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Kim's Blog |
 Many years ago, a family I knew and admired moved across the country to pursue a great opportunity for one of the parents. It was a prestigious new role that included advanced training in their field. Their spouse also found a new and exciting role that was also a step up in leadership and challenge. Both parents thrived, until they didn’t. In this instance, she followed him. She excelled in her job as a director, overseeing several managers and their teams. Her team loved her, and she effectively led them to consistently achieve great results for the company. This couple also had two young children, long commutes, and expensive daycare with which to contend. With both parents in high-pressure jobs, it became too much. She mentioned how stressful it was to feel like she had to keep working at night, while she helped the kids get ready for bed, while on vacation, and so on. We talked about her dilemma and her options. She felt stuck. She felt like she would probably just have to quit her job. She saw no other way. She admitted that although she loved her team, the work of managing people plus her own load was adding too many hours to each week. She felt like she was missing out on so much of her children’s lives, and she wondered if it was at all worth the sacrifices she’d been making. I suggested that there might be other options to consider. We brainstormed about whether her boss or her boss’s leader might be receptive to having her shift from director back into a high level individual contributor role. The decision was hers, whether to talk with her leader or not. I mentioned that if she asked and it did not work out, at least she tried and she would know; plus, she was considering leaving anyway. She decided to ask. Her boss was highly receptive. They made it clear that they valued her expertise and did not want to lose her. Together, they brainstormed a solution and a role that would better fit her work-life needs. She made the switch and continued to enjoy working for this organization for another two years. Then it was time to move again, this time ‘back home’. * I will reference this post on LinkedIn as well. Feel free to comment here and/or on LinkedIn once it is posted there. Thanks! --Kim -- Photo by Sasha Matveeva on Unsplash
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