It continues to amaze me how hard Leaders work and forget to take vacations. Seems like many of us are the first ones to the office in the morning and the last to leave at night. I guess that is what helped us understand what leadership is all about - taking the responsibility.
A year ago 16 coworkers and friends decided to take a vacation together. We all looked at places we wanted to go, where we haven't been before in life. Most of us were 50+, too, so we wanted one of the bucket list places we hear about.
Athens, the birthplace of the Olympics, won the vote.
For Mary Kay and I that would be the second stop. First, one of MK's favorite places in the world - Paris. There is only one way to see Paris in a day. That being on a hop 0n/hop off bus. whereyou could easily see something you wanted to see, then hop off the bus until you experienced what you want to experience, then hop back on again and go to the next stop. We had done this previously in Washington D.C. when we took our grandson there for the fourth of July several years ago.
If someone asked me what I remember most about Paris it is the word "scarves".. Everyone wears a scarf. Women, men, kids, . . .everyone. And, they are beautiful as we witnessed on our day-long trip. The Eiffel tower, Champs -Elysees, Notre-Dame (where we cried because of the damage from the fire, The Louvre, the amazing Sacre-Coeur, and one of the most fun places I've ever been - the Moulin Rouge.
As we flew to Athens, to meet up with out group of 16, I kept noticing one thing - GRAFFITI. E V E R Y W H E R E. I love taking the "EL" in Chicago and thought I had seen it all when it came to graffiti. I was wrong. Chicago doesn't hold a candle to Athens when in comes to this nasty practice. Fortunately, the Parthenon doesn't have any.
What an amazing building this is. Built in 438 B.C. it only took nine years to build.. As one of the people in the group whispered to me, today we couldn't get the permitting done in nine years! It is a must see and should be on everyone's bucket list. This is part of the Acropolis - an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens which contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, The most famous is the Parthenon.
The Panathenaic Stadium in Athens hosted the opening ad closing ceremonies of the first modern Olympics in 1896 and was the venue for 4 of the 9 events. This was very cool to see and take pictures of.
From there on to Paros, one of the Greek isles in the Aegean sea. The 16 of us rented a large villa with 7 bedrooms/bathrooms located on the shores of the Aegean. Amazing. Most of us have traveled together before. For many of us our "bosses" were there with Neighborly's previous CEO, current COO, two company presidents as well as me were part of the group. Also attending were some very close friends, in-laws, and family.
As we wrapped up our trip we sat down one night and all discussed the biggest highlight of our trip. Without exception it was "the people we were with". It was a great way to combine life, friendships and a vacation. The best of all three.
Leadership is also understanding how to enjoy one's self. I'll close with this question: As you walk through those pearly gates are you going to tell St. Peter how many hours you worked, how much money you had, or the relationship you were able to enjoy?
That is TRUE Leadership!
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