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Some Managing Directors try everything under the sun to get a break, even a short one, from the business but they never quite make it.

Somehow, what’s going on at work manages to infiltrate every waking, and much of their sleeping hours too. Alcohol sometimes helps but may not be a positive long term strategy; exercise doesn’t always hit the spot or frequently isn’t possible. Family time can be of use but equally it can be a hindrance. A little dose of ‘me time’ is usually the answer.

So during his appraisal he confessed that his work life balance was shot to pieces; he said that he once had a hobby but that he hadn’t fished since he was a child.

We drove out to a beautiful natural lake that nestles in the Black Mountains of Wales; it doesn’t see a soul for weeks on end. All the way there he talked about the business, the marketing issues, the cash flow problems, the people stuff, but in the space of a split second, his world was transformed.

He was fishing a worm under a bright red float just as he had done as a boy forty years ago. The scarlet dot on the water bobbed, then it slid sideways and stopped. I told him to wait until the float went under the surface which it eventually did. Suddenly he was captivated as the rod was bent almost double as a fish fought and dived and battled for its freedom.

For a moment it looked as if he had lost the fish in a patch of lilies. We saw the brilliant vermillion fins, the deep green back of the fish and the vertical blue stripes, the massively erect and proud dorsal fin as the perch turned in one final dash away.

And a moment or two later, as he drew the fish gently over the landing net, he was actually a million miles away from any of the business cares or concerns that he had ever had.