work+life fit, inc.

One of the keys to actively managing your work+life fit is flexibly redefining success.  Think of your work+life fit as a highway.  Too many of us see only the fast lane or a stop at the side of the road.  But the truth is there are three options—a fast lane, stop at the side of the road, and a “slower” lane.  The countless work+life fit possibilities involve moving back and forth across all lanes over the course of a flexible career between the fast lane and the slower lane, and sometimes pulling off the road for awhile.  We all know about the fast track, and about taking a break.  But we don’t hear much about what it means to move into the slower lane.  What does it look like?  How do you do it?

Notice I didn’t say “slow” lane, because no self-respecting high-achiever ever wants to admit to being in the slow lane.  But the slower lane…perhaps.   In theory, it may not sound bad at all, until you look back over into the fast lane.  What’s happening?  Someone is passing you by.  That can be very difficult.  But sometimes we have no choice.

The all or nothing, all work or no work, fast lane/stop at the side of the road mentality doesn’t reflect today’s work+life fit reality especially in this economy.  As we found in the 2009 Work+Life Fit Reality Check, a majority said they are less likely to leave the workforce to care for children or aging parents, and a majority now plan to do some type of paid work in retirement.  Taken together, we have to honestly examine what a shift into the “slower” lane involves, since it will mean something different for each of us.

Grey’s Anatomy’s Dr. Miranda Bailey Painfully Redefines Success…

The season finale of Grey’s Anatomy unexpectedly granted my wish for more examples of shifts into the slower lane.  Chief Resident, Dr. Miranda Bailey made the painful move out of the fast lane by turning down a prestigious fellowship for the less demanding position of general surgeon.  This well written and acted episode accurately depicted the conflicting considerations and emotions behind her decision.

For those of you who are not Grey’s Anatomy fans, here’s Dr. Bailey’s backstory:  Season after season, Dr. Bailey continued her determined ascent up the ladder.  She overcame professional setbacks, even if that meant periodically showing up at the hospital with her young son, William, in tow.  Although her marriage to her husband Tucker struggled, it had seemed to be back on track.

As Chief Resident, she had to choose an area of specialization.  While she liked general surgery, midway through the season it seemed she’d found her true passion as a pediatric surgeon.  She began to pursue a prestigious fellowship for two additional years of training, which would keep her in the fast lane.

But when Dr. Bailey receives the news she’d won the fellowship, she goes to the hospital’s Chief of Staff, Dr. Richard Webber. She asks him if there is still an opening for her as a general surgeon.  He says there is but admits he’s confused.  He’d supported her for the fellowship because he thought it was what she wanted, and with that she confesses, “It is, but Tucker said if I took the fellowship our marriage was over.  I need the consistency of a general surgeon’s schedule to be home at night as much as possible.”  She goes on to say that she’s decided to leave her husband anyway because that’s no way to have a marriage, and she catches her breath as she concludes, “I am now a single mother, and need to be home for my son…”

And then there’s the reaction of Dr. Arizona Robbins, the doctor who sponsored her, “You don’t turn down a fellowship like this!” Her response symbolizes the toughest part of pulling into the slower lane–the outside voices telling you what you “should,” “ought,” and “can’t” do.

So how does being a general surgeon put you in the slower lane?”  For Dr. Bailey, turning down that fellowship meant she had to redefine success.  She settled for a position she enjoys and will give her the work+life fit she needs right now, but it isn’t her passion and doesn’t have the same prestige.   To her mind and perhaps in the minds of her colleagues, Miranda Bailey is in the slower lane.

How I missed seeing Michelle Obama speak….

Actively managing your work+life fit and consciously redefining success doesn’t just happen at major life reset points, like a divorce or potential promotion.  It’s something we do on a daily basis, and it never gets easier…even for me.

The last three weeks my schedule has included more than the usual amount of travel (thus, the light blogging).  When I committed to the opportunities that took me to Boston, Chicago and then Lexington, Kentucky I knew there would be very little room for any last minute additions to my work+life fit—personal or professional.  Then I got an invitation to attend the Corporate Voices for Working Families conference in Washington DC.

