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Hot Topics: Work/Life Balance

Balancing life and work is a major issue for executives and others. The following articles and resources will speak to this timely topic.

Selected articles

Due to contractual arrangements, access to some articles may be restricted to the Stanford community, and subscribers of the "Library Databases" offered through the GSB Alumni's Lifelong Learning Program. Inclusion below does not imply University endorsement of the ideas expressed.

 

Balancing Career and Family Commitments. International Business Times, Nov. 19, 2009
For Stanford's ambitious MBA students, Myra H. Strober's Work and Family course can be full of aha moments.
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An Entrepreneurial Life. New York Times, Nov. 3, 2009
Jay Goltz owns five small businesses in Chicago and poses his experience on the worklife issue.
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Launching a start-up and having a family life: It’s possible! VentureBeat, Sept. 7, 2009
Raising our kids and being an entrepreneur wasn’t easy. Being in a startup and having a successful relationship and family was very hard work. But entrepreneurs can be great spouses and parents.
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A Future For Work-Life Balance. The Atlantic, July 14, 2009
Most people who have worked in corporate America are probably very familiar with the term work-life balance. Probably only a fraction of those people have actually experienced it.
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‘Family Friendly’ White House Is Less So for Aides. New York Times, July 3, 2009
When President Obama talks up the family-friendly vibe at the White House his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, sets him straight. “Family friendly to your family,” Mr. Emanuel counters.
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How Women Are Redefining Work and Success. BusinessWeek, May 21, 2009
Women are using their increased economic power to bring about more creative, manageable work schedules.
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The Increasing Call for Work-Life Balance. BusinessWeek, Mar. 27, 2009
Work-life balance is now the second most important driver of employee attraction and commitment, says CEB research.
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The Elsewhere Man. Forbes, Feb. 16, 2009
The boundary that divides your work life from your home life is a thin glass wall. Sociologist Dalton Conley explains what that means.
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Women Executives on Work/Life Balance: Flexibility, Networks, Outside Interests. Knwoledge@Wharton, Nov. 12, 2008
The oft-used term "work/life balance" can mean different things to different people -- and different things to the same person at various points in her career, according to a panel of Wall Street executives at the recent Wharton Women in Business Conference.
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Wave goodbye to the nine to five, and say hello to virtual enterprise. The Guardian, Mar. 14, 2008
Executives predict exodus from traditional workplace to more home-working.
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More finance execs trading full-time jobs for work-life balance. The Straits Times, Jan. 29, 2008
A growing number of senior finance executives in Singapore who are opting for a novel career path to balance their work and other interests - from family to golf training to painting a masterpiece on board a yacht.
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Who’s Cuddly Now? Law Firms. New York Times, Jan. 24, 2008
IN the last two decades, as working schedules became flexible, and even accounting firms, of all places, embraced the mantra of work-life balance (at least on paper), there was one unbending, tradition-bound profession: the law.
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Why just settle for just one line of work? BusinessWeek, Dec. 3, 2007
In an interview, Alboher, the author of One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success, discusses juggling professions.
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Do CEOs make lousy dads (and moms)? Fortune, Jun. 14, 2007
Monster.com surveyed hundreds of working fathers and found that 58% think their employers should do more to accommodate the demands of fatherhood; 71% of those with a child under age 5 took a paternity leave when it was offered. The poll also found that, if money were no object, 68% of fathers would consider being stay-at-home dads.
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Balance: The New Workplace Perk. Forbes, Mar. 19, 2007
According to a recent survey by the Association of Executive Search Consultants, 85% of recruiters have seen candidates reject a job offer because it wouldn't include enough work-life balance.
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More Articles

Huddling To Achieve Work/Life Balances. Investor's Business Daily, Mar. 1, 2007
It's an exhausting balancing act. Walking the tightrope in a demanding job minus the right work/life balance can seem like no life at all.
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Work/Home Balance? It's Called Life. BusinessWeek.com, Feb. 13, 2007
As we struggle to achieve parity between the job and personal time, we must understand that there are no cookie-cutter solutions.
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Extreme Jobs. Harvard Business Review, Dec. 2006
Today's overachieving professionals labor longer, take on more responsibility, and earn more than the workaholics of yore.
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Work-life concerns impede senior executive promotions. Employee Benefit News, Oct. 2006
The article looks at the impact of work-life concerns on senior executive promotions according to a survey conducted by the Association of Executive Search Consultants.
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Work-Life Balance. Washington Post, Aug. 28, 2006
Achieving a balance between work and life has become more complex over time. Ellen Galinsky, president and co-founder of Families and Work Institute, has researched and written on this issue for more than 15 years and is a leading expert in the field.
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Upfront: Work/Life Balance Is Easier at the Top. Business Finance, July 2006
At first glance, it might look like a case of finger pointing. Seventy-four percent of senior executives and managers surveyed by Dover, N.H.-based NFI Research believe that most people in business today fail to balance their work and home lives.
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Long hours, but great benefits/Blair Christie: Tech Executive, Husband, company both lend flexibility. San Francisco Chronicle, May 14, 2006
It says something about Silicon Valley -- and about working mothers -- that Blair Christie feels grateful to be able to work on her department's budget spreadsheet between 9 and 10 p.m.
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How She Does It. Fast Company, April 2006
Abruptly widowed, Sophie Vandebroek stayed with her demanding fast-track career--but on her terms.
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Middle managers deciding they would like a life too. Chicago Tribune, Jan. 17, 2006
Work/life professionals, and work/life columnists, have long blamed managers for not understanding the need to institute flexible policies and other supportive programs--this despite the fact than an increasing number of CEOs and other top executives acknowledge that employees need to balance their personal and professional lives, and that when they do, everyone benefits.
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Get a life. Fortune, Nov. 28, 2005
The article discusses a survey of senior FORTUNE 500 male executives, which found that men want work-life balance about as much as women do.
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Saying "No" in a culture of "Hours", money and non-support. Ivey Business Journal, July/Aug 2005
Achieving a work-life balance is possible. If only those workers trying to achieve that goal would look to the very same person who is conflicted and unable to manage the stress for the solution: themselves.
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Two Executives, One Career. Harvard Business Review, Feb. 2005
The authors discuss their six-year job sharing experience at Fleet Bank in the position of vice president, global markets foreign exchange, and how it changed the way the two women think about work. They marketed themselves as one person and interviewed with 15 executives before being hired.
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Improving Work-life balance: What are other countries doing? Government of Canada, 2004
This report provides an overview of different types of work-life balance initiatives that have been developed by industrial countries around the world. It shows that these governments are increasingly committed to reducing the social, health and business costs of work-life conflict.
View report [ PDF 150KB]

Balance at the Top : Encouraging Work-Life Effectiveness for Executives. The Conference Board of Canada, 2003
Over the past decade, work-life "balance" has achieved a high profile in the public press and organizational research. In a broad -based survey of Canadian workers, The Conference Board of Canada found that the percentage of employees who report having difficulty in balancing their work and personal responsibilities increased from 20 to 28 percent through the 1990s.
View report [ PDF 964KB]

Work Life Effectiveness. Fortune Special Section, 2003
To develop a corps d'elite companies are adopting strategies that help employees balance their personal and business goals.
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Page updated by: [icon- email] Nora Richardson