LeadershipHQ Magazine 3rd Edition September Issue | Page 7

There is much discussion around work life balance
these days. The Standards Australia Handbook for
Coaching in Organisations lists work/life balance as
the fourth most common issue discussed in coaching
behind Career/Business, Relationship/Interpersonal
and Life Direction/Goal Setting issues. Traditionally
in these discussion coaches will hear will hear the
following from their coachees:
“I’m spending too much time at work.” or
“I’m not spending enough time at home.” or
“I feel my work is impacting on my happiness at home.”
In most cases, the discussion of work life balance
would appear to be around the amount of time we are
spending either at work or at home.

Quality vs
Quantity

in the Work/Life Balance Discussion
by Anthony Campbell
What if we were to shift the conversation to the quality of our
time instead?
Take the Example of a woman
I worked with recently. Maggie
(pseudonym used for confidentiality), was the Chief Operating Officer
of a large not-for-profit organisation. She was married and was the
mother of one ten year old daughter. She was successful in her role
and was being considered for promotion to CEO when the incumbent was due to retire at the end of
the following year. Maggie sought
out coaching because she was unsure as to whether she wanted to

take on the increased responsibility of the role. Her current work rate
had Maggie travelling significantly; more often than not she would
be on the road three to four days
a week and sometimes only home
on weekends. Her key event that
she always made sure to be at was
her daughter’s swimming practice
on a Friday afternoon. She knew
that the promotion would require
longer hours and potentially working away from home more often.
We discussed the issue for a while
and it was apparent Maggie was
quite torn. Maggie loved her job.

It aligned with her values around
giving back to the community and
social justice. But she was aware
that her daughter would soon be
going into high school and was
conscious that, as the CEO, she
would be absent physically from
her daughter’s life. Importantly,
Maggie’s husband was supportive
of Maggie taking the promotion.
He was self employed and had the
flexibility to be the ‘stay at home
dad’, a role he enjoyed. Maggie
told me that it was nice to come
home after a long week away and
sit at the kitchen bench watching
her husband cook dinner while she
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