Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners MUST Take Ownership of Work Life Balance Discussion
The mantra of the late 90's and the first decade of the 21st century is "Be proactive." And corporations are doing a fine job of being proactive in claiming ownership of the "work-life" discussion.
They're doing this because when they launch the discussion first, they get to define the parameters—they get to make the rules.
To many companies, good "work-life" balance means providing on-site amenities and conveniences so that employees don't have to leave work often ... and thus, they stay later.
It might also mean that a company allows telecommuting so that employees can work from home via computer, since studies have shown that employees will actually put in more hours per day at home, working online, than at the office.
In short, companies attempt to frame the work-life discussion in a way that is most favorable to them.
The problem is that those solutions generally don't benefit the employee or enhance his/her life balance.
Therefore, entrepreneurs and small business owners should not try to emulate what large corporations do. Instead, we should look towards owning our own work-life discussion.
The discussions that companies have with their employees about work-life balance are adversarial by nature. At the heart of it, the company wants more work from the employee and the employee wants more time off.
Thus, company-employee discussions are win-lose propositions because they invariably end up being about the corporation versus the employee.
The good news is that this needn't be the case for the entrepreneur and small business owner. For us, our business and our families are not mutually exclusive—they're intertwined.
Particularly in the case of home-based businesses, we can do things that most companies wouldn't allow.
As business owners, WE own the discussion when it comes to balancing our lives and our work. WE can make trade-offs.
The Term "Work-Life Balance" is Being Defined by Corporations
It is not unlike anything you might find by performing a search on Google, MSN, Yahoo, or Ask.com.
Allow me to highlight the key phrase here: "The work-life balance strategy offers a variety of means to reduce stress levels and increase job satisfaction in the employee while enhancing business benefits for the employer." In other words, it is a way to keep the employee happy at work so as to maximize returns to the employer.
In other words, this is a personnel issue, not a LIFE issue as it is currently being framed.
Allow me to illustrate further. WFC Resources" (formerly Work and Family Connection) is a leader in the Work-Life arena. Their mission is "to help employers create a workplace that's both supportive and effective, one that ensures that your investment in employees pays off, a work environment that meets business goals and also allows employees to meet their personal goals."
WFC Resources defines Work-Life on their Website "Overview: What is work-life?" as "the practice of providing initiatives designed to create a more flexible, supportive work environment, enabling employees to focus on work tasks while at work." In other words, Work-Life Balance is a Human Resources function - it's about ROI and Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). It's about "the interaction between employers and employees."
Check it out for yourself. Perform a search for Work Life Balance on Google, MSN, Yahoo, or Ask.com. You'll find many organizations defining Work-Life Balance in the same way.
This does NOT serve us entrepreneurs, small business owners, self-employed individuals, and freelance professionals, however, in any way, shape, or form.
Things are Different for Entrepreneurs, Business Owners, and those who are Self-Employed
We're On Our Own In Our Struggle To Maintain Balance
Being self-employed requires sacrifice, commitment, focus and drive. Yet when faced with the constant demands of an instant-gratification, attention deficit world, a self-employed individual often finds himself pulled in several directions at once. Rather than buckle against the pressure, he must find the strength to honor his own convictions and subscribe to his own personal code of conduct - both at home, and in his career. And of particular importance for him, is to steer clear of people claiming to have the prescription for happiness - the "proper" way to live one's life, manage one's careers, raise one's children and nurture one's own spirit.
Interestingly, what appears to be a life out of balance to an outsider, may actually feel, to an entrepreneur, like a natural, healthy, and productive way to function. Those who are no longer forced to live by the clock of working society are often delightfully surprised by the power of their autonomy and the ease in which they are able to slip into the "new rules" of their own life. The challenge, however, is to first learn how to free oneself from preexisting fears, misconceptions and other mental blocks.
To put all of this into perspective, for the majority of Americans whether married or single, working for a company or self-employed - any semblance of order or structure that our lives once knew has all but disappeared. As a society, we are becoming more and more stressed and unbalanced due to:
- Increasing work demands
- Longer work weeks and greater expectations from employers
- Fast-paced, 24/7 global economy
- Increasing technology
- Pressure to "be all things to all people"
- Immediate response times
- Constant multitasking
- Many families "needing" two incomes to "make ends meet"
The Entrepreneur's Dilemma
OK, maybe it's not quite that bad, but are you really spending as much time with your spouse and your kids as you'd like to? Is the hustle-bustle "I do, therefore I am" lifestyle the life you really want to live?
