In the balance of power. How to maintain the joy of work.
This was the topic of my workshop as part of the Beuron Days for Questions of Business Ethics in 2009. The conference title “The 14-hour day. Between Burn-Out and Joy of Work” sounds a bit anachronistic to today’s ears if you follow the current debates on the subject of life (work) balance, for example in a recent SPIEGEL article (see also https://lnkd.in/euNs5KfT).
At that time, I had just been promoted from a site leader position to a global role as manufacturing leader for plants around the globe and discussed with the participants – managers of German companies, mostly from the middle hierarchical levels – my strategy and concepts on how to reconcile family, career and life.
The central question: How do you protect yourself, your employees and even your family from too much pressure? The findings of that time have lost none of their relevance – after fourteen years:
✳ Build inner independence,
✳ Practice expectation management according to the motto “Honesty lasts the longest”,
✳ and thus create a basis for overcoming fears.
My workshop at that time and the extraordinarily positive response from the participants prompted me to prepare my plan B for self-employment.
First, I applied my ideas and concepts myself in my professional environment as a leader and was also happy to be available as a coach and mentor. Meanwhile, I am on the road with it on my own.
“Leadership-in-Balance” is the name of my company, perhaps supplemented in my mind with two words – Leadership-in-Balance-with-Life.
I read the SPIEGEL article from the point of view of life (work) balance and less with regard to generational categorization. The desire to balance work and life is intergenerational. The current debate shows that awareness of this has increased significantly in recent years.
On the pilgrimage Way of St. James from Tübingen to Lake Constance, I recently passed the Beuron Monastery again. Reminiscences. This closes the circle.
➡ And how would you classify your job satisfaction? And how and where do you find your balance?
My thanks go to the organizers of that time, Dr. Petra Sonne Neubacher and Brother Jakobus Kaffanke for the invitation at that time. The contents of my workshop have also been published in the conference proceedings (Link: https://psn-wirtschaftsberatung.de/wp-content/uploads/nlb/BTWE%202009%20eBook.pdf).
If you are interested, I support executives and managers with my experiential knowledge and regarding questions for respective life-balance.
