ORAMIQUE: The Sense and Nonsense of Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is a myth. Or better said, the way too many people understand it and indeed try to sell it, is totally unrealistic when it comes to ambitious, successful, and high achieving professionals in any sector. Resilience and equilibrium, however, are absolutely real and achievable. So let’s begin by doing some myth busting.

None of us here will even consider shutting off our thoughts, enthusiasm, ideas, let alone our smart phones and concern for our jobs, when we leave the office. Some of our best and most creative work is done outside the workplace and after office hours.

Executives, doctors, politicians, and academics…regardless of the job description, are all in the same group. If the individual is passionate about their job, intelligent, talented, and striving to achieve more, the traditional and commonly accepted definition of work-life balance is probably overly idealistic, and therefore will not work. It is virtually impossible that a CEO, senior physician, c-suite executive, surgeon, or politician will accept and decide to follow the almost naïve advice that one should shut off completely the moment we leave work, and only focus on our family, friends, hobbies and leisure time pursuits.

Bespoke Equilibrium and Executive Endurance, however, are not unrealistic. Tailor-made solutions not only work, but also can actually increase the success potential for all such professionals. One size doesn’t fit everyone. Such programmes find and develop personalised solutions for each individual. Finding your own equilibrium is what counts. No matter how demanding, stressful, or complicated someone’s life and job is, we can always find the balance that will fit.

Firstly, we need to analyse and evaluate each professional’s position, responsibilities, ambitions, job requirements, character, and even lifestyle choices. Next, we must assess how the person is handling all this, what stress level they are at, and if they are at risk for burnout.  We must know and understand what main elements are needed for us to achieve stability and resilience and what might hold us back from this.

Then, taking all these into account we need to find what solutions will generate pragmatic and sustainable results. Success is in being able to evaluate and understand the person. We are more than our titles – we are the People Inside the Suits, and as such, we need to see the person themselves, and develop the realistic solutions that he or she will accept and apply without making any major changes to their jobs or their lives.

Source: LinkedIn