Why I Strive For Work-Life Integration and Not Work - Life Balance - Yaw Perbi

2/2/22, 12:14 PM Why I Strive for Work-Life Integration and not Work/Life Balance - Yaw Perbi
HOME ABOUT BLOG UPCOMING EVENTS COACHING RESOURCES DISC CONNECT

Why I Strive for Work-Life Integration
and not Work/Life Balance
Yaw Perbi | June 10, 2021 | Business, Case Studies, Corporate Culture, Existentialism, Integrity, Leadership, Personal Leadership, Public Leadership, Significance, Strategy, Success, Trendy | 8
Privacy - Terms
https://yawperbi.com/2021/06/10/why-i-strive-for-work-life-integration-and-not-work-life-balance/ 1/13
Privacy - Terms
Working from home and homing from work–the new normal.
Even as a boy, I felt there was something not quite right about hardly knowing my dad’s fellow partners and their families at the ‘big four’ accounting firm he worked at. Of
course I knew a couple of the names and faces but that was about it. I felt they could organize some social events and such to intentionally bring their families together but
Privacy - Terms
h h t did I k ?
hey, what did I know?
In fact, even now I wouldn’t be able to make out the wife of the senior partner when dad was deputy senior partner. The very kind, burly man’s children currently live
barely five hours away from my family in the same country (Canada) but we don’t know each other well enough to even give the other an occasional ring. Oh wait, I got to
talk to one of them once, when their dad was seriously ill and had been hospitalized in their town, but that’s been about it.
I think what I longed for, even as a boy, was a bit more of work-life integration, without even knowing that was actually ‘a thing’ or that such a term even existed. A feeble
attempt at it has become largely known in the corporate space in recent times as “work/life balance” but what I speak of is more profound than that. How can anyone not
see that there is a problem pitting “work” against “life” as if life doesn’t encompass work itself as well as one’s personal life, family and community? And it doesn’t have to
be a zero sum game, work or die, inasmuch as there tends to be many tradeoffs.
BUY ONE, GET THREE FREE!
It’s a no brainer that having a bad home situation can adversely affect your professional performance and vice versa. Also, despite how stringent your personal health
routines might be, your community relationships are a significant determinant of your mental and physical health, a 75-year study proves. Life is not as separate as we
would like (or like to think). Somehow we know this when it comes to how something negative in one aspect of our life can spill over to botch another aspect but what if I
told you that being a great dad can make you a better CEO or that the skills you use in your community can be a life-saver in some work project? Yeah, work/life
balance isn’t the way to go; work-life integration is. I’ll tell you why.
Author Stewart Friedman concurs: “From years of studying people in many different settings, I have found that the most successful people are those who can harness
the passions and powers of the various parts of their lives, bringing them together to achieve what I call “four-way wins — actions that result in life being better in all
four domains.” These four domains Stewart speaks of are illustrated in ‘The Integrated Life’ diagram below. He continues, “My research has shown that there are ways
for everyone — from the managers of sales teams, to executives in government agencies, to computer engineers, to florists, to coaches — to achieve professional success
without always having to sacrifice the things that matter in their personal lives.”
Privacy - Terms
Privacy - Terms
COVID-19 BLESSING IN DISGUISE
One of the gifts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been to not only highlight how important the place we call “home” is, but how it is central to our children’s formal
education and our own professional lives. Heck, we’ve even done community, like church, from home! Online. This is perhaps the most physically integrated most people
have been in their entire work lives. And those of us who like to keep everything prim and proper with no drama have had a really hard time.
I do a fair bit of social media. I find FaceBook much more integrated in terms of all four aspects of life than say, LinkedIn. Several times, I have seen people literally
apologize and “make an excuse” or “make an exception” to post something faith or family-related on LinkedIn. I’ve tried to push those boundaries myself sometimes but
