By Bert Zethof


The George Washington Sundial, Lexington, Kentucky

I’ve lived through more than half a century of Christmas holidays and I’d say my sense of the rhythms of the season is ingrained now. (Being raised a Christian, I celebrate and share in the joy of Christmas).

It starts with the decorating of stores in November. Then it’s office party time in late November and early December. Then it’s shopping and preparation time until Christmas day. If you are like me and in the business coaching and management consulting biz, it’s pretty well impossible to do any more work with clients by the second week of December: most of them are pre-occupied with the holiday season themselves, with many taking time off, as they should. After all, we make the point in our Business Innovator Labs to take complete breaks from work for rest, re-creation and rejuvenation.

The standard advice of my mentors past is to practice what I preach and take time off myself, which I do. I also take a stab at administrative tasks that I’ve been putting off like book-keeping, filing, planning, upgrading my technology, etc. But for me, these aren’t very exciting activities. By the end of the December, I’m anxious to be back in touch with my clients and to re-activate the work that has been put on hold.

One week into January, and everyone is back at it again. This is the week when I receive an influx of emails announcing upcoming events and meetings. By next week, my business will be back to normal.

Certain industries are in high gear in December with retail being an obvious example. But business-to-business service industries like mine have to sit back and patiently wait out (and of course enjoy) the holiday rituals before we can work hand in hand with our clients again.

There’s not much I can do about it. I have to be patient. I go with the rhythms of the season.