Let’s do an experiment.

Close your laptop, put your stuff in your briefcase, and walk out the door.

Don’t come back for the next six weeks. Don’t work remotely. Just don’t work—stop contributing.

Disappear. Be gone. Buh-bye!

(Time passes…)

Fast-forward six weeks. What happened?

Did the office stop? Did it come to a grinding halt without you? Did the employees leave? (Are there any employees?) Did you get paid? Did the business run out of cash?

What Happens in Your Absence?

I did that experiment in 1998 when I had a heart attack and quintuple bypass surgery. I left the office, tried a case at the courthouse, and then drove to the emergency room. I spent a week at the hospital and then headed home to recover (punctuated by rehabilitative walks in the air-conditioned mall). I got back about five weeks later.

Our law firm rolled right along in my absence.

How did that make me feel?

On the one hand, it was nice to get paid and not have to return to an office in meltdown. On the other hand, it was discomforting to realize how unimportant I was to the operation.

One of the myths we tell ourselves is that it can’t run without us. Believing that myth makes us feel important and valuable. In some of our practices, however, it’s not a myth. Without us, things really would fall apart. For many of us, there isn’t anyone else to keep things rolling along.

Do You Have an Out-of-Office Plan?

What’s going to happen if you’re out for six weeks? What’s the plan?

Today, you’ve got time to think about how your business will work without you.

If you wait much longer, you might not be given the time to think before it happens.

Do some thinking now. What should you be doing to prepare for your absence?