When our children were younger, every summer we spent two weeks on what I jokingly called our “Walley World” trip—so named for the road adventure in National Lampoon’s Vacation. (Believe me, Chevy Chase and the Griswold family had nothing on the Kraemers when it came to hilarity and misadventures.)

From northern Minnesota to the Glacier Park and the Pacific Northwest, these vacations provided uninterrupted family time—plus meaningful opportunities to see friends, enjoy leisure activities, exercise, and self-reflect. Now that our children are adults, and our family has expanded to include our one-year-old grandson, those long-ago family vacations are an endless source of reminiscences.

As surprising as it may sound, vacations can also be opportunities to learn some unexpected lessons that apply equally in your personal life and professional leadership.

Lesson #1: Having a Plan—And Being Spontaneous

Two adults, five children, and anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 miles covered in two weeks…. It took quite a bit of planning, not only from Point A to Point B, but also with stops and side trips along the way. We mapped out the route, set the itinerary, and calculated the miles we had to cover each day.

Going on vacation, however, isn’t about adhering to a rigorous schedule. Although it sounds like an oxymoron, you need to plan for some spontaneity—whether that means spending a few more hours on the beach or deciding on impulse to see an attraction along the route. Because we had a detailed plan, we knew we could take the detour. Had we been merely wandering, we would have no idea if we’d end up seriously off track—or facing 15 hours of driving on the last day of vacation to make our flight home.

Planning for spontaneity is a valuable lesson for your career as well. You keep track of your progress on projects and deliverables, mindful of meeting the deadlines. With good time management, you can also accommodate the unexpected—whether that’s an impromptu meeting called by your boss’s boss, an issue with your biggest client, or a friend offers you a ticket to the hottest concert in town.

Lesson #2: Delegate—You’re Not Indispensable

When it comes to vacation, if you don’t delegate, you’ll end up doing all the work—and complaining that others are having all the fun. More important, without delegating, you won’t develop your “team.”

In the beginning, you may get some mixed results—like the time I asked our oldest son, who was a teenager at the time, to fill the cooler with snacks for the family to enjoy on the road.  After several days of eating only cheese, crackers, and salami, we stopped to fill our cooler with some different snacks.

Lesson learned— whoever was in charge better make sure there is something for everyone. Most important, after that first incident, I didn’t stop delegating. After all, whether it’s children on a family vacation or less experienced members of the team at work, people won’t develop unless they are given responsibilities.

There’s a valuable leadership lesson here. Delegating ensures that others are developed and can step into your role one day—so that you can be promoted. Too often, though, people want to be seen as indispensable, so they hold on tightly to their current responsibilities. But if their boss thinks they cannot be replaced—no one can do their job but them—they will stay in their role, while other peers are promoted.

Moral of the story: delegation benefits everyone.

Lesson #3: Communicate—and Verify

As you delegate, you also need good communication so that people understand what they’re responsible for and expected to do. Like being the oldest child and helping to make sure the younger children are in the car. We learned that lesson on one of our Walley World trips when our daughter was briefly left behind at a gas station. Another time we were at Disneyland with a plan to meet up at three o’clock. But there are a lot of attractions and distractions at Disneyland—and sometime after three o’clock, I heard my name being called over the loudspeaker stating “Mr. Kraemer, we have your lost daughter at the information center.”

The leadership lesson here is straightforward: delegate, communicate, verify.

Lesson #4: Staying Curious

Whether you’re now traveling with your own children or you’re recalling trips you took years ago when you were younger, one of the biggest payoffs of the family vacation is curiosity. The younger the traveler, the fresher, newer, and more exciting everything appears to be.

For example, as our older children became teenagers, they’d often be distracted or too focused on themselves to notice certain things. Our youngest daughter quickly stepped up to make sure that we stopped for gas or would ask where we were spending the night when it started to get late—even though she was only four. “Dad, do we have a hotel reservation? I hope so. Remember that you have 5 children!”  Not only that, but she’d ask questions about where we were going, what we were going to see next and why.

Her curiosity and enthusiasm were infectious. The questions she asked made us think more deeply about why we had chosen a particular place to stop or sight to see. Her sense of wonder kept it fresh for all of us.

It’s the same in leadership. Don’t just look to more experienced members of your team for their perspective. The younger members approach a first-time opportunity or challenge with curiosity and a desire to learn, which engages everyone and brings out the best ideas.

Balance | Blog | Family | Leadership