As the vacation time is coming, here is a reminder for myself, that I want to share with you.
When I was a young CEO and took vacations, I checked emails every day.
I called it responsibility. My family called it something else.
“Are you with us or with them? They have you more hours anyway. Be with us now.”
That question stopped me.
Because here’s what I’d convinced myself: one quick check, stay informed, nothing major.
What I didn’t see — one email was enough to ruin the whole day. My mind couldn’t let go. I wasn’t in the office but I was still working. If I replied, the discussion started and I couldn’t leave it halfway.
My family had me physically. They didn’t have me present at all.
And my team? They saw I was available even on vacation. So it became the norm for all.
Years later, advising a leadership team, several executives told me their CEO was always online – weekends, vacation, evenings. None of them wanted that.
But they felt it was expected. That disconnecting would be seen as weakness.
One person’s inability to rest had quietly set the standard for the whole organization.
Recently I saw a respected leader comment proudly about checking email for an hour each morning during vacation – to stay informed, she said. Ready to hit the ground running when she’s back.
My first reaction: that’s a leadership problem she doesn’t see yet.
And it signals something to every person watching: this is what dedication looks like here.
Why it matters
This isn’t just a leadership issue. It’s a human one.
If you lead people — this is about what you model. The moment you send that email from the beach, you’ve made a statement about what commitment looks like in your organization. Nobody needs to read a policy. They read you.
If you don’t lead a team — pay attention to how your leaders behave on vacation. It tells you everything about the culture you’re working in, what’s expected of you and what the organization actually values.
Checking emails or work-related messengers on vacation is irresponsibility to yourself, your family, and the people who’ve decided to follow your lead.
I stopped doing that more than ten years ago.
Not because I stopped caring. Because I finally understood what it was costing.
I need to fully rest — mind and body. To be present with people who matter beyond business. That’s only possible when work stops taking up space in my head.
What the research says
A study by Sonnentag, Kark & Venz found that when leaders model disconnection — respecting boundaries and demonstrating that rest is acceptable — employees feel psychologically safe to do the same. The result: measurably lower exhaustion and stronger recovery for the whole team.
The reverse follows naturally. A leader who stays connected during vacation has already set the standard without saying a word.
Deloitte’s research identified what this costs. Employyes who cannot fully disconnect during time off show increased cognitive load, deteriorated ability to process information, difficulty making decisions, and diminished performance. Constant connectivity doesn’t just diminish the break. It degrades the very capabilities leadership demands most.
The three fears underneath it
From my experience, most leaders who don’t disconnect on vacation aren’t doing it because they love work. They’re doing it because of one of three fears.
Fear that everything will fall apart or don’t progress while they’re away.
Fear of losing control and missing something critical.
Fear of being overwhelmed by the volume waiting on return.
Each fear is real. Each points to something worth examining before the next vacation, not during it.
If things fall apart or don’t progress without you — that’s a leadership and systems gap, not a workload problem.
If losing control worries you — control of what, exactly?
If the pile on return is the concern — the answer is a better return routine, not daily check-ins.
The leaders I’ve worked with who fixed this didn’t fix it by working more. They fixed it by building better — clearer priorities, stronger teams, sharper delegation, better systems.
The vacation became the test that revealed what needed to be built.
Your action before your next vacation
Whether you’re preparing for vacation or reflecting on how you and your organization treat rest, here’s what I’ve seen work.
Before you leave
- Set priorities for the week before departure, not the day before
- Brief your team on what decisions they own while you’re away
- Name a specific person for genuine urgencies. Not you as the backup. Someone on your team.
Your out-of-office message
Most say “in case of urgency, contact me.” That defeats the purpose.
Try this instead: “I’m away until [date] and fully offline. For urgent matters, please contact [Name] at [contact]. I’ll respond to everything else on my return.”
That one change signals something different to everyone who reads it.
While you’re away
- Turn off work email and other work-related apps on your phone. Not notifications, the account and apps
- Don’t take your laptop. If that feels impossible, ask yourself honestly: why? The answer will tell you something important.
When you return
- Add one buffer day to your out-of-office beyond your actual return date
- Use it to review, prioritize, and prepare before the meetings and requests start
You’ll return at full capacity rather than immediately drowning.
One of my mentees, C-level executive, told me: “I followed your advice. It was the best vacation I’ve had in a decade.”
That’s what proper rest actually produces.
What would need to be true about your systems, your team, or your area of responsibility for you to take two weeks completely offline and feel genuinely good about it?
If the answer is not clear — that’s your real focus before vacation.
Cheers, Andrey Sergeyev
For short ideas on leading, living and scaling business with focus on what matters – follow me on Linkedin
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