Play in the sunshine

This month I went away, and I was nervous.

Me and my wife – along with my wife’s brother and his partner – went on holiday to the Far East.   We went on a cruise around Tokyo, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore.

I was nervous about leaving my business, being half way across the world, and there being a massive time difference between me and my team.

I know I can trust them and there was no real basis for the nervousness on that side of the business. It was more about leaving it behind and possibly not being available for any emergencies – either down to the time difference or being in a no-service area.

EMERGENCY CONTACTS

My business is my baby, and it was always at the back of my mind.

The thing is, I trust my team, and I know that they could have dealt with anything that our clients may have thrown at them (while I was also hoping that nothing major would happen while I’m away).

I had my laptop with me in case there was anything urgent or needed my involvement - but when I’ve been away before, my team have always been very mindful of only contacting me as a last resort - and this time it was no different.

Louise, Jess and Hayley managed the fort wonderfully.

A STORM IS COMING

The night before we left, we stayed at the Hilton London Heathrow Airport, before leaving for Tokyo on a 13-hour flight.

When we landed in Tokyo, I found out that there had been some changes to the cruise arrangements (the one we were supposed to be on in a couple of days after landing).  I connected to wi-fi at the airport in Tokyo and had an email from Royal Caribbean to say that, due to the typhoon that was skirting around the coast of Japan, the inbound ship wouldn’t be arriving until the Saturday that week - which meant two days fewer on the cruise, and therefore two extra days in Tokyo.

Of course this is disappointing in itself, but then we then had the issue of booking hotels and reworking the itinerary.  A few years ago, this would have sent me spiralling into a panic, but things are different now.  I could have been upset and annoyed at the shortened cruise, or I could enjoy the extra day in a beautiful city which was paid for by the cruise company.

The Hilton in Tokyo was lovely, and we managed to hit both Hard Rock Cafes on day one (and celebrated my 125th visit).

I GOT MY BUSINESS FORTUNE

We went to the Senso-Ji Buddhist Temple in Tokyo where there was a fortune-telling machine – it told me that my business was going to be fine (which, of course, was an interesting coincidence, considering my nervousness about being away).  

I had to make a wish, and my future was predicted.  It said:
“You may get tired in working so hard at your family business. As your hope is real large, it is very hard to get success. Although you do your best the chance do not come yet. Later, both income and wealth will be in your hand, so you can get relax yourself”.
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Safe in the knowledge that I may get to relax one day, we took the opportunity to visit the Tokyo Skytree Observation Deck before heading to Yokohama (and staying at Hilton Yokohama).  

HAPPY SIXTH ANNIVERSARY

Yokohama is a gorgeous city (we weren’t expecting to be there for a night as we should have been on the cruise at this point).  Hilton Yokohama was beautiful with a lovely ‘executive lounge terrace’ overlooking the harbour.  My wife and I went out for a lovely meal to celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary; and we dropped into another Hard Rock Café.

On the Saturday, we finally arrived, two days late, at Daikoku dock in Yokohama and boarded the ‘Ovation of the Seas’.   We spent all day on Sunday exploring the ship which, as you can imagine, was huge.

The wi-fi worked superbly, and the food and drinks were excellent.  I want to give a particular shout-out to the Bionic Bar which uses robots to serve drinks, which was impressive (although, from a HR perspective, it’s a shame there were no human staff in this bar).

After a changed itinerary because of the typhoon - and spending a lot of time eating too much, drinking too much, and reading a lot - we arrived in what was, for me, the highlight of the cruise – Hong Kong – a beautiful city.

WE DID MISS SAIGON

After a superb but very long and hot day in Hong Kong, we boarded the ship expecting the next stop to be Ho Chi Minh (formerly known as Saigon).

However, the ‘Phu My’ port is not currently allowing cruise ships to dock.  Of course, this was the second major frustration which could have stressed out – but the alternative wasn’t bad either.

So, with yet another change to the itinerary, we headed to Myson (‘The holyland of the Champa kingdom’) and Danang in Vietnam.  We went to The Peak, on a boat tour, on a funicular, and then walked around Nathan Road in Kowloon in the evening.

NO WAR ON THE BEACH

We went to the beach at which the Americans originally landed for the Vietnam war.  Vietnam is a beautiful place and our location was a great alternative to the original itinerary.

After a weekend at sea, we arrived in Singapore, spending two nights at the Conrad Marina Bay Hotel for the last leg of our journey before heading home.  The hotel is beautiful and overlooks part of the F1 Grand Prix circuit.

We did a lot in Singapore – we visited Orchard Road; the Skydeck at Marina Bay Sands at night; Gardens by the Bay; and, surprise surprise, the Hard Rock Café.

Our last night of the holiday was spent in the world-famous Long Bar at Raffles Hotel (I don’t like gin so I had an Old Fashioned, whereas my wife had a Singapore sling) and then a lovely dinner by the water.

ANOTHER HARD ROCK CAFE

Leaving Singapore, we had a 20-hour journey home to the UK with different planes and across various time zones.  Singapore Changi airport is beautiful (and has a huge waterfall called The Jewel).  We also managed to make a quick stop at the Hard Rock Café too.

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We flew with Qatar and enjoyed the ‘Q Suites’ on the way back. The first leg of the journey was Singapore to Doha (where they gave me some F1 pyjamas); and after a short transit, we had another Q Suite flight to Heathrow, which was even better as it has Starlink wi-fi.

We got back to Heathrow in the early morning and went to fetch Basil from the dog-sitter. Needless to say, he was pleased to see us.

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WHAT THE CHANGES TAUGHT ME

As business owners and employers, we have to learn to let go.

I knew my team would more-than-cope with anything that was thrown at them.  My VA Louise managed my emails (and made me delete them off my phone); my HR assistant Jess managed the admin; and my HR advisor Hayley managed the HR queries – and all three managed our clients perfectly.

Of course, I was nervous. I have built my business from the ground up, and never really left it for any long period of time.  Sure, I have been away before, but never half way across the world in massively different time zones.

And, to be honest, I would have been more nervous had I not trusted my team.

Upon landing in Tokyo, a lot of this nervousness dissipated as I had other issues to focus on – mainly an impending storm and changes to our itinerary.  And later, I then had to wrestle with the fact that I was going to miss Saigon.  

Both of these issues were out of my control.

RESILIENCE, MINDSET, AND PLANNING

Since starting a business (and having a lot of support along the way, including fabulous business coaches and a wonderful network), I have learned to focus on the solutions rather than the issues.

I am a master of pre-planning.  I do most things well in advance so I can concentrate on the next thing.  So, when there were major changes to the itinerary, it could have affected me, but I chose to move on quickly as I knew they were both out of my control, and I made the best of the subsequent situation.

Thanks to running a business and being an employer, I have developed a mental resilience over time to make sure I can focus on the solutions rather than dwell on the issues.

As a HR consultant, this is what I help my retained clients with too.  Fostering trust and creating a positive workplace culture, especially with the right team (using a solid recruitment policy) means that issues are fewer but easier to deal with when they arise.

GET IN TOUCH

If you need any HR support for your business – from employee handbooks, contracts, or grievances and disputes, right up to workplace culture, recruitment policies, employee retention, or leadership support – please get in touch today for an informal chat about how me and my team can help your business and its long-term growth.

PLAY IN THE SUNSHINE

This blog is called ‘Play in the sunshine’ as I name all our major holidays after Prince songs.  I use the title as a hashtag for all the related posts on LinkedIn which means I can look back at the posts to remind me about the holiday (and, of course, you can head over there and search for #PlayInTheSunshine if you’d like to read the posts too).

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