Rejecting “Work-Life” Balance!

In the past two weeks, I’ve attended the American Society for Training and Development International Conference and Expo in Denver and presented at the Greater Madison Society for Human Resource Management here locally.  Both events provided me with wonderful opportunities to connect with new people, learn about valuable ideas, practices, and trends in a myriad organizational development environments, and reinvigorate my love for this field.

This afternoon, having watched another remarkable keynote address by Paul Wesselmann, a.k.a., The Ripples Guy, I was conversing with a colleague who similarly opted to leave the corporate world in exchange for a consulting lifestyle.  If you’ve never made that leap, trust me when I tell you it can be both unbelievably exhilarating and simultaneously nerve-wracking.  And certainly, it’s not for everyone.

For those of you who know me personally, I made that leap five months ago, trading the security of a corporate salary for the flexibility, and yes, uncertainty of a consultant’s life.  The way I like to think of it, I looked at my work-life balance, and chose life.

I’ve written before about the problems with buying into the “work-life” philosophy.  It creates a tension between one’s personal and professional lives, emphasizing the delicate balance (and sometimes incompatibility) of the two.  It’s an unhealthy perspective that ignores the passion that ought to weave a natural bond between all one’s pursuits (personal and professional).

In the course of my conversations after my session today, this colleague was excitedly (passionately, one might argue) explaining how for years, she deliberately maintained professional and personal silos.  She left her work at the office.  She steadfastly refused to check work email in the evening or on weekends.  She was careful to maintain her “work-life” balance.  But something was missing…..passion.

Since leaping into the consulting world, her life has transformed itself.  To the horror of some, she sends emails in the middle of the night, even on the weekends.  She prepares training sessions when her energy levels are at their maximum (for her, this is in the morning hours), and she opts for others activities (some professional, others not) during her least productive “energy hours” of the day.

“You know,” she confided in me. “It’s been surprising how ‘in-balance’ I feel now….how passionate I am about the work I am doing and the way I’m living my life.”

Trust me, I know the feeling.  She and I, although our paths are quite different and our work focuses on our own areas of consulting, have both rejected the notion of a work-life balance.  Instead, we’ve discovered a work-passion intensifier that interjects excitement, enthusiasm, engagement, and, yes, BALANCE into everything we’re doing.

So, whether you opt to loose the shackles of a corporate life (sorry for the interjected bias here) or not, I urge you to reject the concept of work-life balance.  Stop siloing your lives and sapping yourself of energy and enthusiasm in both aspects.  Instead, seek out those opportunities and career directions that allow your passion for life in general to emerge.  Let that passion illuminate both your career direction and your personal and familial pursuits.  Let passion be your focus….and stop perpetuating the unhealthy tension between your work life and your personal life.  Embrace a passionate life….in every aspect of your life!

Work Energy: Know Your Sources & Your Kryptonite

When I worked in the corporate world, I was the not-so-proud owner of an 8×7 foot cubicle that I often referred to as my cell.  Nothing works better at sapping my enthusiasm, energy, and engagement than the gopher existence so common in companies today.  Some didn’t mind this work environment.  I couldn’t stand it!

On a typical day, one might find me in any of the myriad sitting areas around the company headquarters, diligently plugging away at my project du jour.  In later years, when the company, in an effort to improve its culture, transformed a large seating area into a quasi-coffee shop environment, that became my favorite haunt when when not in meetings (I even scheduled meetings there whenever possible).

Not everyone was happy with my penchant for avoiding my cubicle, however.  On numerous occasions, my manager demonstrated his distrust in my work habits, as he opted for a “walk-through management,” a.k.a., “butts in seats” style of management.  “It’s just the way I manage,” he would explain.  “I need to see you working to know that you are…..”

This post isn’t about empowerment, trust, or micromanagement, though.  Instead, it’s focused on recognizing where and when you individually find inspiration and engagement in your work.  For me, I simply know that I work very poorly when placed into a controlled and uncomfortable environment.  Conversely, when I can choose where I work, whether that is from a coffee shop, a couch hidden in some corner of an organization, or my home office (or even a cubicle, when it is on my terms), I am unbelievably efficient.  I can accomplish a ton.

