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In my experience within the corporate world
and, now, as a talent expert and co-founder
for Y Scouts (yscouts.com), a purpose-based
leadership search firm for nonprofits, social
enterprises
and
cultural-fanatical
private
companies, I find “work-life balance” to be
pernicious and counterproductive.
I think it’s time to give up trying to find work-life
balance, and instead focus on finding the type of
work that makes your life the best it can be. After
all, we only get one shot at this thing called life, as
far as we know.
Think of those who love their jobs. For them,
it’s not exactly “work” as they exercise their
capabilities fully toward a goal that they believe in.
Finding the right fit – whether an organization is
searching for the right leadership or an individual
is seeking the right job – is more important than
people realize. The problem of work-life balance
starts farther upstream. When the appropriate
person is aligned with the appropriate goal,
balance is natural.
A concept like work-life balance is a claim on how
we should prioritize our lives, which, if believed,
can be confusing. Here is how an organization’s
employees, from bottom to top, can benefit from
a more helpful perspective.
• Don’t buy into the notion of the “work you”
as being separate from the “real you.” We
spend 8.8 hours of each day working,
according to the United States Bureau of
Labor Statistics – the largest amount of
time spent in any single activity (sleeping
is second at 7.6 hours). Work-life balance
enforces a strange notion that you are
essentially different on the clock than off
the clock, which hurts both employers
and employees. Who wants this divided
personality? Why not be yourself while
doing what’s important – providing for
your well-being and that of your family?
Costumes are for Halloween. In my line
of work, I want to offer a leader who is
authentic and not some impostor version
of who they really are.
• Not everyone is working for the weekend.
Rather than work-life balance, it’s more
helpful to think of your role in a company
or nonprofit as work-life symbiosis. Just
do the math. Working nearly nine hours in
a role that you do not like doesn’t stack
up well with two days that quickly pass by
– assuming you hate your job. How many
years of your life do you want to waste not
doing what would make you happier?
Most importantly of all is aligning the right
people with the right roles. That means
aligning the purpose and values of an
organization to the purpose and values
of the right people. Everyone owes it to
themselves to find the right organization.
• Take a cue from your technology. In today’s
world, we simply cannot compartmentalize
different areas of our lives like people
used to. You can communicate with your
spouse at any time and supplement your
relationship with others. And, for work,
most of us carry our work around in our
smartphones. If not text messages, then
we get emails sent to our phones.
Whether through our technology or the
software running in our brains, we don’t
simply turn off work when we leave the
office. We should drop the idea that
“work” and “life” are somehow separate.
They’re not.
Now I think it’s time to clarify what I am
not
saying.
I’m not saying that workers need to sacrifice their
personal lives for their professional lives. When
you find your calling – when you’re using your
potential more closely to its fullest – you are not
seeking ways to find happiness and fulfillment
exclusively elsewhere. Rather, finding your calling
means having your various responsibilities flow
better from one to the next, instead of scurrying
about from fire to fire in a zero-sum mentality.
Once you find the right position, whether as a
leader or an otherwise talented worker, you will
still have to take care of your personal life, which
may include personal relationships, children and
the chores that keep our time filled beyond work.
But when you find a position that puts your skills
and values to work, you aren’t living that binary life
that’s implied with work-life balance.
When you find your calling and work toward that
end every day, you’re content to have work on the
mind after hours. I’m not suggesting that, upon
finding your calling, you won’t have to work hard
and put effort into making all aspects of your life
come together. From what I’ve experienced and
observed, however, work-life balance puts us in
the mindset that work is a giant zero from which
we have to reclaim meaning and significance.
I believe it’s better to embrace our work by finding
our calling, which may not be the job you have
now. Once found, your calling will complement the
rest of your life, rather than subtract from it.
HR
Brian Mohr is co-founder and
managing partner for Y Scouts
(yscouts.com), a purpose-based
leadership search firm that connects
organizations with exceptional
leaders. Y Scouts operates under
the belief that people are the only
real competitive advantage in
business and the best employer/employee connections
start by connecting through a shared sense of purpose and
values. Previously, Mohr worked as a talent strategist and
in leadership management for major corporations, including
P.F. Chang's China Bistro and Jobing.com. He is a graduate
of the Advanced Executive Program at Northwestern
University’s Kellogg School
of Management.
Finding Balance
"The corporate world is susceptible to fads."
