":"leadership-lessons-from-vacation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.darrinthomason.com\/?p=330","title":{"rendered":"Leadership Lessons from Vacation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year I try to take an extended vacation of more than one week.\u00a0 I do this as I find that it takes me more than a week to really get into \u201cthe groove\u201d of vacation.\u00a0 I set out with the normal family vacation goals, but I want to take some time in each location and look\u00a0\u00a0for leadership lessons, to think about my leadership, and to put together a strawman plan for the coming year.\u00a0 So in June we set out to visit Hawaii \u2013 particularly a week in Honolulu, Oahu, and a week in Maui.\u00a0 Here are the lessons I learned from my time away in 2018:<\/p>\n

1 \u2013 If you have never thanked someone who has served or prayed with\/for someone who has given the greatest sacrifice for our country \u2013 you should!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love history, but to see Pearl Harbor and her stories and even to set foot on the ships that fought to preserve our freedom \u2013 a huge thanks is in order.\u00a0 We were out gunned, surprised, and by most accounts shouldn\u2019t have recovered from that fateful day in December 7th<\/sup>, 1941.\u00a0 Instead our service men and women fought with valor, honor and heroism.\u00a0 I do love what our military does for us all.\u00a0But for some reason this trip where you could be in the submarine that men served, on the bow of the battleship, and even seeing some of the ordnance that was used \u2013 made it so much more real.\u00a0Inside the USS Missouri, it still smells of a school lunch room where men would go and eat a quick meal before returning to their posts.\u00a0 So my first leadership lesson on this trip \u2013 is to remember to thank those that have had a profound impact on your life, maybe directly, maybe indirectly.\u00a0 Even better yet \u2013 sit down and hear their stories\u2026you won\u2019t be disappointed.<\/p>\n

2 \u2013 Time with our family is priceless<\/strong><\/p>\n

I spend a lot of my time on the road, in hotels, in airports\u2026you get the picture.\u00a0 This is a lot of time away from my wife and my two children.\u00a0 Though they are beginning to understand the mutual sacrifice, the two weeks away with them was a time to reconnect.\u00a0 My oldest daughter and I got to go surf together (she was much better at it than I).\u00a0 My wife and I got to walk hand in hand down a beautiful beach remembering what it was like to be young and in love.\u00a0 My youngest and I got to explore new places like \u201cDragon Teeth\u201d and she got to explore and just be a kid.\u00a0 Never forget the reason that you do a job\u2026and they were all sitting next to me on the flight home!<\/p>\n

3 \u2013 Never stop trying new things<\/strong><\/p>\n

We got to body surf in the surf on DT Flemming beach.\u00a0We got to surf the waves.\u00a0 We got to snorkel a beautiful reef and see fish that we could only see in pictures before.\u00a0 We got to try all sorts of new food (though I missed the Huli Huli Chicken).\u00a0All of it was amazing.\u00a0 Live with the wonder of a child, never give up on trying new things \u2013 whether in life or in leadership of the team.<\/p>\n

4 \u2013 Everyone should walk on the clouds at sunset once in your life<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>We went driving like crazy people up the side of the Haleakala Crater summit at sunset.\u00a0 The switchbacks were many and the altitude was high.\u00a0 We stopped eventually around 9500 feet to get some pictures of the sun setting and the cloud ceiling looking like you could walk out on it to touch the sun.<\/p>\n

There is great beauty in so many things in life so drive like a madman to your own 9500 feet\u2026but then stop and experience the beauty and take time to enjoy the view!<\/p>\n

5 \u2013 Life will throw you many twists and turns<\/strong><\/p>\n

We drove the road to Hana and finished it up by coming around on the backside, which essentially takes you all the way around the mountain.\u00a0 It was a harrowing journey of turns, switchbacks, one lane bridges, and some rude people along the way.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Much like our everyday lives, we will encounter stress so slow down and make the right decision as you go around the curve.\u00a0 We sometimes will have an impasse, where someone will need to back up and show some grace as the other passes by on the one lane bridge.\u00a0 We will encounter jerks that pass you in the most dangerous spots because they are in a hurry to get to the destination and you seemingly are in their way\u2026just let them go by as they take their own lives in their hands.\u00a0 But through all these challenges, you will experience breathtaking views.\u00a0 Just remember as in leadership that it isn\u2019t always about the destination \u2013 it is about the journey and what you see along the way!<\/p>\n

6 \u2013 Work will survive without you<\/strong><\/p>\n

We all want to be indispensable.\u00a0 But guess what?\u00a0 The company will survive without you.\u00a0 Yes, they may suffer a little while you are out, but if your company can\u2019t survive without you for two weeks \u2013 you are no leader.\u00a0 Never mind the time away will allow you to reflect on your own leadership and how you can be better \u2013 which will only make the company better.<\/p>\n

7 \u2013 Always be planning your next move<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love what I get the privilege to do every day.\u00a0That doesn\u2019t mean that I can be on auto-pilot forever.\u00a0 I need to think about my career.\u00a0 I need to think about what I want to do or become in the future.\u00a0 I need to set goals for my learning, advancement, and leadership.\u00a0 I have made some of my most impactful career decisions while on vacation.\u00a0 There comes a clarity while on vacation as to what you want to become \u2013 whether that involves your current role or a future one that you aspire to be in.<\/p>\n

8 \u2013 Read\u2026Read\u2026Read\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t get to do this as much as I used to.\u00a0Previously I would pick up a book at the airport bookstore and read it on every plane ride\u2026now I sleep on most plane rides. \u00a0For this trip, I recently picked a copy of one of my favorite magazines \u2013 Harvard Business Review.\u00a0 I updated my kindle with a few books that looked interesting.\u00a0 Vacation is a time while traveling to read\u2026learn\u2026refresh your knowledge\u2026do this more often!<\/p>\n

9 \u2013 Everything is better with friends<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The last two years we have traveled and spent some of our time away with friends, whether they be local to where we are traveling or if they are traveling with us.\u00a0I can\u2019t explain the difference that this makes. It turns an already good vacation in to a great vacation. Much like those that we work with \u2013 it is better to be with great friends rather than a bunch of strangers.\u00a0 So pick your team with the same rigor \u2013 looking for people that you could hope to call friends one day\u2026because everything is better when shared with friends!<\/p>\n

10 \u2013 All things must come to an end<\/strong><\/p>\n

It sounds a bit morbid but let me explain.\u00a0 My kids asked repeatedly if they could stay in Maui.\u00a0I responded with \u201cunless you want to become farmers and your mother and I become full time Uber drivers\u201d we need to go back.\u00a0 All things come to an end.\u00a0 Your vacation comes to an end, your job will eventually come to an end, and yes even your life (barring any cryogenic freezing of our brains) will come to an end \u2013 that is a constant that we can plan on.\u00a0 What you can control is how you spend your time here.\u00a0 Love deeper, experience the unknown, try things and fail, try things and succeed, and drive the winding road\u2026but take in the views.\u00a0We were all brought into this world without any of our own doing and we will likely leave it the same way.\u00a0 The story between the bookends is ours to decide\u2026what will yours say?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every year I try to take an extended vacation of more than one week.\u00a0 I do this as I find that it takes me more than a week to really get into \u201cthe groove\u201d of vacation.\u00a0 I set out with the normal family vacation goals, but I want to take some time in each location […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-leadership","category-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.darrinthomason.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.darrinthomason.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.darrinthomason.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.darrinthomason.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.darrinthomason.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=330"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.darrinthomason.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":337,"href":"http:\/\/www.darrinthomason.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330\/revisions\/337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.darrinthomason.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.darrinthomason.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.darrinthomason.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}