Someone I spoke to for Cultural Conversations said something that’s stayed with me.

“If you can go away for three weeks and the place still works, something’s right.”

That’s a good test, whether you’ve got a team behind you or like me, you don’t.

Next week I’m heading to Australia for three weeks for a family wedding. I’ve not really had a summer break this year, so I’m properly looking forward to some time with the family.

I’ve also got meetings and projects booked in for when I get back, which makes this feel like a good moment to properly switch off rather than spend three weeks jumping back and forth.

Before I go, though, I found myself checking the same four things I often look at with clients around a healthy work culture: Values, Behaviours, Experience and Care.

Values

Does what I’m doing match what I say matters?
For me, the trip comes first, properly, not “on holiday” while quietly answering emails from the other side of the world or checking my LinkedIn.

Behaviours

It’s what I do that counts, not what I intend to do.
Invoices sorted, nothing important left half-finished. I probably won’t queue up posts in advance though as that’s not how I work. I’d rather write something real when it’s happening than schedule something stale.

Experience

What does it feel like for the people I’m working with?
People know how to reach me if there’s an emergency, as all my clients have my mobile number, but they’ve never called me when
I’m on leave. Everything else is an out of office to be looked over once back. And for one client whose project is nearly wrapped up, there’s a wee surprise lined up before I go. More on that when I’m back.

Care

Okay, this is a tough one for me, as I don’t really want to fully switch off.

I’ve had 16 Cultural Conversations so far, and I’m trying to line up a few cultural chats while I’m in Oz too. That might sound suspiciously like working on holiday, but for me, it isn’t.

Sitting across from someone hearing how they’ve built something, led people, got things wrong and figured things out, is something I genuinely enjoy, and that curiosity doesn’t switch off just because I’m in flip-flops on the other side of the world. In fact, it makes it even more interesting. But family comes first, so any cultural chats will have to fit around that, not the other way round.

One more thing going in the case, Denise Lee Yohn’s Fusion, the book that first properly convinced me brand and culture aren’t two separate jobs. Been years since I read it, worth seeing if there’s any other insights I missed the first time round. And for when I properly want to switch off, the Kindle’s loaded with a stack of fiction too.

Now, I know I’m not teaching anyone’s granny to suck eggs here. Most of you reading this have run things far longer than I have.

But here’s the question to ask yourself: if you went on a break for three weeks, could your team cope, and would you come back to find it as it was, or worse?