Subscribe to the Three Star Leadership Blog

The Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check Wally's Three Star Leadership Letter

Find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.

Find out more about Wally's coaching services.

Human Resource Executive Online just ran a piece called "The Balancing Act" with this provocative teaser copy.

"Real-world studies of working managers challenge the view that more time and energy working equals on-the-job effectiveness. In fact, studies show that leaders who achieve more balance between work and their personal lives are rated as significantly more effective by their bosses and by others in the workplace."

This is another article that tries to find proof that something called "work/life balance" is good for business or your career. Most extrapolate from limited data or draw conclusions that the data simply don't support. Here's an example from the HREO article.

"In fact, contrary to conventional wisdom, encouraging employees to find time for their families and life outside of the office is good for business." That's the statement. Here's the purported proof.

"According to Fortune magazine's ranking of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in 2007, four of the best 25 companies also received high marks for promoting a healthy work/life balance."

There's very selective quoting of data. "Four of the best 25 companies" is only 16 percent of that twenty-five. They could be the last four. And they only represent four percent of the total sample of 100 best companies.

And let's note that being named to a "Best Places to Work" list is not a business result. It's doing well in a popularity contest.

Nobody's against balance. You won't find consultants, authors, and pundits advocating an unbalanced life. You won't find managers urging the people who work for them to "choose unbalanced."

That's because the choice isn't between balanced and unbalanced. Instead you have to choose among a number of things to do at any one time. And the choice isn't between work and life it's between different ways to use your time that make up all the parts of your life.

You choose among the options available. You can stay late and work on that project. Or you can meet some friends for dinner. Or you can catch up on your reading or your sleep. You choose.

Every choice has a trade off. And what you choose to do the most represent the de facto priorities in your life. What you forego the most are, de facto, the parts of you life you value least.

We often get in trouble because we're a species with a short-term orientation. We're a species for whom the urgent often drives out the important. Just remember that choices you make, activity by activity, hour by hour and day by day determine how your life is balanced or not.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.

Request your free copy of "Meeting the Challenges of the Boomer Brain Drain: An integrated approach."

Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

Click here to find out more about Wally's coaching services.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check our Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Letter.

Click here to find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.