madamenoire.com
Happy Tuesday!
Much has been said on and off about work-life balance. The White House hosted yesterday a celebrity-filled conference “focused on efforts businesses could take – including paid maternity leave – to make their environments more amenable to work-life balance and working women.”
While the very concept of work-life balance is certainly overdue for consideration (and application), it’s also a very elusive one. Indeed, the US is one of 3 countries worldwide, along with Oman and Papua New Guinea, which lacks guaranteed paid maternity leave for working moms,as reported by the United Nations. As a result, today the US ranks 17th in female labor participation among 22 of the world’s wealthiest countries.
So yes, as corporate sisters in the US, we are seriously behind! And as much as we welcome and applaud the government’s efforts to establish an equitable balance of responsibilities at work and at home, we also need to take one step further and consider what is really, actually feasible for us.
The reality is that as women and corporate sisters, we are most often at the intersection of work and home, rather than actually trying to balance the two. Rarely can we draw a distinct line between our careers and personal lives as one keeps intruding into the other constantly. Establishing balance between the two would almost imply that we could realistically separate one from the other, which in many cases, is not…the case!
Doctors’ appointments happen during work hours, so do pumping times for new moms, and kids’ sick days. Real life happens as work is in session, and rather than balancing the two, what most of us want companies and top corporate players to understand is that we need to integrate both in order to be most successful and most productive.
There are times when work will take over and home may take a back seat, and vice-versa. Or when emails will be addressed in the doctor’s waiting room. Or when we may miss a family dinner to meet that deadline.
The balance is not always going to be there. Yet what will always prevail is the need to understand and accept that life will happen, and the pieces will somehow somewhat have to fit in together for the good of all concerned. Now that is real, and much better than any balance in the world…
Would you agree?
The Corporate Sister.
