Yesterday was Labor Day and as I sat there enjoying quality time with my family I realized that I love my life. I really love my life! I felt a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment like never before. I felt a real balance that I have not felt in a really long time. It made me realize how, as a CEO, it is extremely important to find that work-life balance. Do you have it in your life? As a CEO do you struggle with the work-life balance?
Work-life balance will change over time and what may seem like the right balance today will most certainly change tomorrow. The right balance for you when you were single will change for you when you are married and that balance will change again when you have children. There is no perfect, “off the shelf” balance that you can prescribe to. The best work-life balance will be the one that meets your priorities at different stages in your life. It will be the work-life balance that gives you that feeling of daily accomplishment and enjoyment; all at the same time. You see, because accomplishment and enjoyment go hand-in-hand. You can’t have one without the other! When CEOs try to live a life of accomplishment without enjoyment they are simply unfulfilled and unhappy. They are not balanced.
Work-life balance does not mean an equal balance in hours or time spent. Trying to schedule an equal number of hours for work, family, and personal activities is unrealistic. All you really need to do is find a balance between accomplishment and enjoyment. Without accomplishment and enjoyment it is tough to answer the really big questions in your life. Have you ever asked yourself these questions?
Why do I continue to work here?
Why do I get out of bed in the morning?
Why did I buy this new house?
If these are your questions, then chances are you are chasing accomplishment without enjoyment or you are chasing enjoyment without accomplishment. You must bring them together to find that true balance. When was the last time you felt both accomplishment and enjoyment at work, with family, with friends? Or just for you?
When you find that right balance for you of accomplishment and enjoyment you then become a truly balanced CEO. You become known as the CEO that gets things done and enjoys doing it. You will be the type of CEO that attracts people to you, people that want to be around you, people that want to be on your team!
Randy, I agree wholeheartedly with your take on this. Balance is about bringing all of who you are into everything you do, not feeling torn but productive, loving, caring, loved, rested enough, energized enough. Which is why I like to call it simply "life balance". Work is no separate from life, but an integral part of it, creating the possibility to express your life mission in whatever endeavor pays for the bills. Also, its NOT an issue of just time management. When you say, "Work-life balance does not mean an equal balance in hours or time spent." Excepting extreme cases, balance is more about HOW you spend your time than where and if its working for you. Balance will change over time and if we keep making our lives significant in every way important to us, we will find balance on an ongoing basis. Thanks for your reflections.
ReplyDeleteMonica, Thanks for your great insight!
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