Remember: Both Work and Balance are Principles

In order for our work to truly become our love made visible, we need to see work itself as the noble, edifying, character-building, family bonding principle it can be.

We need to align our work—in both its nature and its seasonal emphasis—with what truly matters most.

We need to leverage our work for maximum effectiveness.

We need to develop the discernment to appropriately decide what, when, and how we will work to best provide for our families and to contribute in the workplace and in society as a whole.

We need to recognize that, whether our work is in the workplace or at home, we can do it with excellence and joy, and that the more we appropriately share and involve our family in the positive aspects of work, the more “work” can become unifying rather than divisive.

We also need to remember that both work and balance are timeless principles. We can’t allow ourselves to labor under the illusion that the ones who really get ahead in life are the “pizza under the door,” long-hours-on-the-job fanatics, and that we’re somehow at a disadvantage if we try to create balance in our lives.

Research shows that “workaholics” often create significant problems at work as well as at home,^{[16 ]}and investing in life balance creates huge benefits for both the individual and the corporation. According to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review:

A small but growing number of managers . . . operate under the assumption that work and personal life are not competing priorities but complementary ones. In essence, they’ve adopted a win- win philosophy. And it appears they are right: In the cases we have studied, the new approach has yielded tangible payoffs both for organizations and for individual employees . . . ^[17]

Further:

When a manager helps employees balance their work lives with the rest of their lives, they feel a stronger commitment to the organization. Their trust redoubles, and so do their loyalty and the energy they invest in work. Not surprisingly, their performance improves, and the organization benefits. Strong results allow the manager to continue practicing the principles that help employees strike this work-life balance.^[18]

The reality is that when you learn how to create balance through the various seasons of your life, it’s a win for everyone involved— your boss, your family, and yourself.

^{[16 ]}Killinger, Barbara. Workaholics: The Respectable Addicts. Simon and Schuster, New York, 1991; also Robinson, Bryan E. Chained to the Desk: A Guidebook for Workaholics, Their Partners and Children, and the Clinicians Who Treat Them. New York University Press, New York, 2001.

^[17]Friedman, Stewart D., Christensen, Perry, and DeGroot, Jessica. “Work and Life: The End of the Zero-Sum Game.” Harvard Business Review, November–December 1998, pp. 119—120.

^[18]Ibid., pp. 120—121.