Imagine children balancing on a see-saw or people on amusement park rides, think of a seal balancing a ball, or yourself trying to cross a narrow bridge over turbulent rapids! What do you notice is similar in all cases? There is movement – from tiny adjustments to large erratic shifts — that keeps things in balance. For living beings, constant adjustments of varying degrees are required to stay in balance. The need for adjustment can come from both external and internal causes. A blustery wind could be an external cause that would require movement to compensate, brace, and shift weight when crossing the bridge. The internal desire to fidget on a ferris wheel, roller coaster, or see-saw requires movement to stay in balance. The consequences of being out of balance can have a range of impact – from immediate life-threatening ones, to longer term effects, to possibly no impact, depending upon what is out of balance, how badly, and how long.
In our professional and personal lives we are constantly making trade-offs. We make small ones like what events to attend, who to talk to, what foods to eat; and larger ones like what job to pursue, what projects to take on, what communities or organizations to join, and where to take up a leadership role. The need to rebalance is sometimes uncomfortably forced on us by external circumstances like a company merger, a project shutting down, a personal health challenge, or the death of a family member. Sometimes the need to rebalance comes from your own insights, or the lessons you or your team have learned by working together.
Balance is much more than just time management. While time management is important, it only accounts for how your time is spent. It doesn’t speak to the more important issue of what you are doing with that time and where it is taking you.
Here are some examples from my coaching practice. Once these situations were recognized as being clearly out of balance, it was relatively easy to create a structure or plan to make appropriate adjustments and regain a desirable balance.
Unbalanced Values – Taking responsibility – “being responsible” — is an important value for many people. When this otherwise commendable value takes over, situations can go out of balance, and an individual can suffer. I have seen people taking on enormous loads because of the perceived responsibilities they believe they have to fulfill for their family, their team, their company. By recognizing the need to rebalance and integrate other values, it makes it easier to be more successful in the workplace. And this, in turn, allows a person to feel much more aligned and fulfilled.
Management/Leadership Fit – Leadership is concerned with change, and management keeps things running smoothly the way they are. A new project that has never been done before and for which no experience has been accumulated requires much more leadership skill (to move through change and the unknown) than management skill. Doing a project that has been repeated over and over requires more the strength of management skills. People naturally fall more on one side than the other on the manager/leader fence. Those who tend to focus more on movement, flux, and change are often found in leadership roles, while those who keep the status quo healthy and maintain daily processes in good order gravitate to management roles.
Some people find they have to adapt their style to lead or manage based on the environment around them. Some people never realize they are true leaders until they are put in a situation that requires it. Projects and teams can be out of balance if leadership skills are what is needed, yet the natural tendencies of the team and appointed leaders are more of those reflecting a management style. And the reverse can also be true. Click here to see if you are more of a manger or leader http://kathycannon.com/design/lm_selftest.htm
