It was a long overdue vacation after having put in almost
three years of relentless effort towards the digital transformation of the
company, the fruits were visible. It was a much deserved vacation, as his
manager told him packing him off for a couple of weeks. He was anxious as he
planned his sojourn, worried a bit, what if things fell apart or an exception
brought down the system or impacted the business. He feebly voiced his concerns
to his team, who reassured him of full support during his leave of absence.
His family was delighted and off they went to their long
pending and promised vacation; on his part he packed his work gear hoping to
stay in touch with the team and his customers, ready to intervene should anything
require his attention. Days passed by uneventfully as he frequently checked his
email and messages – they revealed nothing untoward. Unable to control his
anxiety, he called his trusted lieutenant; he was surprised to hear that there
indeed had been some issues, which the team resolved but did not disturb him.
In another part of the world a slightly different situation
played itself out; the CXO was going off for his scheduled bi-annual vacation,
something he never missed. Every six months he took off with family, at times
to locations that had no modern amenities like internet access or cellphone
network. His coordinates were always known and in case of an emergency, he
could be contacted; the occasion never occurred as nothing was seen as so
critical that required his intervention or could not wait until his return.
Credit to him, he had built an able and professional team
that did not require their leader to keep the company running. Without
exception they were empowered to take decisions which they did and sought
validation at a later date upon his return. Until this time, when his Assistant
frantically contacted him breaking the golden rule only to be greeted by a crisp
response on why she bothered to disturb his R&R (Rest & Recreation/Rest
& Relaxation, a military term now used by the corporate world for senior
executive leaves).
In both cases the company continued to function with
insignificant disruption by events that unfolded during the respective
absences. It would be false to say that they were not missed, but the
organizations had the resilience to continue to operate. The differences quite
stark between the two corporate high achievers, the first could not disconnect
from his work and the second could create a clean break. As a matter of record,
they were both equally loved and respected by their team, peers, bosses and
their customers.
Was the first leader insecure or did not trust the team to
manage the operations effectively ? Did he feel the lack of control during his
absence cut out from the day to day hullabaloo and fighting crisis like
situations ? Had he got addicted to the adrenaline rush and importance was
making his life miserable ? It was a matter of prioritization between work and
life; he had lived through his career focused only on getting results in his
professional life, which he did get with movement up the corporate ladder
quicker than others.
The latter case was about confidence, conviction, delegation,
and a firm belief that that the best course is to work hard with clearly
demarcated lines between work and family. His rise through the ranks was
equally fast and the future looked bright with more to come; he had consciously
worked to balance his corporate commitments with the time spent with his
family. He was unwilling to compromise this while proving the cynics wrong that
such an attitude will adversely impact career growth and opportunities.
Enterprises demonstrate and have resilience far higher than
individuals believe in their belief of self-importance to their role,
responsibility and impact to the company. People come and go, planned and
abruptly, at times fired, and in all cases they do leave a gap; the company
self-heals and moves on irrespective of hierarchy, location, position of power,
there are others who fill in. With time some leave their mark – to be
remembered for the legacy they leave behind – positive or negative, the others
fade into oblivion.
It is up to every individual to decide how we react to
incidences, what we portray ourselves as, dependencies we build at workplace,
work in a team and manage one in our professional lives. We also determine how
we present ourselves to our families, friends and society; our identity unfolds
in many ways though we are largely known by our professional identities. The
work-life balance is no longer an enigma, it is a moving target which keeps
shifting; there is no right or wrong or benchmark to follow, it’s a mirage !
