Juggling Work/Life Balance
Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, charismatic, progressive, young, hip, unmarried, the archetype modern woman – will be the first PM in recent history to give birth whilst leading the country. Can she be more than her pregnancy? How will she do this? When she took office it was rather assumed by some in the media that she had already made the choice between motherhood and the highest office but times have changed. She made the announcement on Facebook and tweeted she will take maternity leave after the birth and “I fully intend to be contactable and available throughout the six-week period when needed”.
Jacinda has a plan all ready to go and said “It is a woman’s decision about when they choose to have children. It should not predetermine whether or not they should be given a job or have job opportunities”.
She is a role model for anyone juggling their work/life balance but of course this is a simplistic view of the reality, of making sense of numerous competing demands. Such multiple, simultaneous pulls on our resources can (but not always, see above) leave us feeling overwhelmed and inadequate to our tasks. Becoming aware of the whole range of fields and forces with which we are coping provides perspective on possible changes we might make. Failure to do this may mean we exist in the world somewhat like the picture above, disconnected from important parts of ourselves – a decapitated body or a disembodied head. Our energies can quickly become depleted or only focused in one direction.
Beyond Work Life Balance: Making Sense of Competing Demands, a seminar on 8 March in central London, provides an opportunity to glimpse a fuller picture of the multiple, simultaneous demands facing those involved with organisational change. Most change work is made up of complicated webs of relationships: for example, one or more projects that involve the consultant/executive with many people in more than one location. Equally, our broader lives require both routine attention and unexpected, non-routine problems/opportunities often needing immediate resolution.
In contrast to the simplistic notion of juggling only two balls (one called “work”, the other called “life”), this seminar will engage with an image of “total life space” (based on the work of Lewin, Rice and Miller).
This seminar is part of a series of 1-day seminars on Organisational Change. These ‘shamelessly practical’ seminars will delve into the dilemmas, difficulties and joys that arise on a regular basis in organisational life.
They are for leaders; managers; Human Resource professionals; coaches; leadership, team and organisational development practitioners; psychologists and other social scientists – anyone working with change in 1:1, group, organisational and system contexts.
They are designed so that you can attend just one or two or the whole series. Each seminar is held on a single day in central London and is non-residential.
For a leaflet and more details of the fee and discount packages, future seminar dates and venue or if you have any questions, please contact Rachel Kelly: Professional Development Coordinator.