July 2004: On Vacation

Summertime, and the livin’ is easy. --George Gershwin

Aloha mai kakou,

I got this email from one of you in late May, an elementary school teacher within our Ho‘ohana network: Beginning June 4th, I'll be on summer vacation so I won't be checking my emails until August 23rd. I thought to myself, how wonderful -- good for her!

Summer is the teachers’ blessing. All companies should take a page from their lesson book, structuring their annual calendar in a way sure to infuse staff and the business itself with new vitality. First and foremost the "sabbatical" -- "enjoying or bringing an intermission of labor." The notion of a sabbatical came from the ancient Jews, who practiced observance of a full sabbatical year every seventh year, in which "the Israelites were commanded to suffer their fields and vineyards to rest, or lie without tillage." After seven years of harvesting, they knew the land needed time to rest, to heal and then refortify itself with the benevolent nurturing of Mother Nature. People need time to rest and recharge too, and wise businesses are those who mandate vacation time: no ignoring it, no delaying it, no collecting an extra paycheck instead of it.

Over the years, the word sabbatical came to be associated with the teaching profession, and the intent was to provide teachers with the opportunity to seek new learning themselves: teacher could again become student. Summer was time to recharge the learning excitement within that would serve to energize them the rest of the year. When students returned to their classrooms in the fall they could share new knowledge in fresh ways, and they could inspire.

Working in Hawaii, I have come to know Nana i ke kumu (look to the source) as my own phrase for sabbatical. And I can draw from Nana i ke kumu all year long as my reminder to go to the well, and drink until my current thirst subsides. However summertime always brings this need sharply into focus for me: I want to seize this time to actively reconnect with my kids during their own summer break. I take pause to ask myself, "What am I doing to recharge, revitalize, and get the energy I need to deliver on those things I want to give to my family, my friends, my clients, and my business associates all year long?" With Nana i ke kumu you learn to give to yourself so you can get better at giving to others. You rewire if you need to: "looking to the source" means tapping in to your personal truths.

So here’s my pledge: (I’m putting it out there with all of you so I’ll have to make good on it one day) Should Say Leadership Coaching grow to the point I start to hire full-time employees, they get the same thing I’m giving myself now: we’ll create Nana i ke kumu as time on our annual calendar when the entire business shuts down and goes on vacation. The Christmas season would be another good choice ...

• First we’ll reflect on the months just past, asking ourselves what we’ve learned, and what we’re going to do about it.
• Next we’ll take the time to reconnect with our ‘ohana, loving them and getting loved back. We’ll go on vacation.
• During this time we’ll be sure to make self-and-soul deposits, mentally, physically, socially, and spiritually.
• We’ll learn something new, so we can teach other when we come together again. We will inspire and be inspired.
• And when it’s time to get back to work, before reopening for business, we’ll renew our team as an ‘ohana in business, one that works on our business, and not swallowed up in it. We’ll look forward to freshness and vitality, never to routine or complacency. And we’ll have fun.

Are you with me? Nana i ke kumu,

Rosa

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