I had the opportunity to attend the 4th Annual Pink Magazine Conference on October 14th. Panelists included Jody Adams, Rialto Restaurant and Bar, Irene Chang Britt, Campbell USA, Julie Gilbert, Best Buy and Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Carlson Cos. The panel focused on what made each of these women so successful and the lessons learned along each of their journeys. I took away many interesting lessons from the discussion, more of which I will share in future posts. I think that their wisdom is applicable to men and women and to people in all stages of their careers.
The inevitable question that always seems to be asked when professionally successful women are being interviewed is the whole issue of work life balance and how they manage to do both.
Blend and not balance was the way that Irene Chang Britt described her solution to answering the demands of work and family. Instead of trying to keep them separate, which for many of us (me included, especially when your husband is also your business partner!) is impossible. She gave examples of how she made choices to integrate the two, looking at all of it as her LIFE, not squeezing each activity into the work or personal category. She talked about how on many an occasion she took her daughter to work with her, utilizing the opportunity to talk with her about business and her role. People could view this as putting her work before her time with her daughter. But as a result her daughter has grown up with an amazing entrepreneurial spirit which has manifested itself into organizing her young peers into fundraising efforts to help the people in Darfur.
The idea of blending is in conflict with how many of us have worked and lived. There’s guilt about always “being connected” or keeping the Blackberry on the bedside table. Yet in reality the two are usually not separate. We form relationships and partnerships that transcend both the work and personal aspects of our lives, we meet business contacts at social events and through lessons learned at work become better friends, partners and parents.
Blending is a more flexible way to view life and truly more realistic. Most of us can’t turn off our thoughts about work just because we’ve left the office nor can we avoid personal aspects of our lives needing attention during our work day. Viewing life as a blend lets each of us off the hook from always worrying about which side of the scale we’re on.
The inevitable question that always seems to be asked when professionally successful women are being interviewed is the whole issue of work life balance and how they manage to do both.
Blend and not balance was the way that Irene Chang Britt described her solution to answering the demands of work and family. Instead of trying to keep them separate, which for many of us (me included, especially when your husband is also your business partner!) is impossible. She gave examples of how she made choices to integrate the two, looking at all of it as her LIFE, not squeezing each activity into the work or personal category. She talked about how on many an occasion she took her daughter to work with her, utilizing the opportunity to talk with her about business and her role. People could view this as putting her work before her time with her daughter. But as a result her daughter has grown up with an amazing entrepreneurial spirit which has manifested itself into organizing her young peers into fundraising efforts to help the people in Darfur.
The idea of blending is in conflict with how many of us have worked and lived. There’s guilt about always “being connected” or keeping the Blackberry on the bedside table. Yet in reality the two are usually not separate. We form relationships and partnerships that transcend both the work and personal aspects of our lives, we meet business contacts at social events and through lessons learned at work become better friends, partners and parents.
Blending is a more flexible way to view life and truly more realistic. Most of us can’t turn off our thoughts about work just because we’ve left the office nor can we avoid personal aspects of our lives needing attention during our work day. Viewing life as a blend lets each of us off the hook from always worrying about which side of the scale we’re on.
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