Work+Life “Fit” in the 4/16/06 New York Times, Career Couch Column – See my advice to people who want a life but have bosses who expect long hours in today’s 24/7 work reality….

Work+Life Research Round-up—Even More Confirmation of the New Work+Life “Fit” Reality

I am not alone in seeing a new 21st Century work+life “fit”reality. A number of recently released studies reinforce the message that strategic, mutually-beneficial work+life “fit” partnerships between individuals and employers are a key driver of future corporate competitive advantage and personal success. Continue Reading…

For a long time, I’ve challenged the conventional wisdom that work+life is primarily a working mothers’ issue with the proven fact that it’s an “everyone” issue. But recent articles about working mothers versus stay-at-home mothers have convinced me that not only must we recognize once and for all that work+life “fit” isn’t just a working mothers’ issue, BUT that in doing so, we will actually help mothers more. I say this as a working mother with two small children who faces these challenges daily.

This realization hit me while reading the 3/2/06 New York Times article about the stall in the number of mothers returning to the workplace after having children. A former high-tech business development executive with three children was interviewed and talked about how “duped” she felt by her expectations about working after having children. I started thinking about other big work+life “fit” transitions women and men experience over the course of their life and career. And how their expectations related to these experiences are also often not aligned with reality, which leads to similar feelings of being “duped.” Continue Reading…

Money and decisions about work+life “fit” are deeply intertwined. Two transitions that often prompt a reevaluation of the role work and money play in life were in the news this week: retirement and having a baby.

The old model of retirement continues to fade as more companies announce reductions of corporate supported pension benefits. (NYTimes 2/9/06) And, the ongoing work and motherhood debate reignited when the death of Betty Freidan last week prompted reflections on the state women’s lives in 2006, both at home and in the workplace. (Knight Ridder 2/7/06, NYTimes 2/8/06) Continue Reading…