article described several executives who committed themselves to being home for dinner so many nights a week, gave up weekend golf,
and reduced evening business meetings. These may seem like modest steps but they are exactly the types of steps required to translate a vision of balance into tangible goals. Just setting goals without a genuine vision will likely lead to backsliding when the goals prove difficult to realize. In some organizations, managers may pay a price in their career opportunities if they take a stand for a vision of balance between work and family. Very often, the person who takes such a stand will command the respect of their peers—many of whom may wish that they too could make a similar commitment. Nonetheless, such a stand can also generate conflicts, especially between managers who are committed to_Jbalance between work and family and those who are not. I know of no simple advice to offer in such circumstances except for these principles of personal mastery and enrollment: • Identify what is truly important to you • Make a choice (commitment) • Be truthful with those around you regarding your choice • Do not try to manipulate them into agreement or superficial sup port Ultimately, the consequences of individuals' choices regarding work and family will depend, to a degree, on the overall organizational climate. THE ORGANIZATION'S ROLE Ironically, conflicts between work and family may be one of the primary ways through which traditional organizations limit their effectiveness and ability to learn. By fostering such conflict, they distract and unempower their members—often to a far greater degree than they realize. Moreover, they fail to exploit a potential synergy that can exist between learning organizations, learning individuals, and learning families. "It's ironic," says Hanover's Bill O'Brien, "that we spend so much time and money trying to devise clever programs for developing leadership in our organizations and ignore a structure that already exists, and which is ideal for the job. The more I understand the real skills of leadership in a learning organization, the more I become convinced that these are the skills of effective parenting.
17. září 2004
285 ze 412