Avoiding employee (and owner) burnout is key to maintaining momentum and ending the year with strong profits.
With this in mind, I want to share with you sound advice I received from a millionaire entrepreneur.
It came from my grandfather, who was orphaned at the age of 13, when both his parents passed away.
He grew up on the street, and worked hard to make something of himself. His first job was polishing shoes, and he ultimately started a swimming pool company after WWII.
When he died (on the tennis court, no less) he had become the proverbial millionaire, back when that meant something!
His advice to me growing up was always the same: Work Hard, Play Hard…but do them separately.
That advice is still relevant today.
If you don’t create outlets for playing hard, you and your employees will burnout and lose focus.
My best clients understand that they can’t lose themselves in their business.
For you and your employees’ sake, you have to take breaks. Your employees want you to trust them with the business when you take a break, plus they want to envision that they can reach that level too.
Just as important, your employees need a break, too.
My advice is to take a corporate break monthly with your employees, to celebrate their accomplishments, and to get to know them personally and bond.
For example, my friend and client Shawn Edwards, from the successful A+ Lawn and Landscape, has a company event every month in order to laugh and have fun with his employees. He’ll even bring in a dunk tank that all managers/owners have to get in. In between, he takes frequent personal breaks where the managers run the ship while he is gone.
Your Challenge. Use the play-hard mantra to help all your employees bond (create contests that have them mix and get to know one another.) And then use the work-hard mantra to set the bar high for daily achievement. They go hand in hand.
How well do you do both? It should show up in the form of an excellent culture, and an above average return on your investment.