Traditionally, a man's profession and his ability to bring home a paycheck have defined who that man was. And with more and more women running their own businesses, they too have slipped into the mode of defining themselves by what they do.
If you're an entrepreneur, your goals probably concern wealth, power, and status. It was drummed into you at an early age that those were the things that mattered, and if you tried to pursue other means of self-fulfillment as well, let's just say it was made very clear to you that there were high emotional and financial costs associated with those choices.
The Entrepreneur's Dilemma
Running your own business means you live or die every single day based upon your performance. This sort of "behind the 8-ball" bunker mentality lends itself to traditional male ways of thinking-even for women. These ways include:
- I have to keep my mouth shut and produce.
- I have to bury my emotions.
- I can't make mistakes.
- If I do make a mistake, I have to fix it ASAP without anyone knowing that it happened.
- Fear is a sign of weakness.
- I must project a positive attitude 100% of the time.
- I am defined by what I do.
- I am judged by what I acquire - house, car, real estate, money, and all the best things for my kids.
- Successful people don't have to play by the rules - they can leave work early to play.
- My business and earning power define who I am along with the clothes I'm able to buy.
In summary, the entrepreneur's dilemma is that you're doing all this work to earn money so you and your family can have a great life; yet you're not enjoying a great life at all. You're too stressed out because you and the people around you drive you harder and faster each and every day.
TIME is Today's New Currency
All over the country, hard-driving entrepreneurs are realizing that they're missing out on being with their spouses and kids and that's time you will never get back because kids grow up quickly and before you know it, they're out of the house and off to college.
The new priority is time spent with family. TIME is today's new currency. This means we must correct the life balance predicament that we've gotten ourselves into. The problem exists because of the misguided popular belief that devotion to your work and your career at the expense of yourself and your family is the only route to success.
But that's just simply not true.
That's because the Work-Life Balance discussion is being framed at the corporate level.
That's because we're looking in the wrong places for support.
Resources for Entrepreneurs Seeking Work-Life Balance
Many organizations and associations exist for corporations to find help with their Work-Life issues and they are easy to find. They are usually membership driven and well-funded.
Entrepreneurs have to look a little harder.
ThirdPath Institute
The ThirdPath Institute is a non-profit organizati more...0 points
On Balance - Juggling Work and Family by Leslie Morgan Steiner
On Balance, a work-family juggling blog tackles th more...0 points
WSJ.com: The Juggle - WSJ.com
WSJ.com on choices and tradeoffs people make as th more...0 points
Work/Home Balance? It's Called Life
As we struggle to achieve parity between the job a more...0 points
http://www.smallbiztrends.com/index.php?s=work+life+balance&x=0&y=0
Topics on work-life balance.0 points
Success Blog
The only business magazine designed to inspire and more...0 points
http://www.entrepreneur.com/worklife/worklifebalanceadvice/index116140.html
Entrepreneur offers a wealth of information in car more...0 points
Fast Company
Work-life balance articles from Fast Company.0 points
Search Inc.com
Work-life balance articles.0 points
http://search.forbes.com/search/find?MT=work life balance
Work Life articles on Forbes.com.0 points
Articles from David B. Bohl
Life Balance, Work-Life Balance, and Work-Family Balance
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reasonablerobinson
Hi David, nice to see your Squidoo lens! best regards RR UK Posted November 26, 2007 |
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luckycharms
Please add your lens to the Entrepreneur Station Group! This is a great lens and will provide value to the group. The one thing most Entrepreneurs miss is that they don't look at balancing all areas of their life. Posted July 14, 2007 |
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DavidBB
Thanks Squidoodler. Keep coming back! Posted July 12, 2007 |
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squidoodler
I'm brand new here at squidoo and moving fast, but I like what I saw at first glance. Be back soon. Cheers! Posted July 12, 2007 |
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ank
Hi DavidBB, great lens . I have also created my lens in which I have provided indepth knowledge about home based business. To get more info Posted June 21, 2007 |
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