Quotes of The Day - On Worklife Balance vs. Choice
Ran into a great commentary in a Business Week column by Jack Welch in the Nov. 27, 2006 Issue. He stated, “In a global economy wherein job challenges are constantly escalating, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by conflicting demands. …feeling swamped is really just a default mechanism: It’s what occurs when you don’t face what ‘achieving work-life balance‘ really comes down to, which is making choices and living with their consequences. In fact, we would even vote to retire the term ‘work-life balance’ and replace it with ‘work-life choices‘…. The problem is that ‘work-life balance’ suggests there is one right ratio for how much time you spend working and not working… Sure, there’s a lot of politically correct advocacy for a kind of perfect equilibrium, and it may well be that many people want a 50-50 split between work and life. But some people love working so much and find it so gratifying that they want to live a different equation, like 70-30, say. Still others want to work just enough to support a life of avocation.”
Jack’s article continued, “Balance is a personal choice based on what feels right to you given what you want from life personally and professionally. With the choice comes consequences. When you choose to work 80 hours a week and you have a family, you’re also choosing to give up some level of intimacy with your spouse and children. When you choose to work 35 hours a week in order to see more of them, you’re also choosing to take yourself off the fast track to senior management. There’s no right or wrong here. There are just individual choices and their trade-offs.”
What an insightful and candid comment from one of the legendary business leaders!
