​Before I left on vacation, I prepared my clients for my absence.  I shared with them resources to use while I was absent and gave them the name and number of a colleague who would be covering for any emergencies while I was away.  I didn’t want them to feel abandoned for the 3 weeks that I would be away. 

Imagine my surprise when one of my clients' said, “Is there also a number where I can reach you if I need to.”  My mind flashed back to that old movie “What About Bob”.  Needless to say I didn’t share my location, hotel or cell number with the client, but addressed his anxiety and reinforced the protocols established to give him safety and myself a time away.

As we are preparing for time away from the office due to the holidays or vacation?  What are you doing to prepare your clients for your absence?  Are you sensing any resistance both in you and in your client?  Does your organization help you to separate, guilt free, or are they also part of the resistance you feel in being absent from your job.

Time away is more effective if you are at peace with leaving your job behind.  Truly leaving the work behind involves being able to be fully present in your vacation.  It is not only a physical absence from the tasks of your profession, it’s also being emotionally and spiritually present with those you chose to spend this special time with.

So, take a moment and check in with yourself.  Do you feel that you will need to bring along the work phone, check the work Slack account, or call in to see if the organization is still functioning without your presence?  Are others, staff and administration allowed to call you while you are off?  If this is the case then you are not truly away.

A quick story:  I was on maternity leave and my director called me a couple of times a day to ask “Where do you keep these forms?  What do you want me to tell Dr. X about patient Y”,  Is this agency the right one to call for this need, and if so who should I speak with?”.  After her third call on my second day home from the hospital I told her that I would need to charge her for consultation services if she continued to call during my time off.  The calls predictably stopped and I returned after 6 weeks as planned.

Final thoughts: Plan your time away so that your organization can function, and function well without you.  Prepare your staff, colleagues and clients for your absence.  Posture your heart and mind to be present with those you have chosen to spend your vacation with. Only by doing this will your time off be restorative and revitalizing.  

​Have you ever considered that your identity is tied to your activity? When there is a lack of alignment between your behavior and who you say you are (identity), people get confused.

Businesses grow and change, as do business people.

Some of the change is intentional because we identify areas that we need to work on and we work on them. Intentional change is usually tied to the desired outcome and or income. Those planned changes usually align with our identity; who we say we are.

Some change however is incidental, because it occurs in reaction to incidents that we encounter as we build our business. Business people are frequently exposed to new thoughts and ideas about how to build and grow their businesses, and not all of these ideas and proposals can feel right or authentic to who we are. Instead of sitting and evaluating the impact of these ideas on our business, we react by making changes that don’t align with our identity.

As a Christian businesswoman, I see many opportunities to operate outside of my identity in business. However, I stay intentional so that I can continue to be who I say I am. I have no wish to confuse others, or myself. I remain who I say I am. I am a Christian businesswoman who works to help other businesswomen balance the sometimes competing agendas of personal and professional.

Today, take an inventory. Does your business reflect your core values and your identity? Are you still the person you were when you began your business?
If not, was it intentional, or incidental?

Are you happy with the change or does it pose some problems for you?

Remember your actions will be in alignment with your identity. Make sure that you are happy with what your activities are telling others about you. If you find that some of your current identity doesn’t align with your values or beliefs, take heart, change is possible. It starts with answering the question, “Who Are You?”

​Take the challenge and comment with one sentence that will let others know who you are. Others just may check out your feed to see if your posts reflect the values you say you espouse.