When approached to be part of the team that writes for FastCompany about Work/Life balance I thought, "what a great opportunity!" and added the project to my schedule. I was directed to post once a week, on Friday.
I did not post last Friday. Part happenstance, part intentional. No post here from me.
Did you notice? I did not hear from readers, bloggers or the folks at FastCompany.
Huh.
Which brings me to my point for today: there are tasks or obligations in our lives that we may sometimes choose to set aside for a short (or long) time to pursue other tasks and obligations. There are only so many hours in a day. Find out what won't be missed by others - you'd be surprised at what you can let go at times.
"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is a nobler art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials."
As a leader of people, you're in the spotlight, on the proverbial (modeling) "runway" more than you know...maybe more than you like. But it is part of the job.
When you speak to your team about work/life balance, what does that look like? Not sound like, but look like? You may say, "people are our greatest asset" or "I believe we should be able to strike a reasonable balance between work and our families". Are these smart Leadership 101 platitudes or do you, in our heart of hearts, believe it to be true? True enough to follow the intent yourself...
If you play the hero and say, "go ahead, I'll work the holiday week so you can spend time with your family" - does that make you a great boss or a heretic? Part of leadership is a defined service-over-self approach. Should your job title govern when you can spend time with YOUR family? If you don't show, by actions and not words, that you truly value work/life balance, will your employees take your martydom and run with it, or will it eventually ring hollow as they see you become a 'do as I say, not as I do' leader?
Many of us are at our happiest and most productive when we're doing tasks we love. This could be at home, at work, at the gym, drinking coffee at the corner shop. If you spend some time thinking about it, there is something that you do that really feels like it exists just for you to do it.
When times get a bit stressed, focusing on these greatest tasks can help you create room for the less desirable, but necessary, work that doesn't excite you.
Rahm Emanual has accepted the enviable and challenging task of chief of staff to President-elect Obama. My understanding of how this job works is from the TV show "The West Wing", shown on NBC from 1999 to 2006 (yes, I own and regularly watch the DVDs).
One of my favorite characters on the show, deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman (played by Bradley Whitford), created a memorable scene that motivates me to this day. During a particularly stressful week, with little sleep and more competing priorities than many of us could ever imagine, Josh was asked why he was staying extremely late to work on a project.
For anyone reading blog posts in this section of FastCompany, it is readily apparent that "Work/life balance" takes a variety of forms, explanations, perceptions and meaning. As I have written before, I do not believe that work/life balance means "50-50". Balance is flexible in that some days I work 18 hours, other work days I take off (like today's vacation day!). That's balance for me. In the spirit of Halloween (that was an easy pun), I am going to address a scary topic: the difference between equal and equitable. This comes up often in the workplace: - the parent that leaves early from an important meeting to attend to a sick child, but you can't do that for your dog. - the single employee that toils away with inhuman hours and takes on an over-capacity of work, and gets promoted...to the detriment of the employee who is equally qualified, but cannot put in the hours/capacity because they have children. - the single employee who gets asked to 'stay late' because they don't have children. - benefits that appear skewed to families. Equal? No. Equitable? Yes. Organizations should work hard to make benefits and work/life balance equitable to all employees. This could take the form of special projects for those that want to pursue additional work hours - but those additional work hours shouldn't necessarily be the sole reason for promotion. Get the idea? What do you think...equal or equitable?
My wife's former college roommate and her family (husband, two children) are in town from Chicago. It is great to have the opportunity to spend the weekend with them!
We had planned on their arrival Friday morning. They called from the road and were able to make it up early, Thursday evening. At 7pm. Now we had just a few hours to prepare our house for four guests. Yikes!
Strange how the best laid plans rarely survive contact with reality. We quickly focused on what would truly impact the quality of their visit and what wouldn't matter much in the grand scheme of things.
The visit is going really well!
AT WORK
Ever have to insert yourself on a project that one of your staff has worked on, knowing that you will add value to the end product? Every ask yourself how much value? Sometimes the smallest change, maybe increasing the outcome by 5%, demotivates the team by 30% or more. Is it worth it? Rarely.
Key theme here is at home or at work, focus on what really impacts quality in a big way, and let some of the small stuff go. You'll have more balance and better quality everywhere in life.
Does the term "rock star" permeate your workplace? Rock star as in someone whose work, accomplishments, mere presence, is legendary and feels like a rock star is in the room?
I have a different take, from Bob Lefsetz - he of the mercurial Lefsetz Letter:
"A rock star is not someone who takes the temperature, who gauges the
marketplace before he creates his "art". A rock star is someone who
needs to create and is willing to tolerate the haters along with the
fans. He’s someone who incites controversy just by existing. That’s
what we lost in the dash for cash. Unique voices. I’m not saying we
haven’t ended up with some pleasant music, but it just hasn’t hit you
in the gut, it’s the aural equivalent of Splenda, it might do the
trick, but it’s not the real thing. The real thing grabs your
attention, drives down deep into your heart and lodges itself there. A
rock star doesn’t follow conventions, doesn’t go disco or add drum
machines just because everybody else does. A rock star exists in his
own unique space, and if you met him you probably wouldn’t like him.
Because he tends to be self-focused to the point of being
narcissistic. Because he cares. He needs to get his message out."
This is a bit of a controversial view. By focusing on being the absolute authentic 'best', the proverbial rock star creates "art" beyond compare.
What Bob didn't write about is the work that rock stars do NOT do:
Attend meetings that are not about the rock star's projects
Market to customers that are not going to buy the rock star's products
Interact with people that don't help forward the mission of the rock star
Read materials that do not inform the rock star
What else do you think the rock star avoids?
Imagine the time you would have in your day if you were a rock star...
Project work by nature has peaks of intense work effort and valleys (ebb!) where everything is moving along and you can get caught up on other tasks and priorities. Use this time wisely to do what many call "the laundry" - those small tasks that if left undone too long (just like laundry) cause big problems. This ebb time is also great for re-priortizing your work/life balance. Seth Godin has a great post on effort versus luck here.
FLOW
Just as the tide goes out, it flows in as well. And carries all manner of flotsam, jetsam and even a few alligators. By preparing during ebb times, you can let the smaller tasks wait or be delegated so you can give full attention to the intense work days/weeks that are required more each year.
When you give 100% attention to both the Ebb and Flow, you'll find a better balance and higher productivity at home and at work.
"In times of crisis, give help first, then advice."
Seems like a simple, easy to follow quote. Ever catch yourself giving advice first?
Here is an example:
Your friend routinely skips breakfast. By 1pm each day, he is ravenously hungry. You stop by his office to ask a question and there he is, eating pretzels by the handful. He starts to choke, and is visibly scared.
You could:
A - start lecturing him..."See what happens when you skip breakfast?...you always eat so fast at lunch it is no small wonder this hasn't happened before!"
B - help him stop choking right away.
Think about this when a colleague has trouble at work finishing an assignment. Assisting in finishing a PowerPoint presentation may not be a life-threatening situation - but it can feel like it.
