This is a true story about a leader, his team, and the difficulties with establishing boundaries and margins. As is often the case, one of the things that made this leader great was that he could get things done that no one else could. Even though he had trained his team and delegated well, a lot still fell on him.
He was a great leader, but he was also human. His team, if evaluated based upon the nine box, would have been all over the place. What they had in common was that all of them were spent—they had nothing left in the tank. Even with a team of higher performers, everyone has their limits.
So one day this leader, recognizing the signs of burnout in himself and his team, planned an offsite—a retreat. Sometimes you do this for strategic planning, but this one was simply to get some rest. The demands of people, and the number of people making the demands, had impacted the team’s energy level and even their diet and eating (sound familiar?).
The location for the retreat was great—away from people, beachfront, water—the works. It was planned in advance, and though I don’t know for sure, I suspect that the entire team was looking forward to getting recharged. It would require a short boat ride to the retreat location, but that would only add to the sense of really getting away.
Trust me, the very people that this team needed a break from, their customers, definitely felt like their needs were more important that the needs of the team. But the wise leader knew that if his team, including himself, didn’t take the time to get renewed, they would not be meeting those needs long term.
So the day came and they met at the docks to get on the boat. They were casually dressed and ready for some much-needed time away. As the boat pulled out from the dock, they all felt the tension starting to ease off as the sun, gentle waves, and quiet began to do their good work.
But somehow, in spite of the leader and the team’s best efforts, their customers (who were many) found out about the retreat AND the location, got there ahead of them and crashed their retreat, insisting that their needs were a priority. Oh my. As it turned out, the boat ride to the retreat was the only break they got. The time of rest and nourishment never materialized.
This is a true story. And before I tell you what it is based on, I want to know how you would feel in this situation. Would you give up on creating margins? Give in? Reschedule? Be grateful that you at least had the boat ride? Apologize to your team? Blame your leader? Begin patiently responding to the needs of your customers? Tell them to buzz off?
Many of you know my background as a pastor. I especially appreciate that this story of difficulty with establishing margins is about Jesus Christ. It is based on three verses in the Bible, Mark 6:31-33:
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, Jesus said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.
But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
The leader was Jesus, the team was his disciples, and the customers were all the people and their needs.
I’m actually encouraged by this story. Setting margins is tough; things don’t often turn out the way we planned. Often we try and fail before we are successful. It happens. It happened to Jesus. And if none other than Jesus Christ needed to be intentional about creating margins and needing rest, I suspect that we can do no less.
What margins have you tried to establish only to have some crisis or pressing need totally shipwreck your good plans? By the way, the disciples did later succeed at having that time away. They tried again. And the next time, it worked.
Jeff
Image by zader. Used under CC BY 2.0 license.
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