Author Chris Brady's Blog

One Company Incentivizes the "Art of Vacation"

Here's a portion of another article someone sent to me demonstrating that some companies are weighing in on the idea of the "Art of Vacation."  In my latest book, A Month of Italy: Rediscovering the Art of Vacation, I try to make many of these same points through an emotional, dreamy, and (hopefully) humoruos narrative that will provide the impulse people need to take strategic breaks themselves. In this article, we see that a company has decided to give its own incentives toward that end.

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Bart Lorang calls it a "paid, paid vacation."

The CEO and co-founder of Denver-based software provider company FullContact is offering his employees a $7,500 bonus to go on vacation, on top of their normal vacation pay.

So what's the catch? There's three, as Lorang describes in a blog on the company's website.

First, employees must completely go off the technology grid,  meaning no e-mail, texting or phone calls. In conjunction with the first rule, employees are not allowed to do any work while on their trip.

Third, employees must actually go on a trip. Lorang explains he believes all his employees deserve a nice vacation, and he chose the $7,500 dollar amount because he believes it is enough for a family of four to take a trip to Mexico for a week.

"We felt that everyone should have the opportunity to take a nice vacation without constantly worrying about how much money they’re spending while on vacation," Lorang blogged.

Lorang tells KDVR he had the idea for the incentive when he was browsing photos of his trip to Egypt. He was struck by a photo of himself riding a camel among the pyramids, but he was texting. 

He says experiences like this have made him realized the value of completely disconnecting during a trip, and wants to encourage his employees to do so as well. 

Some of Lorang's software engineers that have taken him up on his offer say while it was difficult initially going off the grid, they ended up loving their completely unplugged vacation.

“Absolutely fantastic.  I mean you get so used to waking up to emails in the morning,” engineer Kyle Hansen tells KDVR.

His coworker Robbie Jack says though it was hard to give up his gadgets for the trip, he found it extremely beneficial.

“The biggest benefit is when you get back.  You’re so much more invigorated, recharged,” Jack told KDVR.

(For the full articel on Fox News, click here.)

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Dear readers: What do you think of Lorang's three requirements of A) completely going off the technology grid, B) doing no work while on vacation, and C) having to actually go on a trip?

 

Online Masters Degree Programs

I was recently notified that this blog was selected as a Top Leadership Blog for Online Masters Degree Programs. Considering the quality and content of the other represented blogs, this is quite an honor. I would like to sincerely thank the folks at Online Masters Degree Programs for this award, and hope to continue producing content that proves useful for their readers.

Thanks! 

Kettering Award - Thank You

When I was seventeen years old I made a decision that would have a lasting impact on my life.  I chose a college to attend.

Growing up, I can remember always having a big, green plastic dog bank standing in the corner of my bedroom. In black felt-tip marker my mother had written on it the word "college." For years my extra change went into that doggy. Of course, by the time it came to actually tallying up the money and applying it to my education, the total collected was paltry compared to what was required (the cost of a formal education being fodder for my grist mill in a later post, perhaps). However, the programming had taken root. I was determined to go to college and become a success (at the time I had the two indubitably connected).

At the dinner table one evening my parents laid it out for me. They were proud of me and my good grades in high school, and they wanted to encourage me to go to college. They would help me all they could, but they really didn't have the money available to facilitate me going out of state or to anywhere fancy. They suggested I look around town, and if I could find something, I was welcome to keep living with them.

Growing up in Flint, Michigan doesn't necessarily put one in the proximity to the world's top universities. But there was one that, to me at least, was world class: GMI Engineering & Management Institute (today's Kettering University). I knew it was world class because the neighbor kid had gone there and he was rich as a result. After all, he had his own S10 pickup truck and a brand new wind surfer.

So I made a ten minute visit there with my father. It was the only school I visited and the only one to which I applied. The program was attractive to a kid like me without any finances because it offered a co-op experience in which every other twelve weeks were spent in the workplace somewhere out in actual industry. In those days there were still car plants all over the Flint area, so this arrangement worked out great. I could go to work and earn money to pay for school, all the while living at home and saving a bundle. 

I received hard-core, intense, and thorough technical training at GMI, and obtained my Bachelor's of Science in Mechanical Engineering. I learned that I could work hard and succeed as a result. I learned how to study and fell in love with learning. I also made friendships and connections which are still with me today. The most significant turned out to be a young man whom I met on the first day of an orientation at our co-op employer's office in May of 1985: Orrin Woodward. The fact that we would someday become friends, business partners, and co-authors was in no way apparent in those early days.

