I polled more than 200 entrepreneurs and leaders on their vacation habits, and the results were startling.

The last thing a dynamic and ambitious employee wants is to work under an owner who never leaves for vacation and doesn’t trust the team’s leadership to run the ship without them. And yet, according to my poll (results below), more than 50 percent of owners (with some senior leaders mixed in the results) take two weeks or less of vacation.

Is this courageous? Is this heroic?

No. It’s a lack of foresight, good systems and trust to let your people grow and make mistakes.

Taking a vacation is both restorative and strategic. You get to test out your business (systems and people) to see how well it runs, purposely letting mistakes happen. When you return, mistakes and corrective actions can be analyzed and systems improved. Then, the business can grow further without you in the day to day.

That’s when true growth, empowerment and employee happiness take place.

One out of three respondents takes three to five weeks of vacation. It takes at least that long to test out and grow your company.

Note: 13 percent of respondents take six weeks or more vacation. These entrepreneurs are building a business that has both extrinsic and intrinsic VALUE!

Do you want to own a business of value, have a life with larger meaning and the headspace and physical distance from your company to dream and ponder strategically about your business?

The answer is YES for many of you.

Start taking steps toward those dreams. Talk about them with your people. Tell friends about them. Talk your dreams into reality.

P.S. If you want help taking this type of growth journey, message me and we can talk about your growth and life goals.