What Are You Balancing?
Navigating the demands of work, school and family can be as tricky as a tightrope walk.
Work-life balance is no longer the plaintive quest of
harried working moms alone: it’s become a general
workplace demand for baby boomers who want more leisure
time as they age, families in which fathers are taking
on increasing amounts of responsibility in the home and
with their children, and the younger workers of
Generation Y who are not willing to give up their varied
and active lifestyles for the endless drone of 50- and
60-hour work weeks.
Corporate America is listening. Many world-class companies now tout quality-of-life benefits as broadly as they used to crow about the health and dental plans. Smart companies like American Express, DuPont, Patagonia and Marriott International strive to make Working Mother magazine’s 100 Best Companies list and other such distinctions—not to win PR points, but as part and parcel of their drive to raise shareholder value. (See sidebar on innovative work-life balance programs.)
“Having an inspired and engaged work force is key to providing customers with exceptional products and service,” says American Express Chairman and CEO Kenneth Chenault in an interview for Working Mother’s 2006 Hall of Fame. “We must acknowledge employee needs, not only in the workplace but in their personal lives. Whether employees are getting an advanced degree, raising children, caring for an elderly relative or volunteering in their communities, we need to look for ways to support them.”
What are McCombs MBAs balancing, and how are they meeting the demands of the 21st century workplace, family and community? We talked to a few and discovered these problem solvers often apply lessons from business school to achieve well-rounded lives.
Partnerships Provide Perspective
Michele “Mike” Raviscioni, MBA ’07, packs about as much work into a 24-hour day as is humanly possible. Having already earned a Ph.D. in biotechnology, Raviscioni is now a student in the demanding McCombs MBA program at Houston while working full time in Rice University’s Office of Technology Commercialization. He has his sights set on launching his own company not too far in the future and has aligned his education and professional experiences to put him on that trajectory.
“I thought I was busy two years ago,” he says. “But every time I look back, I realize that was nothing.” He finds it unbelievable how much he is able to squeeze out of a day now. For instance, because his courses require group projects, he often finds himself working late into the night. The wonders of modern technology enable his group to function on a daily basis even if they’re not sitting face-to-face—though they still need to physically get together a couple times a week. “We finally had to settle on a Sunday 8:00 a.m. weekly meeting because that was the only time we all had free.”
Like other type-A personalities, Raviscioni’s demanding schedule is more energizing for him than enervating. But he is also a newlywed and now has someone else’s needs to consider in addition to his own.
“Sometimes I get so deep into my schoolwork and other activities that I don’t pay much attention to anything else,” he admits. “But these very busy periods tend to have a natural end, and when that time comes, I don’t want to look up and find I don’t have any friends left. My wife has been good at pulling me back. If you find it hard to find a balance, it’s good to have someone to pull you back.”
William Rollings, MBA ’96, calls that someone an “accountability partner,” a family member or friend who can encourage you to stay balanced. Rollings is the author of “Jump Start Your Day,” a book of practical faith-based insights for people facing the basic challenges of everyday life in career, finances, friendships and planning for the future. For Rollings, striking a balance means he leaves work at work, he organizes and plans, and he sets and sticks to priorities. “With my personality, I’m always tempted to complete my entire to-do list in one day,” he says. “I’ve learned that I can only do so much in a given day and that some items must wait until later.”
Raviscioni believes that above all, achieving balance takes discipline. “You cannot live under the illusion that you will take things as they come,” he exhorts. “To squeeze in your hour of exercise or to sit down and enjoy a healthy meal, you have to have discipline, and you have to plan how you will divide your day.”
Students as Parents
Sharoni Rajashekar, MBA ’07, is in complete agreement. She’s had to exercise discipline from the first day she started classes in the McCombs full-time MBA program. At the time, she had an infant and an 18-month-old daughter. To spend as much time with them as she could, she resolved to treat school like an 8-to-6 job, whether she had classes or not.
“I’ve had to be really disciplined about managing my time,” she says. “When it comes to group meetings, I’ve just been firm about when I could meet and when I couldn’t, and everyone has been very respectful of that.” With her husband in the Texas Executive MBA program, the couple is doing even more of a balancing act. “But since we’re in it together, there’s never any sense that one of us isn’t pulling our weight,” Rajashekar says. “We’re both really in tune with how much work school is and help each other out when we can.”
