Jack Welch and Work-Life Balance
Alec Baldwin's character on 30 Rock once said, deadpan, that "Jack Welch is the greatest leader since the pharaohs." That assessment, of course, all depends on how one feels about the pharaohs, but it cannot be denied that Welch is an influential figure in business circles, and his declaration that "There's no such thing as work-life balance....There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences," is getting some attention as a result. The Atlantic Business Channel's Daniel Indiviglio says that Welch just means that time is finite, but that Welch may be proven wrong as technology makes work far more efficient, and working from home becomes substantially easier.
Well, yeah. As someone who's been covering telework for years at this point, this is a conclusion that governments have been reaching for ages. Look, it's true that some people who want to achieve extraordinary things will undertake those pursuits to the exclusion of almost everything else. President Obama would have had a much harder time running for the White House if his wife's mother hadn't been able to step up and provide a lot of childcare. A small subset of top corporate and government jobs eat up a huge amount of that finite time.
But if industries made a collective decision that employees with better work-life balances, whatever that is for an individual, were more productive, or less likely to burn out, or to leave, or whatever, the standards for success could shift. That appears to be something Michelle Obama and John Berry are trying to promote in the federal workforce, and it could be something corporate leaders could consider as well. Folks like Jack Welch have sacrificed all semblance of a work-life balance for success because that's how the system they operate in works. It doesn't mean that having a personal life is actually an impossibility.
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How about a return to basic parenting and a short term reduction in trying to out spend the neighbor. Having children is the biggest and most important decision a couple will make and telework shouldn't be the driver
dan m ketter Posted Wednesday, July 15, 2009 1:17 PMInteresting for Jack Welch who had all kinds of monetary and ease-of-life perks has no business commenting on work-life balance for the regular working person. He had outstanding health care, apartments paid for, private air travel available, club memberships and remuneration that would enable him to avail himself of paid child care services, maid services, shopping services, etc. He has no idea about the necessity of work-life balance for health, to prevent burnout, to promote enthusiasm for one's work, to keep a marriage strong (which he wouldn't know about since he dumped his wife.) Michelle and Barack Obama do understand and do care!
anonymous in florida Posted Wednesday, July 15, 2009 4:15 PMI've been teleworking for over 2 years and I can say that if properly used it could be the most efficient way of doing business and beneficial for both parties (the employee and the employer). Is there a balance of work and life? That still remains to be seen. Personally, I don't think so. What it really provides is a economical benefit to both parties. One has to incur in less resource expenses, such as lower utility cost and less leased space for the employer; and lower cost on gasoline expenses, fair ware and tear on the vehicle, having to fight traffic, etc for the employee.
How does Barrack and Michelle come into play is beyond me. They've got it made. When his mother in law stepped in, he was living in a $1M home, she is making $250K a year and he as a Senator was somewhere around the same figure, so together $500K a year is a pretty comfortable figure to live off of. Focus on the issue and stop trying to make this President "The One." He has absolutely nothing to do with Telework since this was way before his time. If anything, the only thing he would have to do with Telework (as every other US President) is that he Telework as well. He lives and works in the same place. He has a home office, just like I do. So he is NOT GOD... get off it.
Paul in Dallas Posted Thursday, July 16, 2009 7:01 AM"...Welch may be proven wrong as technology makes work far more efficient, and working from home becomes substantially easier."
I don't buy the underlying thought. I recall back around the '60's there was a lot of hoo-hah about TECHNOLOGY (I'm not sure it went by that name back then) pretty much wiping out the 40-hour work week, and people would have the gift of more leisure time to generally elevate themselves up the Maslow Hierarchy toward greater self-realization (or, I guess, time to merely watch more TV).
Instead, thanks to technology we can not only work at work, but we also have the option of performing work at home. And, not only at home, but wherever we are, with no hour of the day off-limits. And management, who has made this technology available to us and is fully aware of our broader accessibility, will exploit the "flexibilities" it adds to the work dynamic. Yes, we now have the "freedom" to be within efficent reach everywhere at any time. Tell me again how that somehow helps achieve balance?
EJC in ATL Posted Thursday, July 16, 2009 7:57 AMTo 'H' with working too much. It's a joke to believe that selling yourself to the work devil is in anyway valuable. It's a sin that so many people give their family, faith, community, etc. time up in favor of working to impress the boss or climb the corporate ladder. And it's criminal when the corporate/DoD/Fed or any other leadership demand that this time be given. Every culture that falls to the US ways of workaholicism begins to suffer the same social and medical ills. It's wrong and needs to be reeled in. I can only hope that the 'Boomer' mentality that lead the US into such a socially and morally vacant ethic associated with work vs family/faith/community dies a quick death with the influx of younger generations which at least seem to have their hearts' focus on more meaningful balance. Lastly, I agree Welch may have been a great business leader in the old world but his moral compass may be obsolete.
Art Posted Thursday, July 16, 2009 7:59 AM"Basic parenting", Dan? Oh, you mean where the woman stays at home with the kids and the man goes to work, then sits around the house all night complaining about how the little woman didn't have any "real" work to do during the day.
Michelle Posted Thursday, July 16, 2009 10:27 AMMichelle its all about being responsible for your children rather than DMPING them on to society to raise. I saw it all to often in schools and I could tell what kids had only 1 working parent and who had 2.
dan m ketter Posted Thursday, July 16, 2009 6:58 PMThose with 2 working were ill mannered, spoiled, trouble makers and the parents were constantly wanting to schedule meetings to find out why Johhny was being disciplined again and again
Dan - Is that so? Then, from most of your comments, I have to conclude that you mom worked outside the home when you were a kid.
Michelle Posted Friday, July 17, 2009 10:28 AMFolks, to comment on how each person should raise their respective children is like standing in a F5 Tornado and identifying which raindrops are going to hit you. Each person is an unique individual and all the people around them are equally unique. Each has some impact of one kind or another, what that will be is an unknown or unknowable factor. So chill and do the best you can in the moment and pray for guidance to know when to do it.
Ben There Done That Still Don't Want The T-shirt Posted Saturday, July 18, 2009 9:09 AM