LeadershipHQ Magazine 3rd Edition September Issue | Page 8

If you want to think about work
life balance, start thinking about the
quality of time that you are
spending at home.
had a glass of wine and caught up
on emails I her iPad or laptop.
It was this comment that caught my
attention. On her iPad or laptop? It
occurred to me that, perhaps, while
she was physically home, mentally
she was still at work. It was then
that the conversation really started
to gain some traction:
“Maggie,” I asked “you said that
you liked to make sure that you
were at your daughter’s swimming training every Friday afternoon, yes?”
“Yes.” She replied. “After a week
away I think it’s important to
spend time with my daughter at
something she loves and it’s important for her to see me there
.... that I care.”
“Ok.” I went on. “When she completes a lap or achieves something significant in the pool and
she looks over to you, what does
she see?”
At this point Maggie opened her
mouth to speak, shut it again and
then became quite emotional.
Fighting back tears, she said. “She
sees me checking emails on my
Blackberry.” Maggie was starting
to realise that her lack of satisfaction with her work life balance was
less about the quantity of time and