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Vacation Planning Like A Boss

In 17 days, I and my partner will be sailing out of Fort Lauderdale on a 7-day Caribbean cruise and I will be entirely unreachable for the better part of 10 days including travel days.

When I was an individual contributor, this was fine; I made sure my work was handed off to someone, I made sure my tickets were up to date, and I told my boss I was going, and then I walked away. But now, I am the boss. There are things, including interfacing with the clients, that no one else on my team is even authorized to do by dint of corporate policy. Now, this isn't insurmountable; my boss knows I'm going to be unavailable, I'm getting everything lined up and squared away before I leave, and I'll be doing a handoff briefing before I leave.

But honestly, I now totally understand why sometimes managers have a tough time stepping away. There's a lot hanging over my head, and I definitely don't want it hanging over my team's head because they already have enough hanging over their heads. So, consequently, that stuff all moves up the tree and my boss gets to backstop me on this stuff.

Yet another thing catching me by surprise about being the boss: it turns out I work more hours, not fewer, simply being available for others. And honestly, I think I'm pretty OK about it.

But I'm not gonna answer any calls while I'm at sea.

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