The conference sounded wonderful, and I knew many of my favorite work+life industry colleagues would be there.  But looking at my calendar I saw that if I attended the conference I would have to fly from Chicago to Washington and be away for the last two days of my older daughter’s statewide standardized tests.  Because these tests partially influence her placement in Junior High School next year, she was more nervous than usual.  So I declined the conference invitation in order to be home.

I was disappointed, but happy with my decision, until the first day of the conference when I received an email from one of the attendees telling me about Michelle Obama’s fabulous speech! Michelle Obama?! Yes, Michelle Obama delivered an unannounced speech at the conference that I had consciously chosen not to attend!  (Click here to read the post by Ellen Galinsky of Families and Work Institute about her meeting with the First Lady).

I spent the rest of the day reading articles and blog posts about her speech.   I found myself thinking of what it must have been like for my “fast lane” colleagues who attended the conference to hear her speak about a subject many of us have spent more than 15 years studying and promoting.   Had I missed a once in a lifetime opportunity?  What had I done?  But all of my doubts were erased when I put my daughter to bed that night and she said, “Mom thanks for being here.  It made me feel better in my tests.”  I’d said no to the conference, pulled into the slower lane, missed Michelle Obama, and made the right decision.

Maybe I’ll see Michelle Obama another time, and maybe Dr. Miranda Bailey will get that fellowship in a couple of years.  But we both actively managed our work+life fit and redefined success in a way that worked best for us, for our jobs and our personal realities at a given point in time.  There’s no right answer.  Today, we pulled into the “slower” lane, as we defined it.  The next time the decision may be to put our blinker on and pull back into the fast lane again.  It’s not all or nothing…as hard as that may be sometimes.

How many lanes are in your work+life fit highway?  Have you even pulled into the slower lane as you define it, either by choice or circumstance?  What did that look like and what did it involve?

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“The National Study of the Changing Workforce is here!  The National Study of the Changing Workforce is here!”  Yes, that’s how I responded when I received the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW). Ever since I worked at Families and Work Institute, the NSCW has been one of my favorite pieces of research (yes, I have favorite pieces of research).  Not only does the NSCW offer a very accurate snapshot of the prevailing work+life reality in a given period of time.  But, more importantly, it gives us an opportunity to step back and see if the way we are collectively talking about and thinking about work and life matches reality.  In my opinion, it doesn’t.

My recent conversation with a female MBA student at one of the top business schools provides a perfect example.  She called to interview me for the student newspaper and wanted some tips for women MBAs about how to manage their work and life after they got out of school.  My first tip—“Realize that managing work and life isn’t just an issue for women.  In fact, men report higher levels of work-life conflict.”  Not surprisingly, she responded, “What? Really?” It wasn’t until I showed her the results of the NSCW, and she confirmed the findings with male MBA students that she began to understand how outdated her assumptions were.

Here are other highlights from the NSCW that together create a snapshot of today’s work-life reality.  As you read, ask yourself, does the picture below inform the way:
•    I think about and talk about work-life issues (even if different than my own circumstances)?
•    My manager/employer thinks about, talks about, and addresses work-life issues?
•    The media presents work-life issues?
•    The government addresses work-life issues?

Reality #1: Women and men under 29 years old are equally likely to want jobs with greater responsibility, which was not the case in the past when men were more likely to report wanting more responsibility.

Reality #2: Women under 29 years old with children are no less likely than women without children to want jobs with more responsibility, which was not the case in the past when women with children were less likely to want jobs with more responsibility.

Reality #3: Women’s labor force participation continues to increase, with 71% of mothers with children under the age of 18 working in 2007.  In 2005-2006, women earned a majority of all bachelor’s degrees (58%) and master’s degrees (60%).

Reality #4: 79% of married employees are part of a dual-earner couple (up from 66% in 1977).  In 2008, women contributed 44% of the annual dual-earner family income, up from 39% in 1997, which makes the loss of their jobs even more detrimental.

