At the Conversation Among Masters Conference in Branson Missouri (yes you read right…. Missouri) we talked and learned and percolated ideas, caught up, connected with old friends and colleagues and hooked up with new ones.  This conference is unlike any other as it’s high level conversations of Master Coaches from many parts of the globe.

Thing is, with coaches, the conversations never end.  We talk and discuss, create, tweak and then tweak again.  One of the usual topics of conversations in our conversations around conversations (i.e. conversations around, in-between and before and after the “conversations”) was about work / life balance.  Is there a balance?

Absolutely not.

However there are other perspectives we shared that just might make sense.

One of my colleagues and I were talking about that over breakfast very early one morning.  He shared with me a conversation he had with a performer from Cirque du Soleil.  He had asked this man how he could stay so balanced in his act.  He answered “It has nothing whatsoever to do with balancing.  It’s all about readjusting.”

Such is life. 

We adjust what isn’t working and then make small tweaks along the way until it feels right. Then as circumstances and life changes we adjust yet again.  It’s not about balance, although many people think it is or should be.

Another tidbit of wisdom we all agreed upon when talking about sustainable leadership was, “If you let the people who work for you have a life…they’ll stay” .  No matter what rewards are offered, bottom line is, if you make them give up their lives to work, they might be enticed with rewards for a bit but the ultimate reward of having a great life won’t happen.  So they’ll leave.

What adjustments are you in the middle of figuring out?  They’ll wait.  But will life?

With deepest respect
Donna Karlin
Founder and Principal
A Better Perspective
http://www.abetterperspective.com
ISSN 1913-6307