Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Go on a "stratcation" instead...
By now, you’ve heard the term “staycation,” a vacation spent close to one’s home.
I’d like Urban Dictionary to add another term: stratcation. That’s what I called my one-week vacation this summer. I not only stayed at home, but I used the time to conduct strategic planning for my business and life. The timing was right: I was embarking on my second term on the NAWBO-OC board of directors, and we had just celebrated the sixth anniversary of WunderMarx|PR.
Okay, okay. I admit that I snuck in a few good Orange County dining experiences and spa appointments, but I used the balance of my time off to think about the direction of my company and chart a course for the upcoming year.
After six years in business, I can say with great pride that we have accomplished a lot. I am proud of the success we have achieved, but I can’t say that all of it was planned. I also know that most of the bumps we encountered could have been prevented with some forethought. (And by “bumps,” I mean Olympic-scale hurdles.)
So I took time off to do something that every business book tells business owners to do: plan. I didn’t handle any day-to-day work during my stratcation. I checked in with my office, but I let my very talented staff do what they do so well and stayed out of their way.
The result: clarity.
I not only emerged from my stratcation truly excited about our business, but re-engaged in how to make it stand out and re-committed to the great people who work for us. I not only have a road map for the next year, but the energy to execute it. With my NAWBO-OC colleagues holding me accountable, I know it’s going to be a great year.
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