Reality #5: For the first time in 2008, the percentage of men and women who agree with the statement that “it’s better for all involved if the man earns the money and the woman takes care of the home and children” was inconsequential and not significantly different (42% of men and 39% of women in 2008, versus 74% of men and 52% of women in 1977).

Reality #6: In 2008, 73% of respondents either strongly or somewhat agreed that “a mother who works outside the home can have just as good a relationship with her children as a mother who does not work,” a big increase from 58% in 1977. Interestingly, even though a majority of men agreed with the statement in 2008 (67%), they do still lag behind the women (80%).

Reality #7: Employed fathers are spending significantly more time with their children under 13 than they did in 1977, with millennial fathers reporting the biggest increase.  Men are also:
•    Taking more responsibility for the care of the children (49% say they take more or equal share of care in 2008, versus 41% in 1992)
•    Doing more or an equal share of the cooking (56% of men in 2008, versus 34% in 1992)
•    Doing more or an equal share of the house cleaning (53% of men in 2008 versus 40% in 1992).

Reality #8: Not surprisingly, “Men’s reported level of work-life conflict has risen significantly from 34% in 1977 to 45% in 2008, while women’s work-life conflict has increased less dramatically and not significantly: from 34% in 1977 to 39% in 2008.” And the level of conflict is even higher for dual-earner fathers, with 59% experiencing some or a lot of conflict in 2008, versus 45% of dual-earner mothers.

What did you think?  Does the reality outlined above inform the way:
•    You think about and talk about work-life issues?
•    Your manager/employer thinks about, talks about, and addresses work-life issues?
•    The media presents work-life issues?
•    The government addresses work-life issues?

I think we have a long way to go before the perceptions and the debate related to work-life issues on all of these levels matches reality.  Hopefully, the NSCW will help close the gap. What do you think?

A couple of interesting work-life resources/opportunities:

1. Work & Family Life is a monthly, cost-effective magazine that companies and organizations can distribute to their employees.  Work & Family Life is full of great work-life related information (click here to view a recent issue).  For more information contact the publisher, Dr. Susan Ginsburg at workfam@aol.com or 1-800-278-2579
2. Are you a mom interested in sharing what it was like to transition from working woman to working mom?  FWO Consulting is conducting a national online survey of moms to learn more about this often challenging change.  To learn more about FWO and the survey, go to http://www.fwoconsulting.com/.   Another resource for women transitioning to motherhood is provided by Rachel Egan at Maternity Transitions www.rachelegan.com.

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With a front page article in this week’s New York Times, the use of work+life flexibility as an alternative to layoffs continues to gain momentum.   However, as I noted last week, four-day workweeks, reduced schedules, sabbaticals, telecommuting and flexible scheduling are not just isolated, downsizing tactics.  They are part of a broad, coordinated growth and cost-cutting business strategy with multiple benefits that include, but are not limited to, creative downsizing.  We are missing an important opportunity by not discussing flexibility in this larger context. 

Since August 2008, I have written (here, here, here, and here) and spoken (here), about work+life flexibility as critical strategy that allows organizations and individuals to rapidly and flexibly adapt to challenges that are presenting themselves at an accelerated rate.
 
In fact, the findings from the September, 2008 CFO Perspectives on Work Life Flexibility that we conducted with BDO Seidman, LLP were some of the earliest results to confirm that CFOs–the financial leaders in organizations–view flexibility as a strategic lever with a broad range of business impacts.  And, approximately one-quarter of the CFOs were ahead of the curve by incorporating different forms of flexibility into past downsizing strategies.
   
Why does this matter?  Because today we are grappling with how to respond to the recession, but after that, it will be something else.  Using strategic flexibility to rethink the way work is done, life is managed and business succeeds will help us not only survive, but thrive in an environment where change will be the only constant.  But we won’t be able to use work+life flexibility as a business growth and cost-cutting strategy to respond to these changes if we don’t see the possibilities. (Click here for more)

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By nature, I am a glass half-full person.  So even though there are many dark clouds hanging over this long and painful recession, I continue to look for the silver-linings.   And I believe this recession is going to force some people to finally find the work+life fit they really want. 

