The Case for Sabbaticals
How many of you have wanted to take a break from the pace and pressure of work and decompress? I have been given this gift in the form of a one-month sabbatical during February. After seeing the positive effects of a similar break on a friend of mine, I made the request and our board quickly agreed. While I didn’t do any other research about sabbaticals, it made instinctive sense that time away would be a good idea for both me and for Nonprofits Assistance Fund. In the year since my request, two other professional colleagues have taken one-month sabbaticals and had very positive experiences for themselves and the staff of their organizations.
Now, just in time for my break, CompassPoint released a study titled Creative Disruption about sabbaticals at nonprofit organizations. This summary of the report is affirming for my own sabbatical and for any of you who’ve been thinking about it.
This study exposes the myth that an executive sabbatical will be a chaotic disruption, finding instead that the creative disruption of a well-planned sabbatical can be productive for the entire leadership of an organization.
Organizational capacity is increased as the second tier of leadership takes on new responsibilities. Governance is strengthened as a result of the planning and learning that goes with a sabbatical process. Executive directors come back rejuvenated, with a fresh vision and innovative ideas, and tend to extend their tenure with the organization. And funders gain a deeper perspective on community needs from the feedback, networking, and innovative ideas that sabbatical alumni bring.
The report is an interesting read, including the results of surveys of executives who took sabbaticals and the interim directors who took on a new role. The subjects of the study were all recipients of funding to support sabbaticals, usually for three months.
I’m eager to see what kinds of experiences and ideas I have during the month. I’ll be kicking back for some of the time and using some of it for reading and discussions about the big issues and ideas for nonprofits in the future. (Although I can promise I will not spend all four weeks of February in Minnesota.) I started this weekend by reading an advance copy of the book Switch How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath. The book addresses the reasons why change is so hard with a well-formed framework that makes the concepts accessible and actionable. They offer three essential components needed for change to happen:
- Direct the Rider - clarity and direction
- Motivate the Elephant - emotions and energy
- Shape the Path - plan and influence the situation
The book will be released on February 16th, but you can read an extensive excerpt in Fast Company.
More reading and thinking to come, but you probably won’t hear much from me this month. We’d love to hear any comments about sabbaticals from other nonprofits - what have you done, or wished you could do?
Tags: books, CompasPoint, sabbatical
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:21 pm
I like many points made in this article, but one of them really rings true with my own personal experience: “Organizational capacity is increased as the second tier of leadership takes on new responsibilities.” I learned this first-hand in my past job when my Boss went out for two consecutive hip replacements over a four-month period. I would have never thought that I could “do his job” until I had to do it through necessity. I learned that I could do it and that really boosted my confidence, allowing me to go to the “higher level position” in my next/current job. Second/mid-level people are usually not given enough new responsibilities and opportunities, and I think the sabbatical option, as you said, is one that can benefit multiple segments of the organization. I imagine this would be very helpful as part of a succession planning process as well. Thanks for the interesting post.
February 4th, 2010 at 8:12 am
Thank you for this post, Kate. I think the one-month sabbatical concept is a great protector against burn-out AND a terrific way to build leadership capacity among staff. About a decade ago, I left my position as the ED of a small history museum to “take a break”. It took me about a year to plan it, but it became a turning point for me. Granted, that wasn’t a sabbatical in the strictest sense of the word since I didn’t return to my employer. I can’t tell you how many colleagues of mine expressed their desire to do the same, but were afraid to make a break. A one-month sabbatical would have been the answer for many of them!
February 20th, 2010 at 11:01 am
Your comments are both great illustrations from different experiences. I was also thrust unexpectedly into new responsibilities years ago when my boss had a medical event. The new roles I took on changed the way I worked from then on. By the way, I’m not working now - I’m killing time in an airport and having a great sabbatical. Cheers.