Unwrapping Time: A Guide to Holiday Harmony
It is 11 PM, you are reviewing Q4 projections while ordering holiday gifts online, responding to family texts about dinner plans, and trying to remember if you RSVPed to the board's holiday reception. Your calendar resembles a game of Tetris played by an overenthusiastic teenager, and your to-do list has officially achieved sentience. Welcome to December in the C-suite.
While everyone navigates the holiday gauntlet, as executive women we often find ourselves performing a particularly intricate juggling act. We are finalizing year-end reports while mediating family feuds about who hosts Christmas dinner, negotiating multimillion-dollar deals while navigating peace treaties between siblings, and somehow, we are expected to make it all look as effortless as Martha Stewart's table settings. (Spoiler alert: Martha has a team.)
The High Cost of Holiday Autopilot
Let us be honest: too often, we slip into autopilot mode, approaching the holidays like another project to optimize. We are physically present at the holiday dinner but mentally rehearsing Monday's board presentation. We are decorating the tree while conducting a mental SWOT analysis of our department's performance. We have become so adept at multitasking that we are simultaneously everywhere and nowhere – a quantum state of leadership that would fascinate Einstein but probably concerns our families.
The Art of Strategic Presence
The solution is not another productivity hack or time management app (though if you have discovered one that actually works, my inbox awaits). The answer lies in strategic presence – the art of being fully engaged in whatever moment you are in, whether that is closing the year-end books or closing the chapter on another bedtime story.
Consider this: your quarterly reports will not remember that you checked them at midnight, but your family will remember your absence at the holiday table. The irony is that in our quest to excel at everything, we risk mastering nothing. It is time to embrace what I call "strategic surrender" – the deliberate choice to let some balls drop so we can keep the vital ones airborne.
The Joy of Imperfect Presence
Here is something they neglected to cover at Harvard Business School: perfection is not only overrated, it is also statistically improbable. The slightly burnt cookies, the imperfectly wrapped presents, the family dinner that would make your Instagram followers wince – these "failures" often become the stories we cherish most. After all, no one reminisces fondly about the time everything went exactly according to plan.
The Gift of Presence
The most valuable currency we possess is not measured in year-end bonuses or stock options, but in moments of genuine connection. When we are fully present – whether in the boardroom or the living room – we create space for the kind of magic that never appears on a spreadsheet.
Think of presence as your most strategic investment. Like any good portfolio, it requires careful allocation, regular rebalancing, and the wisdom to know that sometimes the best returns come from unexpected places. Your presence – undiluted, undistracted, and unencumbered by your buzzing phone – might just be the greatest gift you can give (and receive) this season.
Remember, leadership extends beyond the office walls. When we demonstrate that it is possible to be both a successful executive and a present human being, we give our teams permission to do the same. Consider it your contribution to the next generation of leadership development.
Dynamic Exercise:
- Take five minutes right now to identify your non-negotiable holiday moments. What are the traditions, experiences, or connections that matter most? Now block those in your calendar with the same commitment you give to board meetings.
Soul Fuel:
"Time is not measured by clocks but by moments." - Anonymous
...just for fun...
Q: What do you call an executive who has mastered the art of holiday presence?
A: The ghost of Christmas present! (My sincerest apologies to Charles Dickens.)
All My Best,
Kristin
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