The other day I had lunch with Bob, the brother of a friend, to help him think through a difficult work+life fit decision.  A year ago, Bob negotiated that in January 2009 he would take a package and leave the job he’d held for 10 years with the same company.  While he had been very successful, a change in leadership and the sense he needed a new challenge made the package seem like a perfect segue into the next phase of his life.  Then the recession hit full-force, and now he is reconsidering. 

He doesn’t want his current job anymore and his employer wants him to stay.  They have offered him a few alternative jobs none of which are particularly appealing.  But Bob has a 15 year old going to college soon, and a large portion of his college fund as lost in the market downturn.  Bob is concerned that there won’t be any jobs out there, which is understandable given the unemployment figures. 

He’s stuck in an all-or-nothing quandary—do I stay and have salary, or do I leave and face a financially scary unknown.  This is where I come in.  We talked, and ultimately Bob realized that maybe there was a middle way work+life fit.  Here are some clues from our conversation that helped Bob begin to see the possibilities.

“They’ve offered me a lower level job I could do in my sleep.  It would give me money, and a lot of flexibility to investigate other opportunities, but my ego would take a big hit.”   Maybe Bob doesn’t have to quit.  He could try take this lower level job, do what he needed to do, but take advantage of the autonomy and flexibility to beginning setting up his next career move.  (Click here for more)

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Going to a funeral is never fun; however, this past weekend, as I celebrated the life of a man who lived 95 good years, I received a welcome, but unexpected surprise.  With the ever-worsening economic news as a backdrop, the triumphs and challenges of my aunt’s father’s extraordinary life reminded me of what really matters in difficult times. 

Resilience and perseverance in the face of hardship were consistent themes in the life of David Popper, or “Mr. Popper,” as I knew him growing up.  The contrast between how overwhelming his challenges were, and the level of personal and professional success he achieved as a highly-respected U.S. ambassador and diplomat made the lessons in his story even more powerful. 

At key points, he could have given up, and no one would have blamed him.  But he chose to move forward, regroup and fight on with peaceful, generous determination.  Two lessons from his life struck me as particularly relevant for the uncertainty many people face today: 

Lesson #1:  In hard times, it’s imperative to keep moving forward no matter how difficult the circumstances because they will turn around.  Persistence and resilience were the keys to his success:

• In his early twenties, newly-married and getting ready to attend graduate school, his father was killed in a car accident.  As the oldest, he felt he needed to put his plans on hold indefinitely to care for his mother and three younger siblings.   He wouldn’t get the chance to begin his diplomatic training and career until well after World War II.

• When he was at the State Department, Joseph McCarthy accused him of being a communist.  Even though all of his colleagues knew this was a completely unfounded charge, the Secretary of State felt enough pressure from McCarthy that he put Mr. Popper on an unpaid leave of absence for three-months while they prepared for his hearing.  Things did not look good. 

With three children, no income and the real possibility of having his reputation and career ruined by the false allegations, he didn’t sit back and wait helplessly for the verdict to be delivered.  Instead he worked everyday for three months preparing a detailed defense.  When he presented his case to the Secretary of State and the panel reviewing the charges, they were so impressed that McCarthy backed down, the formal hearing canceled, and the charges dropped.  But that wasn’t the end of it.  Although the allegations were dismissed, they would continue to haunt him and risk derailing his career at other points, but each time he fought back and won. 

• When he was the Ambassador to Chile during the Pinochet regime, he continued to press the importance of human rights even as Henry Kissinger told him to back off, (click here to read more)…

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The current financial crisis and poor market performance are forcing some pre-retirees to think twice about upcoming plans for retirement.  They face the prospect of working longer than they had planned and they are not alone.  In April, a survey conducted for AARP, found that 27 percent of workers age 45 and over, and 32 percent of those 55 through 64 said they had pushed back their planned retirement date because of the economic downturn.

