Maintaining Your Own Balance

This week the Internet exploded briefly with stories headlined “Google CFO retires with a candid memo about work/life balance,” or something similar. Patrick Pichette announced his departure from Google and what sounded like a retirement, though many commenters predict he will be back to work somewhere else soon, just as soon as he satisfies his wife’s desire to travel. Hey, who knows?

One thing we DO know, though, is that his letter was not really advocating work/life balance; it really only came up near the end:

In the end, life is wonderful, but nonetheless a series of trade offs, especially between business/professional endeavours and family/community. And thankfully, I feel I’m at a point in my life where I no longer have to have to make such tough choices anymore.

As you read his letter, you realize he made “tough choices” and “trade offs” for 25-30 years that seemed to lean heavily in favor of work. It sounds like he is saying “spend a lot of years focused on work, then the rest of your years focused on something else,” which is different from the concept of work/life balance that many of us have. For most, we talk about balancing throughout our professional lives, not just balancing our overall life by spending decades working and then retiring.

It was tough to even know how he defined “work.” He noted that his kids are grown, which means “Nobody is waiting for us/needing us.” Did he consider his kids part of “work” or of “life?” (because it sounds like he’s putting them in the “work” category)

Many people talked with amazement this week about how the CFO of Google, a company known for its hard-working employees, is now suggesting that you keep a good work/life balance. But that does not really seem like what he is saying at all. Whatever choices he made, it does not sound like they led to a “balanced” result. That’s OK for him, of course, if he has had (and is having) the life he wants, and maybe this is what you have to do to be a multimillionaire and a senior leader at Google, but let’s not think for a minute that he is advocating work/life balance, as many of us talk about it. Nowhere does he say, “I wish I had worked less.”

Still, though, this letter is a useful reminder to all of us, especially those who are following a career path to greater responsibility. Perhaps the lesson to take from this is that you need to think about what is most important to you and make that the big thing in your life, even in the face of tough choices. Maybe you make less money but have more time with your family. Maybe you take a higher paying job that you enjoy less than other work you could be doing. And maybe you focus on work until, 25 years into your marriage, your spouse says, “when are you going to have time for me?” Whatever you decide, though, if you make choices that leave you unhappy, you are not going to be the best leader you can be, and you may not be much good to anyone in your personal life, either. It is up to you how you balance between work and your personal life, but if you can make the choices that make you happiest, you will be helping yourself, the important people in your life, and your company, too.