The coach’s role in work-life balanceJune 2012

Why should coaches & mentors care about client work-life balance?

Work-life balance =Complexity Management

Are you a maximiseror a minimiser?

Work =

The time and energy people contract to a third party for a defined reward(not necessarily monetary)

Life =

The opportunity to achieve in a diverse range of contexts

Work-Life Balance =

A state where an individual manages real or potential conflict between different demands

on his or her time and energy in a way that satisfies their needs for well-being and self-fulfilment

© Clutterbuck Associates 2010

The work-life culture profit chain

Employee Retention

Reduced Labour Costs

ProfitSales/customer retention

Customer Satisfaction

Employee Satisfaction

WLB Culture

Employee well-being

Productivity, Creativity etc

Effective business processes

The work-life culture profit chain

How the coach can help

• Raising awareness of work-life balance issues and conflicts• Stimulating exploration and understanding of the forces that support and undermine WLB for the client• Clarifying and evaluating choices• Linking aspirations of balance to client identity and personal values• Support through change and setbacks

The six life-streams

• Job• Career• Domestic/Family• Health/Fitness• Self-fulfilment• Spiritual/Community

Some key questions

• What do I want from each aspect of my life?

•How do I sort out the conflicting demands on my time, physical energy and emotional energy?

•How do I achieve the self-discipline to take charge of my life and set boundaries for myself and others?

•How do I recognise and manage the stress?

Managing the conflicts

• Who defines what’s important for you?

•Let go/accept/move on

•Distributing your time and emotion

•How do you stop thinking about work?

•How do you build space between activities?

© Clutterbuck Associates 2010

Allocation of Space and Time

Space/time for distant others(e.g. community)

Space/time for paid employment

Space/time for close others

Space/time for me

Managing the conflicts

• Who defines what’s important for you?

•Let go/accept/move on

•Distributing your time and emotion

•How do you stop thinking about work?

•How do you build space between activities?

© Clutterbuck Associates 2010

A sense of work-life balance =

AwarenessOf the big picture

Of the current situationClarity of values

ControlExternally focusedInternally focused

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Some critical questions

• Where do the boundaries lie?• Does all executive coaching include an element of “life coaching”?• How responsible is the coach for the client’s life choices?• Does the coach have to be a role model for work-life balance? If not, how do we manage the credibility issue?• What if the client chooses not to have a balanced approach to work and life?