With retirement on hold, most believe that their only choice is sit tight in their the same-old job, with the same-old schedule until their portfolios can recover or their savings can make up the difference.   Not necessarily. 

If you can’t retire completely, now or in the foreseeable future, you can find a new work+life “fit” that provides you with the financial benefits of working while giving you more time and energy for other parts of your life.  And you can do it in a way that meets your needs while benefiting your employer in a period where downsizing and cost-savings will become increasingly important. 

Here are the steps to get you started (for more information a Three-Step Work+Life Fit process is outlined in my book Work+Life: Finding the Fit That’s Right for You):   

1) Understand How Flexibility Helps You Find a Different Work+Life “Fit”: 

You can flexibly adjust how you work, where you work or when you work in order to find a fit between your work and life that benefits you and your employer.  This could involve reducing your schedule, shifting your hours, telecommuting, becoming a consultant, sharing a job, working fewer, longer days per week, etc. 

2) See the Possibilities—Challenge Your Notion of “Retirement,” and of “Work:” 

This is not your parents’ retirement with the gold watch and the golf course.  My experience is that the hardest part of this process for people over 50 years old is to shift their “all or nothing” definition of work.  You must get past the mindset that if you aren’t working Monday-Friday, in a physical space with everyone else, during a set schedule then you aren’t working.   Here are some examples:

• A former partner at a national accounting firm “retired,” but now works as a senior director with a reduced work load.
• A former Chief radiologist for a large teaching hospital now works “as needed” in the radiology department.
• A former section editor of a newspaper now works flexible hours mentoring and editing young newspaper reporters. and
• A former plant foreman shares his job as plant quality control specialist with another senior foreman.

3) Ask Yourself “What Do I Want?” and Analyze Your Realities, Particularly Financial Realities 

For many retirees-interrupted, the need for a full-time salary may preclude a fit that reduces your schedule or allows you to work on a project basis as a consultant.  However, if you need to work full-time, there are still options.  You could still telecommute, shift your hours or work fewer, longer days depending upon the realities of your job. 

4) Redefine Success So that You Feel Good about Your New “Fit” 

Like all of the examples above, finding a new pre-retirement work+life fit might mean having to give up seniority in job title, responsibilities, and salary level.  It’s very important that you sit down and consciously re-set your definition of success.  This means putting a value on the time and flexibility you gain above and beyond what you may have had to give up. 

5) Finally, Think About How Your Work+Life Fit Can Benefit Your Employer in a Difficult Economy

As the economy continues to struggle, employers will look for ways to cut costs and improve efficiency.  How can the pre-retirement work+life fit you want to propose help achieve those goals?  If you reduce your schedule or switch to a consultant-status, there are direct salary and benefit cost savings to your company, not to mention the retention of your knowledge about how to get the job done efficiently. 

If you want to shift your hours, perhaps you could cover clients or customers in other time zones that are currently under-resourced.  If you want to work from home a couple days a week, could you share an office with another telecommuter and save real estate costs? 

The events of this past week may have caused many to radically rethink their retirement plans.  But if you are a retiree-interrupted, it’s not all bad news.  There are still countless work+life fit options that can provide income and flexibility.  Do you have examples of pre-retirees who have used all types of flexibility to find a new work+life fit?

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With lay-offs for the third quarter totaling 287,142 the largest number since 2005, it’s a perfect time to revisit the discussion of work life flexibility as an alternative downsizing strategy.  A number of the top 100 CFOs surveyed as part of the CFO Perspectives on Work Life Flexibility study co-sponsored by Work+Life Fit and BDO Seidman, LLP used strategic flexibility to reduce their workforce without severing ties with employees:

“Approximately a third (38%) of CFOs report that their organizations had reduced their workforce in recent years.  While employee lay-offs were most common, almost a third (30%) of CFOs innovatively used flexibility as a workforce reduction strategy that allowed them to stay connected to employees through contract project-based work (24%), reduced hours with full-benefits (3%) and sabbaticals with full benefits (3%).” 

