Like many people I am back from holidays and keen as ever to keep up some of the calm – not the momentum – of being on holiday.  This is no easy matter. And I have already heard from a number of people who feel that their holidays all too quickly, like their tan, fade away!

So I set about thinking what are my top two practices from being on holiday? And my number one all time favourite is to breathe. And most importantly to do so as and when I find myself rushing from one thing to another, not paying attention to either who I am being or what I am doing. In conversation with a leader who himself  had just come back from holiday I asked him what was the thing from his holiday that he most wanted to hold on to and embody in his leadership? Being calm was his immediate response. And focusing on breathing is a great way of helping sustain some of that calm holiday feeling.

My number two practice that I am keeping up is walking. It’s something I really enjoy doing, and it’s a time when I do some of best reflecting and thinking. It doesn’t have to be a long walk, and it doesn’t have to be on my own. Having just come back from a FED programme one of the highlights was the ‘walking and talking’, ten minute conversations that people had with each other. Another leader shared with me that as part of managing his energy he’s taken to walking around the office block and noticed what a real difference this makes to how he feels, and has him think differently.

What breathing and walking seem to me to have in common is that they are about taking space; the first taking some space for yourself and the second if walking with someone else space to be together and to talk.

What’s the thing that you want to hang on to, and keep practising from your holiday?  And if you haven’t yet been on holiday what is it that you are most looking forward to on holiday that you could practice this week in your leadership?

By Anni Townend

Learn more about the author of this article, Anni Townend