it’s a weird, I must say. When I recently shared on LinkedIn that I daily run the daycare at home for the youngest ones of our seven children, I was really honoured to have
one of my mentors, Bill George (Harvard business school professor and former CEO of Medtronic), affirm me as follows: “Thank you, Yaw, for being the authentic leader
you are.” This must be why: Bill really believes, “For authentic leaders, being true to themselves by being the same person at work that they are at home is a constant test, yet
personal fulfillment is their ultimate reward. Doing so will make you a more effective leader in all aspects of life“ (George 2015, 16).
WHERE THE RUBBER HITS THE ROAD
At a just-ended eight-week Family Foundations Mastermind I hosted, the prime place of family was underscored over and over again but by the penultimate session we
needed to ‘get real.’ How do we do family well while keeping a demanding job, juggling community roles and trying to stay sane? This is where the rubber hits the road.
As I’ve stated before, integrity comes from the Latin root integritas which means whole, entire, undivided. On the other extreme are those who completely separate their
professional life from other aspects of their lives. Then there are those who in the name of work/life balance, hop from one of the four parts to the other, trying to “fulfill
all righteousness” and tick every box with as little guilt as possible. What I subscribe to and strive for is integration. Bill is blunt: “To lead an integrated life, you need to bring
together the major elements of your personal life and professional life, family and friends so you can be the same person in each environment” (159-160).
We’re striving for the word integrated rather than balance. Subtle difference, apparently, but HUGE. Stewart gets it: “The idea I think to replace work/life balance, which
treats these categories as independent, is work/life integration. You’re treating yourself whether you’re at work or at play in basically the same way.”
Privacy - Terms
Privacy - Terms
BIG ROCKS FIRST
All the buckets don’t have the same weight. I believe we ought to carry the more important yet not always more urgent buckets of personal and family first, putting the big
rocks in first as Stephen Covey would put it, and all the other things will be added to us as well. Easier said than done, but it must be done nonetheless.
My favourite corporate example of this is Nike CEO John Donahoe (former eBay CEO), when he was a consultant with Bain decades ago with a young family. I was most
impressed about how he told his client, ”It is important to me to be doing this. I’m committed to working hard, but I can’t be there before 10am.” This is because he insisted
on taking his children to school before heading to the client site. The result? Donahoe was amazed that his clients appreciated the choices he was making. “The client
responded positively as he appreciated my commitment and contributions even more” he says. “I didn’t have the courage to think about it that way before. There’s an
inclination in business to put on a tough exterior to give the impression that you have everything under control” (162).
Bill George reports that “Donahoe learned that the more he integrated his life and embraced his humanity, the more effective he became as a leader … by showing his
team and clients his [priorities and] vulnerabilities, he discovered his teams performed better and his client relationships strengthened.” (162)
This is not to say it’s all easy; but it’s worth it–just like med school or doing an MBA. Hear Donahoe: “The struggle is constant, as the trade-offs and choices don’t get any easier
as you get older. My personal and professional lives are not a zero-sum trade-off. I have no doubt today that my children have made me a far more effective leader in the workplace.
A strong personal life has made the difference” (160).
To be whole (integritas), we need to integrate our personal , family, community and professional lives, not pit one against the other like ‘work/life balance’ suggests. Real
life happens were all four meet and they can enhance each other. Indeed, they should. It isn’t easy. How do I know? I’m still trying. So should you. It’s worth it.
In my next blog, I will share a number of practical examples and ideas of how people have made life-work integration happen, and how my family and I have tried to, also.
References
Friedman, Stewart D. 2014. “What Successful Work and Life Integration Looks Like.” Harvard Business Review. October 07, 2014. 
Privacy - Terms
G Bill 2015 Di T N th H b k NJ J h Wil &S