As I wrote in an earlier posting on the subject, more companies are using flexibility to creatively downsize.  They recognize that it will be very expensive to rehire when the business cycle improves.  Read the comment posted by an award-winning New Jersey-based advertising agency that describes how they have used work life flexibility to match talent with the needs of their business. 

While it might be better to have a job at a reduced schedule or on a project-basis than no job at all, this use of flexibility as a way to manage the workforce injects a level of uncertainty into the lives of employees that hasn’t existed previously.  This means that individuals need to prepare for this potential reality.  To that end, fee-only financial planner, Michael Haubrich (www.toyourwealth.com) recommends that everyone have what he calls a “Career Asset Working Capital Fund.”  This money is earmarked for the unique financial requirements of career transitions or job status changes including:  (Click here to go to Fast Company blog)

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The “C-Suite” positions composing the most senior levels in organizations—CEO, CFO, CIO, and President—are beginning to discover work+life flexibility as a strategic business imperative. This linkage to broader organizational growth objectives will ultimately transform the way we work and live. Where’s the evidence?

First, I was interviewed for an article in this month’s CIO Magazine entitled, “The Extreme CIO: Taking the “Life” Out of Work-Life Balance.” The author, Matt Vilano, does a great job of analyzing the macro issues challenging the ability of individual CIOs to manage their work+life fit, such as technology and managing across multiple time zones. But he also pushes CIOs to rethink how they work in order to find a “fit” in the context of their jobs.

There’s no nirvana of “balance,” or a one-size-fits-all answer. The key is the realization that the job of a CIO has transformed so drastically that following the old rules isn’t going to work if you hope to have any kind of life. Check out my advice on how to work differently. So often it’s a personal work+life fit reevaluation on the part of an executive that results in broader organizational change.

Second piece of evidence: one of the corporate client projects on which we are working has a tremendous amount of CEO support. The CEO so eloquently articulated how critical flexibility is to his vision of future growth, in its broadest definition, that I was momentarily speechless. Flexibility is critical if organizations are going to innovatively deploy the best human capital to achieve their corporate objectives in a 24/7, high-tech, global work reality. And, this CEO got it. Continue Reading…

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First, let me spread some blog love: Welcome, Kathie Lingle, Executive Director of the Alliance for Work-Life Progress to the blogosphere with her new blog. Her knowledge and experience is on display full force in her posting this week where she challenges the reality of the “opting-out” trend with an abundance of research to the contrary. And she warns (as I have many times) that perpetuating the myth actually hurts the very women it is supposedly trying to help. Welcome Kathie!

On this Father’s Day, let’s hear it for the men. More research proves, once again, that combining work and life is an issue for everyone. Not just women:

• An important article appeared recently inside the first section of The New York Times (unfortunately not the front page), entitled “Signs of Détente Between Venus and Mars” regarding a number of academic, peer reviewed studies in which men and women reported increasingly similar levels of concern related to work and life.
• Monster.com just released a survey where 58% of fathers felt their employers should be more considerate of their needs as working dads, and a majority appreciate having a flexible work schedule.

The fact is men are part of the debate and more are making their unique voices heard in blogs and books, including: Continue Reading…

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While evidence continues to mount that the realities of work and career paths have fundamentally and permanently changed, formal career and talent management strategies have not kept pace. This lag between recognizing that a shift has occurred and adapting organizationally and individually was obvious from the results of the two surveys I recently conducted in partnership with Tuck Business School’s Executive Education at Dartmouth and Aquent, Inc. a marketing resource company. Closing the gap requires organizations, leaders, and individuals to answer critical questions that aren’t currently being discussed. I will share some of these questions in a minute. But, first, the results of our survey.

The survey results, along with best practices for individuals and organizations, will be discussed in a series of Tuck sponsored Back in Business panel discussions entitled “Toppling the Career Ladder: Pathways for Today’s Talent” through the end of May in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Boston. (Click here to learn more about dates and locations) Tuck’s Back in Business Program are featured in an article by Lisa Belkin in today’s New York Times.

Here are some highlights of the our survey findings (Click here for executive summary of findings): Continue Reading…

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