(Of note, if managers are unable to hold people accountable for results, not simply butts in seats, this will be difficult….)

Better yet, if given the choice to also work when I choose, I do even better.  My favorite work time (my kids tell me this comes from my military years of midnight reconnaissance patrols) is throughout the night.  Sitting down at 10:00 p.m. (that’s 2200 hours, girls), I can easily get 6-8 highly focused and productive hours accomplished.

Unfortunately, in much of the work world, we don’t have the flexibility to choose the whens and wheres to get our work done.  Additionally, we’ve excepted work cultures with an abhorrent number of truly pointless meetings, filling up our days merely for the sake of seeming busy.  I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again.  I’m a firm believer that most organizations could focus MUCH MORE EFFICIENTLY with only 10% of the meetings currently scheduled.  More information sharing and updates could be provided solely via other media, and meetings could instead be dedicated to quickly making key decisions (with decision makers coming prepared with pre-read material read).

Adopting this approach to work cultures, individual employees (at all levels of the organization) would be freed up to determine for themselves how, when, and where they would accomplish their work project and tasks.    Organizations would quickly understand the power of this approach in engaging and empowering employees.  The results would be unbelievable.

So, take some time to figure out where and when you work best.  If necessary, talk it over with your boss.  Explain to them your idea for working even more effectively.  Chances are, they’ll be intrigued by the idea of getting more productivity and will be willing to at least let you test your theory.  Who knows….it could be a turning point for you and your organization!

The Professional Confidante – More than a Mentor

In our personal lives, most of us have someone to whom we turn for advice, comfort, or simply who provide our much needed comic relief from the stress of life.  For some, this a sibling, a parent, or a best friend who knows us better than anyone else….who can provide perspective and a necessary “kick in the pants” when warranted.

It’s tougher in our professional lives, though.  The “vulnerability” most are willing to demonstrate in their private lives is more challenging for most of us in the workplace  (some are better at this than others….I’m certainly NOT one who even in my private life has been particular adept at showing vulnerability).  Issues of confidence (or the projection of confidence and competence) are heightened in the office.  Fewer positions as one climbs the career ladder can make a willingness to show “weakness” a competitive disadvantage in many organizations.

For many of us, the “invulnerability” screen we project is fairly well solidified in our workplace psyches.  Even those of us whose career paths could be described as circuitous at best (disjointed, frenetic, or unfocused….some of the non-constructive comments I’ve received over the years), have stumbled and been burned by putting ourselves out there in front of professional peers.

So, do we simply give up and fortify ourselves as perceived stalwarts of professional success, downplaying or actually hiding our professional liabilities?  Nope, that’s to allow personal dysfunction to restrict our ability to grow professionally and contribute to the betterment of ourselves, our organizations, and our society.  Instead, we must force ourselves beyond our comfort zones.  Here’s some ideas to make this easier to embrace:

• First of all, admit your fears about expressing vulnerability in your professional life – Self-awareness and acceptance is key to making any progress.

• Second, find someone who is NOT in your particular specialty and/or organization – By finding a trustworthy person with whom you will likely NOT be in competition, you reduce some of the instinctive reluctance to open up about the challenges and failures you experience professionally.

• Third, insist on openness and transparency in interactions – Establishing racceptance between the two of you and articulating the expectation that you will each seek out advice, support, and understanding when faced with professional adversity is important.

• Finally, actively blend professional with personal – Find times to meet with your professional confidante outside of regular work hours.  Grab dinner or drinks with this person.  Invite them to a sporting event or just an evening hanging out with you and your spouse.  Go for a hike together.  The point is to avoid the “stuffiness” of the professional world.

You may think this sounds very much like a mentor, but I would suggest this blended personal/professional relationship moves beyond the typical role of a typical mentor.  After all, without understanding the “whole you,” both the personal and the professional sides of your complex being, its difficult to really get the type of feedback and advice needed.  So, take a “systems perspective” – find yourself a professional confidante.