Recently, Orrin Woodward and I were honored by the Kettering University Alumni Association and jointly given the Entrepreneurial Achievement Award.  For this we are greatly appreciative. It has brought back many fond memories which have receded into the past way too quickly. I will forever be grateful for the experiences and knowledge I gained during those years. To the folks at Kettering University I offer a hearty thank you. As to my mother and that green dog, well, I suppose a thanks is also in order!

Rascal Book Released

I am pleased to announce my new book Rascal: Making a Difference by Becoming an Original Character, with a foreword by Orrin Woodward, is now available. 

Being a Rascal is a spirit of willfulness and strength, a dynamic force that drives one forward toward a unique path and contribution.  It is character in motion, originality in broad relief, uniqueness for the sake of being true to oneself and one's cause.  It is authenticity in courageous display.  It is life lived on purpose and for a purpose.

The book highlights a number of Rascals, both contemporary and historical, who meet this description, while teaching the principles by which they live(d). Contained inside is an audio CD and a personal assessment test to assist in applying the principles to the reader's life. 

The goal is for this book to be a call to action to awaken Rascals everywhere. The world desperately needs people to get out of line and stand for absolute truths, and explains how the concepts of freedom and justice have always been won, defended, and passed along by Rascals.

It is my hope that this book will inspire you to achieve your own maximum level of "Rascalinity."

Enjoy.    

Thank You to Networking Times

This past weekend in St. Louis, MO, Orrin and Laurie Woodward, Tim and Amy Marks, and Terri and I were recognized with awards from Networking Times Magazine for contribution to the industry. We sincerely appreciate this gesture, and the excellent work Chris and Josephine Gross and the rest of the staff and board at Networking Times do on a regular basis. You guys are first class! 

Launching a Personal Finance Revolution

Yes. You've probably heard it all before. Spend less than you make and make more than you spend. You've got it, already. Bought the tee-shrit.

But if it's that simple, why are so many people in financial trouble?

Over 20 million American citizens are now "upside down" in their home mortgages. 

Credit card debt is higher than ever. 

The private savings rate is below 1% (up from near zero a year ago!)

Aggregate US private debt is now above $3 Trillion! Measured differently, other stats show the figure to be above $13 Trillion!

This is a mess. And it has a root cause.

In the first event of a series of live-streaming Webinars, scheduled for Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 7:00pm EST, my friend and co-author Orrin Woodward and I are going to be addressing these issues head-on. The series is called the Personal Mastery Series, for reasons which will become obvious to all viewers, and the subject matter for the first episode is personal finances. The title of the event is, Launching a Personal Finance Revolution, and can be purchased in advance here. 

The information we will present IS quite revolutionary, because it will explode most of the myths, misconceptions, and misrepresentations out there about money, its nature, and how financial goals should be considered. It is our belief that nearly everything most people have learned about money is at least a little bit off track, if not downright incorrect. Personal Mastery of proven principles, properly applied to the correct understanding and use of money, is the way out of the fog. 

In this presentation, we will make no apologies to the icons of conventional wisdom, who, for the most part, are as silly as body-builders in pink tutus.

For instance, here is just a sample of some of the "financial heresies" we will be discussing:

Spending and credit are actually addictions for many

Net Worth as a financial goal is stupid

Inflationary environments encourage a certain type of behavior, but this behavior becomes unsustainable and exposes one to undue risk

Diversification as a sound strategy is at best a half-truth

"Experts" are usually not

The herd is wrong and about to get slaughtered

If these have gotten your attention, don't miss this inaugural event. Join us for some candid commentary on how you can gain personal mastery over money and Launch a Personal Finance Revolution in your life! See you there.

  

LLR Softcover #1 in Dallas!

What a week! I just received word that Barnes and Nobles booksellers in the Dallas area have listed co-autor Orrin Woodward and my book, Launching a Leadership Revolution, #1 on their softcover non-fiction best-seller list. I am flattered that the book continues to do so well, having now been released in soft-cover in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Ireland, and translated into Russian and Portuguese. There is truly a leadership revolution going on!

Also, I think it's appropriate to offer a reminder that 100% of the authors' income is being donated to the charitable organization All Grace Outreach. Please visit the website to check out all the good things they are doing! We can make a difference, in more ways than one!

Now, more than ever, leadership is needed in our countries. Freedom and its foundational principles are under attack from all sides. Never take for granted the liberties you have, and never underestimate how quickly they can be taken away if good people do nothing. One of the primary focuses of both the book and this blog, as well as my parnter Orrin Woodward's blog, is to awaken people to the perilous condition of freedom and to arm them with the leadership tools necessary to make an impact toward its resurrection and preservation. May we act before it's too late.