Few would dispute the restorative power of unplugging from work, but only a scant 3 percent of CEOs across a range of industries report that they can completely disconnect during vacations.

In “Sneaking Away to Email: Why CEOs Loathe Vacation,” the Wall Street Journal reports on a CEO who monitors an acquisition via iPhone during a rainstorm while piloting a pleasure craft and another who rushes back to the office mid-ski trip, returning in time to drive home with her family.

Those lucky few top executives with the discipline to unplug say they recharge their batteries and also returned to a workplace where employees gained confidence in their ability to manage independently.

Of course timing is everything, as the top executive of Minnesota’s health-insurance exchange discovered: She was forced to resign after taking a two-week vacation to Costa Rico during the rocky rollout of the state’s exchange.