Lead Your Way to Work/Life Balance

budding possibilities

Women are acutely aware that there are only so many hours in a day. However, listing off how busy we are and how we don’t have time usually falls far short of creating the lasting organizational change we need for work/life balance.

Women most often have primary responsibility for home management, child-care and elder care. These double or triple workloads have changed little in the past 30 years, while the average weekly hours at work have steadily crept higher.

Change is necessary and we can be part the process. Here are a few simple steps you can take immediately.

Many offices put pressure on everyone to spend their free time outside of work doing office networking; I am talking about those office outings (golf games, happy hours, etc) that in fact are used to develop key office career connections, and missing them may well have an effect on your career.  Depending on your workplace, you may be able to suggest a revolutionary idea on how to do that networking during work time – such as “How about afternoon lattes on Wednesdays?” Or even: “Tuesday morning is a discount day on the golf course, should we give it a try?”

If that is too revolutionary for your workplace, how about “email-free Fridays” where (by mutual consent) no emails are sent or opened and that day. If you need to speak to someone you pick up the phone or walk to their desk. Breaches of the agreement can be fined a nominal amount for each infraction which then goes to a company fund-raising effort.

We can encourage male colleagues to take advantage of family-friendly benefits. Try something like “Your daughter is only a baby once. I am really glad I took those first months with (your child’s name).” Or “I think it is important that Jim makes it to his son’s recital today. I’m willing to meet with his client to provide our background on this case.”

Remember that what you are trying to do here is establish a workplace culture that supports work/life balance for everyone in the office.  The encroachment of work into personal time is an issue for both women and men.

To successfully negotiate a reduced workweek and stay on the company’s leadership track, we can carefully articulate the business advantages to this change. Business benefits might include contracting a specialist for a part of your work in an area that is not the key reason you are on the team – or where the salary savings from your reduced hours can be directed to meet another critical business goal.

In all of these suggestions, make it easy to say “yes.” For a workweek reduction, for example, start with a six-month pilot and also give a long-term horizon for the reduction. It is also a good time to say why you like the job and where you see yourself in the company five years and onward.

Further, even if women have no children, they are likely to be penalized for the possibility that they might have children; or single women without children may be asked to do extra work because “they obviously have the time.”

Remember that just because we have the time to take on extra work does not mean that we should do extra work. By having good boundaries around our profession, we help to keep work expectations in perspective overall. Create an engaging life outside of work so that you can say “I can do this first thing in the morning for you, but right now I need to get to the climbing gym –  I’m the lead climber so seven other people are counting on me.” Or “I have only five minutes I can give you, because my dog/cat is expecting me home to be fed and you don’t want to hear what he does if I’m late.” Be honest and clear in your responses. The message that you want to get across is that your work is only a part of your life.

Even in these economic times you are more than your work.  Life is more than your work.  If there are deathbed regrets they are never about having refused to work late or an extra ten hours a week.

This post is dedicated to Laurie Buchanan who made a special request for another blog posting and "a good dose of Terrill." And also to Fred Krazeise who has a women's health community blog called "empoweredandfit." Fred requested that I comment on work/life balance for a blog article he is writing for his debut as a member of The Owning Pink Posse Team. Enjoy!

Warm regards,

Terrill Welch
Executive Leadership Coach
 
Terrill Welch - A Woman behind Women
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Ambassador World Leadership Day Canada
March 20, 2010 http://worldleadershipdaycanada.ning.com
 
A vision not lived remains only a dream.

"I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making a life'." Maya Angelou

© 2009 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

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