My Thoughts on Work-Life Balance (and Double Standards for Female CEOs)

Startups.com
Jul 23, 2017 · 3 min read

Written by Didier Elzinga // Also shared on Startups.co.

few years ago, my son Jude came home with a picture he’d done at school. It was a person with a phone glued to their ear, captioned, “My dad likes to walk around the house on the phone to people all over the world all times of night and day.”

Questions about work-life balance form an important part of our surveys, but if you were to ask how my wife, Greta, and I handle work-life balance, we would have to say: badly. Both of us are career motivated, and when kids come into the picture, it is a constant struggle managing family life and work.

Early on, we made a commitment that one of us would always be here for the kids, but often that means working from home. We don’t really have a work-life balance; we have a work-life blend.

It’s funny that sometimes you can do something successfully at work, but fail to do it at home. As a CEO, I have explicit conversations with people about expectations and workload all the time. Greta and I never had that explicit conversation at home, and it’s something I regret. In all honesty, despite all her success (she recently made her debut opera performance at the Sydney Opera House), it’s Greta whose career has taken more of a back seat. That did not happen intentionally.

Sometimes if one partner is making significantly more money, it makes the decision a little bit easier. But making a decision purely based on dollars brings its own set of issues, not the least of which is it too often reinforces gender roles, which is not something I want unconsciously ingrained in my boys.

EVERY FEMALE CEO GETS ASKED IF THEY CAN “HAVE IT ALL”

Every female CEO gets asked if they can have it all; I’m never asked that. Every time my wife travels overseas, she gets asked who looks after the kids. I’ve never once been asked that question. There’s still a huge mind-shift that needs to happen for it to be any sense of equality amongst the sexes in that way.

Whether you can have “it all” as a father or a mother is a vexed question. There are constant compromises and sometimes it’s work that misses out and other times it is the family.

As long as no one part of your life suffers too much and you are open to the compromises you are making, I think you can have some semblance of balance.

HOW I THINK ABOUT SPENDING MY TIME

Two key things help me make decisions on how to spend my time.

The first is, I try to ensure that quality time with my kids makes up for any lack in quantity of time. I try to really be present with them, not looking at my phone or being taken away with other distractions. I coach my son’s basketball team. Even though I have to work many hours, often I can choose to work late at night and early in the morning, when the boys are asleep.

Working this way, I have probably been more present than I would have working a standard corporate job. That stuff is important in creating a relationship you can then build on for the rest of your life.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING >>>>>

Got an interesting story? Awesome. Send it our way!

If you dig our stuff, please hit that little ♥ to spread the word.

Startups.com

Written by

We're the world's largest startup launch platform: @Fundable + @LaunchRock + @Zirtual + @getmoreclarity + @bizplan_

Startups.com

Amazing content for Startup Founders, by Startup Founders.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade