If your team can’t cope without you, read this

Hey team, happy Tuesday,

As of today, I’m officially OOO for two weeks to go and get married in Seville, then honeymoon in Greece, and I am sooo excited.

But, I also run a business and lead a team, and September is technically the start of our busy season. So stepping away now has forced me to practice something I believe deeply in as a leader… Rest and time away is not something you earn once everything is finished, and your team should not need you to be permanently available in order to succeed.

I know I need proper time away to come back with energy, perspective and ambition.

And I know how much it matters that my team sees me take that time properly too. Not half off or checking Slack from the pool. Fully gone.

Back in 2022, one of my team members, who was a manager himself, was supposed to be fully off on annual leave with his family. But throughout the week, I kept seeing him popping up in Slack and sending messages.

So when he came back, I called a meeting with our full management team and said…

”When we’re on holiday, and the team is getting messages from us, what kind of message do you think it sends?”

They agreed, it says to our team:

• I don’t have my shit together

• I don’t prioritise rest

• I don’t think you can handle the work without me

• And subconsciously they make a note, thinking ‘when I’m on holiday, I still need to be checking in’

Negatives all round.

Taking time away from work to rest and recharge has always been crazily important to me.

I love my work. It excites me, fulfils me and inspires me. But when I don’t get regular, proper rest, the kind where my brain is fully switched off, I start to feel chained to it.

What usually feels exciting and ambitious starts to feel heavy, and eventually, like a prison I’ve built for myself.

And rest means properly gone. No laptop, no “just checking in,” no Slack notifications lighting up my pocket whilst I’m laid reading my book by the pool.

But I know it’s terrifying for a lot of us leaders. We have alot on our plate, a lot of people relying on us. So I want to walk you through exactly how I’m handing over the business and work to the team, because the handover isn’t really about the two weeks off at all… It’s what it proves to them and to me.

Start with your mindset

A sentence I had to cut from my own vocabulary: “I’ll be there if you need me.”

It sounds supportive but it’s actually quite egotistical.

Underneath it is a belief that something might go wrong that only you can fix. There isn’t. Our team is far more capable than we give them credit for, and every time we stay half-reachable, we’re taking away their chance to prove it.

Hand over ownership (not tasks)

A task list tells someone what to do. Ownership tells someone they’re in charge adn they decide what needs to happen.

So, before I go, I’m writing up:

• Who’s leading the meetings I normally lead

• Who owns each client relationship while I’m away

• Who’s making which decisions, and who they escalate to if it’s not them

If the answer to any of those is “everyone kind of does it together,” that’s not a strong enough handover.

Agree the decision-making boundaries

This stops everything from grinding to a halt. I need to communicate clearly:

• What can they decide without me?

• What can they spend without asking?

• What genuinely has to wait until I’m back?

Without this, people freeze, because they’re often fearful of making the wrong call and having to explain it to you later.

Clear boundaries remove that fear. All you need to do is write them down at the top of your handover document, which leads me to…

Get it out of your head

Key dates, context, contacts, priorities, the stuff people would normally just ask you.

All of it gets written down before I leave, it cannot exist in my head.

The goal of a good handover was never for your team to survive without you, but for them to realise how much they can handle without you.

I’ll be back in two weeks. Married, sun-drunk, and hopefully having proven myself completely unnecessary for a fortnight. Woop.

Speak soon,
Heather

P.S. Thank you to all our members inside Custard. I’m seeing all the incredible results you’re having with your teams and it blows my mind.

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