In an interview last week, Elizabeth talked with a man who had taken a 3-month sabbatical – an eye-popping, continent-hopping adventure with family and friends. Right before I was ready to glow blue-green with envy (blue for the two oceans he crossed; green for the amount of money this adventure must have cost), I tripped over the one idea all of us can take away from his over-the-top sabbatical experience.
He told Elizabeth that, while 3 months might seem like a long time to be away from one’s work, he saw it differently. “Lay out your entire career in a line,” he said, “then find a spot that represents three months.” I didn’t do this, but I got the idea. A black seed in a plump, seedless watermelon – that’s about 3-months’ time in a large life.
That nugget tied right in with a recent conversation with Teresa Dos Santos, CEO of Contract Resources, a firm that specializes in designing workplace habitats. Teresa’s design talent obviously allows her to think differently about a lot of things. “I think of life as a series of dots,” she said. Dots? Hmmmm. Looking at life as one dot at a time ….I liked that. And if 3 weeks’ or 3 months’ break from your work life causes a slight heart palpitation, let’s take it a tad further.
In workplace cultures like Arrow Electronics (see Companies on a Quest at yourSABBATICAL.com) or Arco (see post below), some people are working on their third sabbatical. (In sabbatical lingo, that could mean taking 9 months away from work. Whoa.) In talking to these people, as well as senior executives who create the cultures that value taking time away, you learn a few things:
A. The sabbatical is not viewed as a guilty pleasure but as a natural part of one’s career;
B. Developing yourself personally is just as important to your success on the job as building a new team or technical skill;
C. Over time, an individual will have numerous opportunities for a sabbatical (and it’s no big deal).
While some react to taking a 3-month sabbatical as career suicide or the all-too-often ego’s cry “ME? AWAY? HOW WILL THEY SURVIVE?” perhaps taking the line or dot approach will give us a more strategic view.
Maybe you should think about the significance or that tiny watermelon seed (90 DAYS) in the expanse of the belly of that juicy, green oval (YOUR BIG FAT LIFE).
Perhaps, dots are your style and you want to take Teresa’s approach.
What dot are you in now? What dot is next? How about taking one of those dots for yourself? Interesting, eh?
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