George, Bill. 2015. Discover your True North. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
#theintegratedlife #growth #success #significance     
8 COMMENTS
Lorretta Roberts says: REPLY

Looking forward to the blogs. Very insightful article
Yaw Perbi says: REPLY

Thanks Lorretta. You and I are in this struggle together. Aluta continua! It’s worth it.
Dorothea Otchere-Keelson says: REPLY

Thank you for writing and sharing.
This is so important and cannot be overemphasized in Family Medicine, Healthcare as well as Living a Christian Life.
I used to wonder how some close friends or some spouses coped with some very busy and very long schedule off-Family time.
Of course…. physical distance may not be a problem in itself if there’s a Family Bond but integration of work with family and community towards 
development is very therapeutic to some extent.
Privacy - Terms
Leslie Hans says: REPLY

A true authentic leader; who leads by example.

You’re too kind, Sir Hans. Grace alone!
Nana Anyani-Boadum says: REPLY

We are striving for the word integrated rather than balance. Thank you Dr. Perbi for sharing and leading by example. I will try. It’s worth it.

Yes chief, it’s worth it. The struggle (aluta) continues. But from glory to glory to glory till “when we shall see him, we shall be like him!”
Inspiring Practical Examples of the Integrated Life - Yaw Perbi says: REPLY
[…] my last blog on Why I strive for work-life integration and not work/life balance, some got it and said, “important distinction.” Others thought it was just semantics, […]
LEAVE A REPLY
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Privacy - Terms
Your Name* Email*
Comment
POST A COMMENT
RELATED POSTS
Privacy - Terms
JANUARY 31, 2022 | JANUARY 12, 2022 | JANUARY 8, 2022 |

CASE STUDIES, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, CASE STUDIES, CULTURE, DISCIPLESHIP, CASE STUDIES, CULTURE, DISCIPLESHIP,
EXISTENTIALISM, FAITH, GROWTH, EVANGELISM, EXISTENTIALISM, FAITH, GROWTH, EXISTENTIALISM, FAITH, LEADERSHIP,
LEADER DEVELOPMENT, LEADERSHIP, LEADING, PERSONAL LEADERSHIP, LEADERSHIP, POTENTIAL, MINISTRY, SUCCESS,
LEADERSHIP--CHARACTER, NEWS, STRATEGY, SUCCESS, TRENDY TRENDY
PERSONAL LEADERSHIP, STRATEGY, SUCCESS,
TRENDY THE PRESENCE ~ Part 3 (of THE PRESENCE ~ Part 2 (of
PANDEMIC OR NO 3) 3)
PANDEMIC, POSITIVENESS
IS STILL A FUEL FOR KNOW MORE KNOW MORE
SUCCESS
KNOW MORE
Privacy - Terms
Home CONTACT ME
About 4906 Rue Richmond, Montreal, QC Canada

Blog H8Z 3C9
Upcoming Events
+1-514-699-0182
Coaching yawperbi@gmail.com

Resources
DISC
Connect
© 2020. Yaw Perbi. All Rights

    Reserved.
Privacy - Terms

Why I Strive For Work-Life Integration and Not Work - Life Balance - Yaw Perbi

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Why I Strive For Work-Life Integration and Not Work - Life Balance - Yaw Perbi

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Why I Strive For Work-Life Integration and Not Work - Life Balance - Yaw Perbi

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

2/2/22, 12:14 PM Why I Strive for Work-Life Integration and not Work/Life Balance - Yaw Perbi

HOME ABOUT BLOG UPCOMING EVENTS COACHING RESOURCES DISC CONNECT

Working from home and homing from work–the new normal.

BUY ONE, GET THREE FREE!

COVID-19 BLESSING IN DISGUISE

WHERE THE RUBBER HITS THE ROAD

BIG ROCKS FIRST

G Bill 2015 Di T N th H b k NJ J h Wil &S

#theintegratedlife #growth #success #significance     

Lorretta Roberts says: REPLY

Yaw Perbi says: REPLY

Dorothea Otchere-Keelson says: REPLY

Leslie Hans says: REPLY

Yaw Perbi says: REPLY

Nana Anyani-Boadum says: REPLY

Yaw Perbi says: REPLY

Your Name* Email*

JANUARY 31, 2022 | JANUARY 12, 2022 | JANUARY 8, 2022 |

About 4906 Rue Richmond, Montreal, QC Canada

© 2020. Yaw Perbi. All Rights

You might also like