While preparing for a speaking engagement for a group of senior executives, I was briefly distracted by a worrying thought: what if this audience of high-achieving, hard-working, successful leaders doesn’t care about work-life balance? What if they think the topic is irrelevant, unimportant, and even counterproductive to what they believe has made them successful? What if, after my first introductory words and PowerPoint slide, they scoff at the concept of work-life balance and its importance to all workers?*
Fortunately, I paused and reflected on many of my clients’ work-life balance challenges and successes. Then my worrying thought changed to a bit of a roar: bring the naysayers on!
More Naysayers
Why else might some say work-life balance is irrelevant? Here are a few possible quips:
“With the economy in its less-than-ideal state and many people concerned about job security, I should be happy to have a job and work as long and as hard as needed. Work-life balance goes out the door when you’re lucky enough to have work to do.”
“As an entrepreneur, I need to work all of the time in order to keep my business going. My business success is completely dependent on how long and hard I work. There is always more work to be done and I need to do it.”
“I’m looking for a job so I don’t have any ‘work’ in my work-life balance. I need to focus all of my waking hours on my job search.”
“Work-life balance isn’t relevant to me as I’m a stay-at-home parent. My life and my work is the same.”
For each of the above statements, and just about any excuse that can be made against creating a better work-life balance, I argue that it matters to everyone.
Leaders
Whether you manage one person, or lead an organization with thousands of employees, supporting your staff to create a better work-life balance makes sense and cents. When people you work with feel you respect their work-life balance and allow them some autonomy in their choices, they will feel more valued, more engaged, and more committed to the organization. This does not mean just organization-wide policies. You can make a difference in your employees work-life balance by giving them support and tools to make choices that fit with each person’s individual work-life preferences. Keeping your staff satisfied keeps them working well and working for you.
I would also encourage you, as leaders and managers, to examine whether your actions are supportive or in opposition to your work-life balance philosophy shown at work. If you encourage your team to set boundaries between work time and downtime and then send emails at two o’ clock in the morning, what message are you really sending?
Entrepreneurs
As an entrepreneur you may really need to “do it all.” The question is can and must you “do it all” now? There will always more to do—more clients to connect with, more services to provide, more products to develop, more marketing, more, more, and more. For most people, the feeling of being on a treadmill all day does not enable you to be at your most effective, creative, or productive. Downtime away from your business, even for short time spans, will allow you to rejuvenate, rest, and relax in order for you to be at your best. Pay attention to times of the day when you work best, and use that time and your heightened energy and effectiveness to its fullest. Carve out chunks of time away from the business to explore, expand, and escape.
Job Seekers
During the job search, you are the product that you are selling to a potential employer. The job interview is the sales call where you need to put the best version of your product in front of the customer. If that product is exhausted, scattered, overwhelmed, or disheartened, you are unlikely to close the deal and receive a job offer. For most, a job search, especially when it is over an extended period of time, can be emotionally and physically draining. For job seekers, the challenges include: constant evaluation against others, receiving negative responses from potential employers (or none at all), needing high energy when networking, and questioning your competence and employability.
