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Mentorship October 12, 2016
Let’s talk about the B-word.
No, not that B-word. We want to talk about balance. An elusive and complex concept, it would seem that, as women, we are constantly searching for balance. Balance between work and play, balance in our relationships, balance in our finances. Heck, we even try to balance our bodies through yoga.
From the woman starting out on her career journey to the veteran VP who is running the whole damn show, we each have to find the right balance for our lives between what we do and who we are. So often these two aspects get snarled into an exhausting, convoluted knot.
So how did this tangled knot emerge in the first place? Part of the reason is that we are unable to balance our work lives effectively. We are businesspeople who have created a trend of workaholism. We work during the day, we work at night, we work on planes, in cars and even in bars. We are a culture of 60-hour work weeks addicted to success and achievement, and as any good #WomenThatDo knows, it’s all about the “hustle.”
But how productive are we actually being if we never stop to take breaks or recharge? How can we grow in our professional and personal lives if all we do is win (win win no matter what)? Where are the opportunities to cultivate and develop if we are so focused on achieving, on slaying, on “work work work work work”? Penelope Trunk, founder of four startups, career consultant, mother and all around ladyboss, suggests that it is in fact better to not be the hardest worker in your job.
That’s right – maybe it’s time to consider bringing your ‘B game’ to the workplace.
We can hear your overachieving hearts pounding. Fear not, we are not saying that you should throw in the towel and attempt to float through life with minimum effort. Instead, we suggest trying to reimagine the ways in which we work.
Trunk suggests that the hardest workers are often the least productive, produce the lowest quality work and are prone to workaholic tendencies. None of these are a foundation on which you can build a successful and flourishing career. She argues that our work lives are shaped by what we do outside of work. If we never learn to shut down and take a break from working hard, we might never free ourselves up to have great ideas or life-changing strategies.
She writes, “Ironically, moments that elevate your level of success at work often require time away from work. For example, a grand idea that impacts your company’s bottom line probably won’t come to you when your brain is entrenched in workplace minutia. Anyone can work the hardest, but only special people can sit on a rock and come up with a brilliant idea.”
If all your focus is on achieving at a high level, you are not going to produce your best possible work. Just because you are working hard doesn’t mean that you are thinking in innovative ways or producing creative products. Trunk addresses an important issue we are facing throughout our world: We are addicted to hard work and, ironically, it is our excessive emphasis on hard work that is keeping us from true success.
This is an opportunity to shift the way you think about your career. It’s not about working harder; it’s about working smarter. Bringing your ‘B game’ to work can mean a world of difference between how you think, feel, engage and achieve in your diverse projects. If you aren’t working yourself to death over a huge account or lengthy project, you will have more time to commit to better ideas.
Success is not found in a multitude of second-rate achievements. Instead, it is found in the few brilliant milestones that shape and define your career. You are not defined by the sum of your employment parts. Quality over quantity is the goal.
When we find that balance between our personal and work lives, we are able to find a balance between a healthy sense of achievement and pride in our careers. We do not want to be the hardest workers; we want to be the best workers and to that end, bringing our ‘B game’ to work could be the smartest thing we do.
