Six months ago a jolt of anxiety rippled throughout a small company when people found out Dan really was going to take his sabbatical. From the sales department to the customer service reps, this wasn’t good news. It was terrifying news.
The small company of 100 employees had experienced fast growth, won awards and claimed a 97% customer satisfaction rate. Dan had developed the software that put the company on the map and the keys to the castle were all “in his head.” People referred to him as “the man,” “the keeper of the keys” “the brain.” He knew everything and no one had time to learn it all. Things were moving too fast.
Have a software hiccup? Got a customer problem? Call Dan. He was always there.
People chuckled that “if Dan ever got hit by a bus, the company would go down.”
As Dan’s departure day got closer, worry increased. The CEO, CFO and COO arranged a red-telephone scenario - a way to get through to Dan even if it meant sending a local messenger to the remote campsite high on a mountain top where no cell service existed.
While getting ready for his four week sabbatical made everybody in the company nervous – his team felt the worst of it. “Man, we better hope this system doesn’t go down.” With over 35,000 corporate customers world-wide, it was an excellent reason to be concerned.
With a solid work coverage plan in place, Dan left. There were problems; glitches; challenges; hair-ball experiences. Individuals collaborated, scratched their heads, pulled an all-nighter, yelled and made some things up. The team thrived.
In interviews about their work coverage experience two weeks after Dan returned, here’s what people said:
We take more ownership now. There was always a tendency to “blame the boss” if something was wrong. Now we know we can operate without him – that’s a big confidence building.
We came to realize just how much he does in his job…and now, we can help him. All of us on the team learned how to operate technical aspects that we didn’t know before.
It changed the way we solve problems; we might not have to go to Dan now. (If it hadn’t bee for the sabbatical progrm forcing us to do this I’m not sure we (or he) would have.)
We’re a stronger, better team now and Dan learned to be a better leader on his sabbatical. It’s a great thing for our company.
People were challenged with self-mangement and rose to the occasion.
Dan’s 4-week paid sabbatical was designed designed by him as a “hybrid sabbatical” – a combination of professional development and personal goals. He returned rejuvenation, with advanced leadership skills and with a happy family.
His team and the company are happy he’s back; at the same time they’re darn glad he went away. It was their test by fire – a turning point for a team and the company. A story now part of company lore.
And that bus comment? Post sabbatical, it’s lost a lot of its zip.
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