Episode Details

Have a vacation planned for this summer? In this episode, Marty Grunder shares how he uses his out-of-office time as an opportunity for new leaders to learn and develop their skills.

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00:00 - Introduction & Welcome

02:02 - The Origin of “The Summer Vacation Test”

04:27 - Strategic Planning & Leadership with Time Off

07:33 - Three Philosophies with Vacation & Workplace Dynamics

08:18 - Don’t Overstate Your Value

08:48 - Would You Want to Work for Yourself?

13:02 - Vacation is a Chance to Sharpen Your Saw

15:18 - Two Things Before You Leave for Vacation

17:57 - Recap & Final Thoughts

Show Notes & Key Takeaways

• The Notebook Strategy - In 1993, Marty gave his right-hand man a notebook to document everything that went wrong while he was on vacation. "Write down all the things that you wish I would've shown you how to do, or things that didn't get done because I didn't train or we didn't have a system in place."
• Vacations as Productivity Drivers - "Your most productive time in your business career are the couple days before vacations." Use vacation deadlines to motivate completion of important tasks and proper preparation.
• Leadership Identification Tool - Vacations reveal who your real leaders are: "This is an opportunity for you to see who your leaders are. Who's gonna step up when you go away? And who isn't interested in stepping up?"
• The Secret Test Method - Give team members specific responsibilities without telling them it's a test: "Give them a couple tests, see what they do. Chances are they won't realize it's a test and you'll see their true self."
• Three Leadership Philosophy Foundations:

1. You're Overstating Your Value - "Most of the time, your team is capable of doing way more than you think they are, and often way more than even they think they are able to do."
2. Other People Have Goals Too - "Be empathetic... they want the ball, they want a chance, and we don't realize that we get too self-absorbed and focused on only what we wanna do."
3. Sharpen Your Saw