Rajashekar says the balance she’s been able to achieve between school and her family is largely due to her mother, who moved to Austin from Houston to live with them and take care of the kids while Rajashekar completed the program.
Corporate America is listening. Many world-class companies now tout quality-of-life benefits as broadly as they used to crow about the health and dental plans. Smart companies like American Express, DuPont, Patagonia and Marriott International strive to make Working Mother magazine’s 100 Best Companies list and other such distinctions—not to win PR points, but as part and parcel of their drive to raise shareholder value. (See sidebar on innovative work-life balance programs.)
“Having an inspired and engaged work force is key to providing customers with exceptional products and service,” says American Express Chairman and CEO Kenneth Chenault in an interview for Working Mother’s 2006 Hall of Fame. “We must acknowledge employee needs, not only in the workplace but in their personal lives. Whether employees are getting an advanced degree, raising children, caring for an elderly relative or volunteering in their communities, we need to look for ways to support them.”
What are McCombs MBAs balancing, and how are they meeting the demands of the 21st century workplace, family and community? We talked to a few and discovered these problem solvers often apply lessons from business school to achieve well-rounded lives.
Partnerships Provide Perspective
Michele “Mike” Raviscioni, MBA ’07, packs about as much work into a 24-hour day as is humanly possible. Having already earned a Ph.D. in biotechnology, Raviscioni is now a student in the demanding McCombs MBA program at Houston while working full time in Rice University’s Office of Technology Commercialization. He has his sights set on launching his own company not too far in the future and has aligned his education and professional experiences to put him on that trajectory.
“I thought I was busy two years ago,” he says. “But every time I look back, I realize that was nothing.” He finds it unbelievable how much he is able to squeeze out of a day now. For instance, because his courses require group projects, he often finds himself working late into the night. The wonders of modern technology enable his group to function on a daily basis even if they’re not sitting face-to-face—though they still need to physically get together a couple times a week. “We finally had to settle on a Sunday 8:00 a.m. weekly meeting because that was the only time we all had free.”
Like other type-A personalities, Raviscioni’s demanding schedule is more energizing for him than enervating. But he is also a newlywed and now has someone else’s needs to consider in addition to his own.
“Sometimes I get so deep into my schoolwork and other activities that I don’t pay much attention to anything else,” he admits. “But these very busy periods tend to have a natural end, and when that time comes, I don’t want to look up and find I don’t have any friends left. My wife has been good at pulling me back. If you find it hard to find a balance, it’s good to have someone to pull you back.”
William Rollings, MBA ’96, calls that someone an “accountability partner,” a family member or friend who can encourage you to stay balanced. Rollings is the author of “Jump Start Your Day,” a book of practical faith-based insights for people facing the basic challenges of everyday life in career, finances, friendships and planning for the future. For Rollings, striking a balance means he leaves work at work, he organizes and plans, and he sets and sticks to priorities. “With my personality, I’m always tempted to complete my entire to-do list in one day,” he says. “I’ve learned that I can only do so much in a given day and that some items must wait until later.”
Raviscioni believes that above all, achieving balance takes discipline. “You cannot live under the illusion that you will take things as they come,” he exhorts. “To squeeze in your hour of exercise or to sit down and enjoy a healthy meal, you have to have discipline, and you have to plan how you will divide your day.”
Students as Parents
Sharoni Rajashekar, MBA ’07, is in complete agreement. She’s had to exercise discipline from the first day she started classes in the McCombs full-time MBA program. At the time, she had an infant and an 18-month-old daughter. To spend as much time with them as she could, she resolved to treat school like an 8-to-6 job, whether she had classes or not.
“I’ve had to be really disciplined about managing my time,” she says. “When it comes to group meetings, I’ve just been firm about when I could meet and when I couldn’t, and everyone has been very respectful of that.” With her husband in the Texas Executive MBA program, the couple is doing even more of a balancing act. “But since we’re in it together, there’s never any sense that one of us isn’t pulling our weight,” Rajashekar says. “We’re both really in tune with how much work school is and help each other out when we can.”
Rajashekar says the balance she’s been able to achieve between school and her family is largely due to her mother, who moved to Austin from Houston to live with them and take care of the kids while Rajashekar completed the program.
