Me and Raymondo

I’d been to South Africa on holiday previously and whilst on safari, I noticed a research vehicle driving around following the animals and taking notes. I looked up the website address on their vehicle and found out that it was a volunteer conservation company, where people could volunteer with them and help with the research. So I spoke to my employer, got my sabbatical approved and booked my place on the volunteer project. As well as this, I also booked a safari guide course which I thought would give me a good understanding of the African wildlife.

So after many months of counting down the days, I was off to South Africa where I completed the safari guide course and started the volunteering project. I was in Africa, having the time of my life and didn’t have a single worry in the world! Could life get any better than this? Well you’d expect me to say “NO”, however the answer is “YES” as my life was about to make a huge directional change for the better.
To cut a long story short, one of the safari lodges on the reserve had a guide leave and I was asked to replace them for a week. A week became two weeks, which became five and by the end of my time they offered me a full time job! So I flew back to the UK, sold my house, sold my car, took voluntary redundancy (thanks ACE!!!) before flying back to South Africa four months later.

I then worked as a safari guide whilst I obtained more qualifications, became promoted to the manager of the five start lodge, and after a number of years ended up back at the volunteering company, where I worked as a staff member and eventually became manager there too!

So am I still there now?…Nope, I left and moved to Costa Rica where I set up a new company, which I then bought from the owners, moved it to the UK and now own Yomps, which is a gap year, career break and adventure travel company, selling lots of amazing trips all over the world, including the original safari guide course that started my new life!

Aaargghh!!!  What a shame. Mendelssohn’s win –  a sabbatical research fellowship from the University of Utah -  gave her the feeling of being blessed with a “golden ticket” after years of diligent, persistent work and achievements. Research for her second academic book (the cover for her first book is pictured here) was a primary goal for her career break.

But then, her high-achieving tendencies took over and now her story seems like a segment of a sabbatical reality show of “things gone wrong.”

In work, in life, and in sabbaticals, there’s a universal truth: Trying to do too much is not productive. I’d repeat that for emphasis, but here’s something even better: Trying to do too much on sabbatical can lead to a failed sabbatical.

For those considering a sabbatical or planning one now, Mendelssonhn imparts her “greatest” piece of wisdom – sabbatical success depends on managing expectations.  That clearly means realistic expectations.

Indeed, a little guidance could have made all the difference for Mendelssohn, who blames only herself for accomplishing so few of the things on her sabbatical wish list. (Read the entire 8^th paragraph of the Times article for the description of  her goals.)

Think it can’t happen to you?  Here are three tips to help manage expectations for your sabbatical:

1. Be selfish with this opportunity.  Your family, spouse, partner in life, and your mother will have all sorts of ideas for what you can and should do.  Make the majority of the time count for what you want as a goal.
2. Having objectives is very important but keep those sabbatical goals to two or possibly three.  (Mendelssohn had eight.  A good coach would have insisted she prioritize and drop five of them.)
3. Allow 6-8 months of sabbatical planning time.  That may seem like a lot, but this is an important opportunity that only comes along every 5-7 years (if you are working for a great employer who offers it) or once in a lifetime.  You’ll spend time reviewing professional and personal goals; then choose the best sabbatical experience for you at this time in your life and career.

Mendelsohn’s first sabbatical offers an insight in “what not to do” when it comes to being realistic about a break away from one’s job.  Yet, you have to admire her transparency and her spirit.  Despite the disappointment, especially where that second book is concerned, she  still says, “I’ve had a great time.”

I predict that Michele Mendelssohn’s positive nature will serve her well when she’s ready for that second sabbatical.  After she’s finished slashing and burning her sabbatical dream list, she’ll be left with all that really matters for a stunning second try.

The source: Top Talent: Keeping Performance Up When Business is Down, Sylvia Hewlett, Harvard Business School Press, 2009. Know that I’ve put this book at the top of my reading list. Lured in by the dramatic drop in top talent loyalty in the short time of this recession - from 95% to 56% – makes me think drugs are  involved.  That, sloppy research, or the sample size is the number of people walking on the beach today. (Unusually cool on the Gulf Coast right now. Number of people barefoot on the beach. N=30)

Why am I concerned?  Because this is a pretty dramatic dive to be reported during a  time when most everyone is working their butts off.  How were these statistics gathered? Since productivity is up despite the number of people gone, who is taking time to be interviewed for a study? Fill out a survey? (Yeah, right - put that right at the top of my to-do list. ) Oh, strategy sessions? (In a big room or a little room?)

Still, we have to be hopeful that there are valuable, smart, do-able ideas here because the author does have “cred.” An economist and the founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy, Hewlett directs the “Hidden Brain Drain”—a task force of 35 global companies committed to fully realize female and minority talent over the lifespan.   She is the author of six critically acclaimed nonfiction books and her articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Financial Times, and the International Herald Tribune. Hewlett has taught at Cambridge, Columbia and Princeton Universities and held fellowships at the Institute for Public Policy Research in London and the Center for the Study of Values in Public Life at Harvard. A Kennedy Scholar and graduate of Cambridge University, she earned her Ph.D. degree in economics at London University.

(whew) Still, you never should believe book-hype, so I’ll just report that we might have some big findings for companies who are working on today’s challenges caused by the economy and still want to stay smart about the future.

If I hadn’t left my Kindle on an airplane last week, we’d know more.  While another Kindle ships from Amazon, here are two of those eight interventions to appease you:

• Re-create pride:  Give employees reasons to feel good about their company by recommitting to social responsibility and lifiting up success stories.
• Provide meaningful non-monetary rewards:  Use time as money.

(That last one sounds like a sabbatical program to me.)   Stay tuned, and hope I like the Kindle2.  Meanwhile, why do I feel creepy being so judgemental about information touted in a Harvard blog?

Renowned for album covers, posters and his recent book of life lessons, designer Stefan Sagmeister invariably has a slightly different way of looking at things. He views sabbaticals as necessary to his work.

Every seven years, designer Sagmeister closes his New York studio for a yearlong sabbatical to rejuvenate and refresh their creative outlook. In this video, he explains the often overlooked value of time off and shows the innovative projects inspired by his time in Bali. Watch it. Watch it twice. He’s amazing.

And if you want to read more, here’s a recent post from The Sabbatical Mindset about TED and Sagmeister.