Chuck a Sickie Challenge

Why should your employees have all the fun?

You’re making money, you get a buzz from making money. You can afford a good lifestyle; The question: “Can we afford this” just isn’t on the horizon. There are wonderful things you can do with money, and the adrenaline rush you get every time you close a deal is pure bliss. Yet… There is still something missing isn’t there? Yesterday you turned up at the office only to find that the receptionist had called in sick and one of your BDM’s had to take all incoming calls. The receptionist didn’t really look all that sick to you the day before, chances are she had just had a big night on Monday and decided to stay in bed…

So how come your staff get to do that?

You run around all day, always another meeting, always someone who has an “issue” they want you to resolve for them, the phone never stops ringing. Your life is hardly your own anymore, and when you get home the only thing you get to enjoy about the money you make is the enormous LCD TV in the lounge room. When was the last time you slept in on a Wednesday? Or better yet, when did you last “chuck a sickie”? Do you even remember what a sickie is? Let me remind you: A sickie is a way of saying to the world and to yourself: “Today is a day for me, everybody else can take a flying jump” What would happen if you did chuck a sickie tomorrow? Would the company fall over? Would your staff simply walk away? Would they be able to cope without you for a day? Or will you feel so guilty that you won’t be able to live with yourself?

Calamities

If the answer is “yes” to any of those calamities: whatever you do, don’t read the next few paragraphs, honest, trust me on this, you will not enjoy it. If your answer is “no”, actually, nothing of any consequence would go wrong.

The Chuck a Sickie Challenge

Here is a challenge for you who answered “no”: Tonight when you go to bed, send 1 text message (1 only) to your most trusted employee, your PA or your partner: “I am sick, will be in bed all day, tell everyone, phones are turned off, see you Thursday morning, if I feel better.” Then turn off your mobile(s). Unplug the phone. Turn off the blackberry, and the PDA. Close the lid on the laptop (yes the other one as well). Put the alarm in the kitchen and go to sleep. When you wake up at the normal time, as you undoubtedly will, turn over and go back to sleep and DO NOT get out of bed until your joints and muscles are so stiff that it is now uncomfortable to stay in bed. Spend the day reading, walking, watching Dr. Phil and Oprah. In other words: DO NOTHING THAT MATTERS ALL DAY. I know…. I know… I can hear your brain throwing up objections from here. This is scary stuff, a real challenge. It is all very well to plan and book a holiday months ahead and plan and have meetings with people in advance, leave detailed instructions etc etc, but a sickie on the spur of the moment, is something else altogether. You have three choices:

1. Give in to the objections, rip this article out of this magazine and set fire to it in the bathroom.
2. Address each and every objection and reason them out.
3. Say, “Bugger it, I will sort things out on Thursday”

How good would a day like that be? Do you think you deserve a day for you? No one else? Have you earned it? How would your spouse feel if you took a day like that together? A whole day of bugger all and no one else but the two of you? Now for those of you who said “yes” to the possible calamities: I warned you! It was no fun reading those last paragraphs! So my challenge to you is: Make it a priority to change your business, your work and your life in such a way that you can “chuck a sickie” without the world coming to an end. If your receptionist can watch Dr. Phil for a day, don’t you think you should?