Picture this: hours into your vacation, your phone buzzes. Something wasn’t handed off, and now you’re scrambling to explain how that “one thing” works. Shadow Leave ensures the systems you’ve built won’t crumble in your absence.
How do you fix this? Before your extended break—like a sabbatical or parental leave—step back while you’re still available to assist. Stop attending meetings and make yourself sparse. Announce that you won’t be there and let others handle your responsibilities. Work from home so people can’t quickly shoulder-tap an answer from you. They can reach out if something critical comes up, and you’ll guide them.
You can test where the gaps in handover are while giving your team a safety net. In the best case, no one calls, and you gain extra prep time before you go. Worst case, you troubleshoot now rather than face chaos when you return.
Shadow Leave isn’t just about ensuring things run smoothly—it’s about giving your team confidence and you, peace of mind.
This is definitely a success behavior. I might add that it gives you a chance to analyze your team's performance from afar and determine how well they've positioned to operate without you. If the answer is 'fine', you've probably done a good job building a high-agency team. If the answer is "I'll have my laptop with me folks. Don't be afraid to slack me for any little thing..." then you may need to rethink your delegation game.