Stop trying to balance the mythical scales so that work and family demands and rewards are exactly even. Instead, take these steps to integrate the two for greater happiness and control.
Late one night I pulled out of the parking garage at the smallairport near my home. There were no cars behind me as I handed my ticket overto the lady in the booth, so I asked if she ever felt trapped in the tiny enclosure. “Never,” she answered. “I’m a writer,and it’s only busy here when a flight comes in. The rest of the time I work on my book.” Her book? She volunteered that she is working ona novel based on characters she has created from the parking lot customers shemeets. Sure enough, there was alaptop propped up on the tiny counter next to her.
This stuck with me for a couple reasons. First, I hope one of her characters isnot a tired-looking, middle-aged guy in an old Ford Explorer. Second, hersituation reminded me of a self-assessmenttool we have co-developed at the Center for Creative Leadership to helppeople cope with the challenge of work-life integration. (See my lastcolumn to see why I believe the idea of work-life balance is a sham.).
Our goal is to help managers and leadersstop trying to balance the mythical scales so that work and family demands andrewards are exactly even. Rather,we try to help them understand this: Accurately assessing the nature of theirown personalities, their sense of self-identity, and the degree of control theyhave over their work and family lives is crucial to finding satisfaction. Balanceis not the goal. Integration is.
A snapshot of this concept could be applied to the lady inthe ticket booth, whom I later learned is named Kate.
Understanding Your Behavior
Research showsthat a critical aspect of integrating work/life facets is the degree to whichyou manage family interrupting work or work interrupting family. (We use the word “family...
[Source: Fast Company]
No comments:
Post a Comment