Work-Life Balance — End of story?
The hottest subject, for the longest time, on planet corporate, was ‘work-life balance.’
The hottest subject, for the longest time, on planet corporate, was ‘work-life balance.’
Life and work were perceived to be segregated and mutually exclusive. It was a zero-sum game. To have more life, you need to have less work.
The idea of ‘balance’ further reinforced this idea of segregation between life and work. Take one from the other until there is equal of both on each side. And, like any other balancing act, the task was delicate and never in a state of equilibrium. The conundrum was never resolved. Therefore, the debate was perpetual.
While we talked about work-life balance forever, we made every effort in the opposite direction.
We actively disintegrated life into ‘life’ and ‘work.’ When you ‘went’ to work, you dressed ‘professionally’ — you became a different self. In your ‘hours of work,’ it was ‘unprofessional’ to do ‘personal’ stuff. Between 9 and 5 (and more), you belonged to the corporation. You swiped a card and entered the world of work and later you swiped yourself out of it. Your friends were people who you could have drinks with ‘outside of work’ hours. At work, you were meant to always be positive, constructive, collaborative, driven and a leader. If you wanted to sulk or be depressed, you could do so in your ‘own time.’ (The time at work, by implication, was not ‘your own time.’)
In a recent edition of Smart Conversations, we realized that life was not meant to be that way.
One of the major causes of mental health problems is a disintegrated life. Work was meant to be an integral part of our whole life. All manner of work provides a sense of purpose: a job that pays, baking cookies, painting the basement, or changing a light bulb. Life is meant to have purpose. An integrated life — a source of mental health — includes purposeful work, relationships, curiosity, learning, sport and much more.
Who would have thought that this realization about the value of an integrated life would come to us when COVID pushed us into our homes for ‘remote work?’
The idea of ‘remote’ work is deeply intriguing. ‘Remote’ from what? A physical workspace that was a major force of disintegration between life and work? ‘Remote’ work is still work. Work being work, it is hard to see what it is ‘remote’ from.
While we worked from our homes, our real and work selves started to integrate. Better still, we began accepting the idea that each one of us is a whole, integrated person. There seemed to be a ‘permission,’ not given by anyone, to talk about our vulnerabilities as a person as much as our corporate acumen as a professional.
We discovered families (our own) and pieces on the mantelpiece that we had stopped noticing.
The more ‘remote’ we went from the office, the less ‘remote’ we got from ourselves.
Our goal shifted from the noise about the ‘Future of Work’ to the quest for the ‘Future of Life.’
We became integrated, whole people.
As leaders around the world make practical decisions related to hybrid workplaces, business requirements, weekly rosters, remote compensation packages and the need for expensive real estate, it is getting clearer, that the person that is returning after COVID and lockdowns is a whole person.
Let us start the conversation on how our leadership and organization need to change when work is integrated into the life of every person. Let us welcome the whole person.
‘Based on the fourth episode of Smart Conversation:
‘The unforeseen integration of work and life. Enter your whole self’
Watch here: The Unforeseen Integration of Work and Life, Enter your Whole Self.