Achieving a Life Balance is Tough

As a CEO or senior executive, achieving a life balance can be a tricky thing. We all say we want it, but few of us actually give up the work reins to support our desires. I think there a few things that influence this dilemma:
 Ego
 Insecurity
 The sense of responsibility we have as leaders of our organizations

Being a CEO can be a lonely job. We have to motivate ourselves (as well as others) and rarely do we have anyone saying “good job” or providing feedback (other than at a quarterly board meeting). Our board feedback is usually while “looking back through the rear view mirror” rather than “looking forward through the windshield”. Our egos rarely get stroked. We have to keep ourselves moving forward and on pace with very little encouragement from anyone else.

The insecurity comes from the knowledge that the average tenure of a CEO in a company is under three years. One false move and it’s on to the next CEO. The days of long tenured C-level positions are over. It’s perform or perish. That kind of pressure will definitely keep you in the office. Lastly, the sense of responsibility we place upon ourselves can be incredible; we believe we can’t let our people down, we feel responsible for their jobs, their careers, and their families, as well as our own.

Achieving a life balance is tough but necessary in today’s world. Our business careers are like a marathon, not a sprint, and we need to keep our engines (mind, body, soul) in top running order. Life balance is about harmonizing four areas of ones life:
 Work
 Personal
 Spiritual
 Community / Charity

The work side of life balance shouldn’t be an all or nothing proposition, it must be a happy medium. As CEOs, we want to create a culture in our companies that encourages life balance. This means that we can only get involved in three areas of ones life; the spiritual or religious side is a individual, personal journey and has no place at work. To me, the personal or family side of life balance is about being at my child’s recital or sports practice. It means taking a family vacation each year and another trip with just my significant other. We need to continue to invest in our marriages / relationships as well as investing in our children. We need to be the role models for life balance for our employees and encourage them to keep their schedules in perspective as well.

The final area of one’s life is charity or community involvement. Every company needs to be a good corporate citizen by being active in community or charity functions. This area is less about writing checks to charities as it is about getting involved, such as giving employees two days of paid time off to build homes for Habitat For Humanity, or sponsor Special Olympic athletes and rent a bus for your employees to go cheer them on.

What are your thoughts on life balance?