You Can Live Your Dream Life With all the Time Off You Want

Have you ever wished for the old days (when you were in school and had EVERY summer off??) Me too! That is why I take most of the summer off (and so much time at Christmas… I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!) Because I want to. Yes, your business(es) should afford you the same freedom! What if I told you that you can live your dream life with all the time off you want?

But, HOW do we do that? How am I able to leave and feel confident that my clients and customers in several different businesses are all taken care of? How do almost ALL of my clients do it as well??

There are four keys to having a business that affords you all the time off you want:

1. AN AMAZING CULTURE 
2. A HIGH LEVEL OF TRUST in your organization
3. SYSTEMIZATION 
4. CONSISTENT PROFITABILITY

Let’s break it down into specific action items for you – and make sure to EXECUTE on these! Put them in your calendar and DO THEM! Then, enjoy your summer off! Or… don’t execute and continue the same patterns, and the same lack of time off.

HIRE PROPERLY AND CONSIDER “RE-HIRING” CURRENT EMPLOYEES

1. Ensure you follow a very detailed (checklist) hiring process, to eliminate anyone who can’t do the job, who won’t fit the culture, or won’t bring your company UP a level. We have a great Hiring Process Checklist that will help you find the best people for your team! Add a step for every single characteristic you see in your new and old hires. You want to make sure you weed that out in the future. And of course coach existing team members to be better.
2. Consider re-hiring each current employee and measure them against your hiring criteria. If they don’t make the cut, COACH THEM and get them there. If you can’t, they need to get off the bus (your bus.)

HAVE CONVERSATIONS

During these frequent and comfortable (because you have them often) conversations, make sure to ask questions, and really listen! My definition of REALLY LISTENING means you are listening with the possibility of changing your mind! If you’re not doing this, you’re really just staying quiet until you can share what YOU think. Obviously that is ineffective… but average. But you are not average! Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this! Average leaders SUCK, and people deserve better! 90% of companies FAIL! Be exceptional! It’s so much better! Here’s a few tips for having great conversations:

Have an agenda – a short, point form agenda that takes you through the following:

• the desired outcome of the meeting (the topic)
• discussion points
• action items as well as who will do them and by when
• follow up which will then be scheduled in calendars to make sure actions are completed and systemized if necessary

Start with sorry and take accountability for anything you possibly can. Show your teammate that you realize this is a two-way street and that you have a part in whatever you’re aiming to improve. 

Use silence as a tool if you have someone who isn’t sharing easily. Just let them know, you’ll be silent until they have the answer to your questions. Let them know how important their contributions are! They are SO IMPORTANT! You have no idea what is holding people back, or preventing them from feeling great and performing like champs, unless you ASK and LISTEN.

Make sure you maintain open communication and feedback during those meetings or anytime outside of meetings! You want your team to know they can come to you! NOTE: the way you react when they come to you teaches them whether or not they feel safe coming to you!

ENSURE ROLES AND GOALS ARE CLEAR AND UP-TO-DATE

Roles and goals are often the problem when you’re not systemized, profitable, and able to leave for whatever vacation time you want. Make sure to update them as needed (your team members can help you with that – in fact they’re the best ones to do that!)

Also, make sure they are SUPER CLEAR on responsibilities, outcomes, and KPIs! If your team member doesn’t understand WHAT to do or HOW to do it, you may need to provide help. Note: the team members you really want are usually RESOURCEFUL and OFTEN FIND ANSWERS THEMSELVES whenever possible! Be sure to consider this and whether it’s an appropriate expectation for their role. And HIRE FOR THAT SKILL & ABILITIES!

Make sure to have monthly KPI meetings and clarify their role and goals, EVERY TIME.

GROW OTHER GREAT LEADERS TO TAKE ALL THE TIME OFF YOU WANT

If you aren’t going to be in your business, you need GREAT leaders to be in your business. Make sure your leaders are doing leadership training and personal development, always. 

Also, ensure one of their KPIs is a measurement of their teams’ engagement and happiness scores! A great leaders is able to maintain great relationships with all employees (at least the employees you want to keep, who live the culture statements and hit their goals!)

Share an audible account or recommend books, and make sure the leaders send you what they learned, and watch for implementation! Remember, these people are RUNNING YOUR TEAM while you’re away! They have to be well-liked and have the trust of all of their people!

YOUR CULTURE, VISION, AND MISSION IS VITAL

The culture of your organization as well as your mission, vision, and culture statements are VITAL to your success, especially when you are not there! You want EVERY member of your team to be LIVING by those culture statements (the ones they helped you create, ideally!) If you’re not using these as a coaching tool, and a bar for all of you to measure yourselves by, you’re missing out on HUGE opportunities! GET THIS HAPPENING THIS WEEK! Culture is the MOST IMPORTANT ASSET in your companies! Make sure it’s great by bringing the statements up during coaching conversations, meetings, and by posting them EVERYWHERE.

SYSTEMIZATION IS A NO BRAINER TO BE ABLE TO TAKE ALL THE TIME OFF YOU WANT

First, systemize the good things in your business that bring you successful outcomes by adding the task to a job description, the procedure to a manual, and the time for it to a calendar. Make sure your team members understand exactly how to execute it. Lastly, especially for new procedures, schedule follow up to make SURE those great things are happening, and happening correctly! This ensures your good outcomes every time and adds up to your business running systematically and profitably, so you can leave if you want to!

Second, systemize AGAINST the bad things that you DO NOT want happening. Same rules apply as above! Job description, procedure, calendar, follow up! 

You should even have a “vacation procedure” in place for each role. It can be as simple as “assign your calendar to a team mate and ensure they do all required tasks and procedures in your absence.” This way, your business will do well no matter who goes on vacation (or leaves the company!)

Now you can go on vacation…

But, if you’re nervous or it’s the first time (gasp!) make sure you at least review your 3 most important reports each month!

• Marketing Report  – what is working to bring in the best return on investment of time and/or money, and what we need to stop doing.

• People Reports – whether KPIs were achieved or not and employee feedback scores for happiness and engagement

• Financial Reports – the “actuals” for each month and year to date in your budget for the year! Our Budget Template incorporates ALL of the three most important financial statements so you have a perfect picture of what amounts of money should be going into and out of the company bank account each month!

ENJOY THE SUMMER OFF!!!