Stop the Presses: Let go of business worries to enjoy vacation

Dianne Elizabeth is president and publisher of Springfield Business Journal.

After being out of the office for 11 business days, I am struggling to get back into the swing of things here at the office. It's great to get out of town, to experience the new and exotic. But I don't want to miss out on anything, either.

First of all, I missed my column deadline. And since I've been "out of business" for more than two weeks, let me tell you what it's like to be on the outside trying to claw my way back in. A weekly newspaper's publication schedule is like a fast-spinning wheel. You can't just roll in and out. Now I must ask others to slow down to reach out and pull me back into the rotation.

In earlier years, I thought of myself as indispensable. I could not pull myself out of the whirl, even for brief periods. If I did venture out of town, I either called in all the time, or made myself and others miserable with worries about the office. It was better to just stay at work rather than deal with my fears. I either did not think that I could trust others, or I didn't believe that it was fair for me to saddle others with details that had always been mine to handle. I did not realize that this organization already had its own roaring engine.

That was long ago. For the last few years, I have been getting better and better about trusting capable and willing co-workers, and separating myself from work for extended periods of time. Last summer we went on a trip all the way around Lake Michigan. A cell phone doesn't seem to work close to the lake shore, so I didn't talk to the office for days and days. That trip lasted more than two weeks, and SBJ survived quite well, I should add.

I still think about the office every day when I'm gone many times a day but I don't call in so often anymore. It's true that I wish that the SBJ staff would call me once in awhile. It would make me feel more important. I love to be asked for advice, and freely give it. Just ask! The mystery is that business seems to progress better when I'm away than when I'm here. Go figure.

Thanks to the intelligent, talented and devoted Business Journal management and front-line staffers, this weekly newspaper is still in print. It's running quite a few more pages than a few years back, in case you haven't noticed. And planning for special events, like the upcoming 40 Under 40 celebration on April 22, is well under way.

Lots has happened in town, with organizations that I'm involved with and within Springfield Business Journal itself. Spring came while we were "up north." By the time you read this, we will have already started to play baseball. A few "management briefings" should bring me up to speed.

I'm a happier and healthier person now that business and personhood exist on separate planes. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to enjoy more freedom than I have ever had in my life. Perhaps because it is still relatively new, there is more than a little guilt attached to it. I was young to have children and start a business. A feeling persists that there is something that I should be doing or that I should know, or that I should find out about.

My new job is to hire and retain a great staff (already done), and then let them drive. Maybe it's a part of an entrepreneur's individual development to travel the curving roadway I am trying to describe. I just wish my vehicle had seatbelts. When I get this all figured out, I'll write a book on it.

Call me if you wish to contribute a chapter.