Workplace Multiplier by Tola Akinsulire

August 18, 2026

Welcome to the Workplace Multiplier newsletter. Published Monday to Friday, equipping you to achieve your professional goals faster and without burnout or overwhelm.

The line I used to get my first vacation approved

Howdy ,

There are three things a lot of people struggle to talk to their bosses about.

Telling them bad news when something didn't work out. Asking for a promotion. Asking for time away.

Out of the three, the one people cave on fastest is the last one…asking for vacation.

The reason? You can always find a reason to justify why you shouldn't take time away. And if you don't take it yourself, your boss might just decide for you.

I still remember asking for leave at my first job post-graduation. I'd worked about 8-9 months and asked for a week or two of vacation.

My boss tried to say no…the "job" couldn't afford for me to be away. OK, she didn't say it in exactly those words. But you understand what I mean.

My response was this: "I am not traveling or going anywhere. I am simply taking time to rest at home. If I don't take a vacation and work till I break down, the company loses more because of the time I away sick."

I have no idea how I came up with that line. But it did the trick.

Why is it important not to negotiate your time away from work?

Because trust isn't built on how much you produce. It's built on whether you do what you said, the way you said it, every single time. And nobody keeps that promise indefinitely on empty.

Here's what happens when you treat vacation like a favor you have to earn instead of a term you already agreed to:

1. You break trust with your own body first. Burnout doesn't announce itself early. It waits until you're on a hospital bed, or writing a resignation letter, to make its point…and by then you've broken every commitment you were trying so hard to keep.

2. You teach your boss that your word is negotiable. Every time you let a "we can't afford for you to be away" go unchallenged, you confirm it. Bosses don't push back on things they believe are settled. If your time off is up for debate, it's because you keep putting it up for debate.

3. You start running on reserves instead of identity. A person who never rests isn't more committed…they're borrowing against a promise they can't keep forever. The people who are reliably excellent over years, not just quarters, are the ones who protect the thing that makes reliability possible.

My line to my first boss wasn't clever. It was just true: a person who never rests eventually costs the company more than the rest would have. She heard it. Most bosses will, if you say it plainly enough and stop apologizing for asking.

The people who build a reputation you can set your watch by aren't the ones who never stop. They're the ones who know exactly when to.

So the next time you feel the urge to negotiate your own rest…don't. State it. Schedule it. Take it. Protect the version of you that keeps its word.

Keep winning at work and in life.

Tola Akinsulire
Your Strategic Workplace Mentor