“If everything is important, then nothing is.”
-Patrick M. Lencioni
I should start by saying that this is NOT your typical MCFA weekly email. That’s because BJ is out on vacation this week, so I am filling in as guest host. My name is Michael Fuhrman, and I am the co-founder and partner of MCFA. I started MCFA 18 years ago as a planning firm focused on delivering outstanding customer service and cost-saving products to a diverse clientele. Before starting MCFA, I worked as a city planner and asset manager for publicly traded Energy and A/E firms.
With BJ out on a much deserved (and overdue) vacation this week, it got me thinking about time off. When I recruited BJ to come work for MCFA in 2013, I was working a LOT. Even before I started MCFA, I rarely took a vacation. I was constantly flying to a project site, driving to a meeting, staying weeks on end in locations halfway across the country to work on projects. I am sure my wife and kids still hold that against me!
Looking back on my career, I realize how important it is for leaders to disconnect the right way – taking time away from the office, not calling the project managers to check-in, shutting down email and phone – really disconnecting. I also realize that I could not do this because I didn’t have the right team around me (or, as we like to say: the right people, right seats). There was never the “right” time or “enough” time to take a vacation, so I rarely took one.
Within the last 5 years, I have been able to ease away from the office routine, lessen the stress, and even take some vacations. All of that has become possible due to having the RIGHT team in place.
Having trust in your team allows you to unplug in the right way. If you can come back to the business better than you left it. It means you have invested in the right folks. Patrick Lencioni identifies 5 behaviors that result in how efficiently and effectively a team will operate – Trust, Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, and Results. These are in direct alignment with MCFA’s core values and a major reason that I feel confident that our firm is operating more efficiently and effectively than ever before.
The lesson learned here is to take time off! Go on vacations. Spend time with your family and friends. Truly disconnect from work the right way.
Make that time off count!
Michael Fuhrman, MCFA Co-Founder & Partner