“Please raise your hand if you have any free time…yes…you in the back…great…thanks for volunteering to take some work from the rest of us! “

The truth is I haven’t met anyone in years in North America who has free time; we’re all so busy “doing”. I recently spent a month in Europe where the business culture is more relaxed and takes on less dominance in daily life. For Swedes to hear most North Americans only get 2-3 weeks per year of holiday time makes their eyes go wide (5-6 weeks is the norm). But it’s not about right and wrong, it’s about differences and the challenge is to consciously balance personal time and resources. Work can be life-enhancing when we choose so balance needn’t come from outside the office. Many people talk of a balance between work and life, but Big Fish adds the third element…”self” which is separate from home life with family. The individual also has unique needs for private time, reflection, and grounding.

In 10 years of teambuilding and leadership training, one of the clear indicators I’ve seen in high performing teams has been their ability to celebrate. High performing teams are results-oriented just like anyone else but the ability to celebrate small accomplishments along the way has a lot to do with team resiliency during tough times. Teams and companies that show a lot of turn-over and burn out, I’ve often witnessed, are teams that have forgotten to pop the champagne cork when they reach the top of the mountain.

I’m certainly someone who is very accomplishment/intensity driven which is why dragon boat racing works so well for me. However, our ability to seek out accomplishment in less tangible forms such as down time, acknowledging others, and small celebrations can have a lot to do in preventing burn out, delinquency and negative attitudes. At the end of Big Fish programs, we often set up a “strength acknowledgment” communication where people on the team take 20 seconds to acknowledge someone in the room. For many, this feels weird and uncomfortable and my challenge to them is to look at why acknowledging someone feels so unusual. And, what a great thing to overcome if they choose. Image if everyone left the office each day with a clear understanding of the positive contributions they make to the company. How would the “20 seconds” per day