Working Parents, Let Go of the Idea of Balance

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Communication, Marketing, Business, Business/management, Management, Business/marketing, Business/entrepreneurship, Innovation, Hbr, Strategy, Economics, Finance, Teams, Harvard

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2020

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Stewart Friedman, organizational psychologist at The Wharton School, and Alyssa Westring, associate professor at DePaul University’s Driehaus College of Business, say it’s a mistake for a working parent to think of career and home life as competing interests that have to be balanced. Their research shows how many leadership skills apply to parenting, and vice versa. The professors explain how individuals can stop making tradeoffs and instead find sustainable ways to advance their careers and also parent more effectively. Friedman and Westring are the authors of the book "Parents Who Lead: The Leadership Approach You Need to Parent with Purpose, Fuel Your Career, and Create a Richer Life."

Transcript

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0:00.0	Kurt Nick is here from Ideacast. I want to tell you about the Big Take
0:05.1	podcast from Bloomberg News. Each weekday they bring you one important story
0:10.0	from their global newsroom like how AI will upend your life and why China's
0:15.4	targeting the US dollar. Check out the big take from Bloomberg wherever you listen.
0:35.0	Hey everyone, it's Kurt. So much has changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, HBR is social distancing. I'm recording this right now in my home studio,
0:38.0	which is my daughter's bedroom.
0:40.0	I have a blanket over my head to cut down on the echo. You get the idea though. We're
0:46.1	taping everything remotely now. This conversation though that you're about to hear this
0:50.9	episode was taped before all of that so just keep that in mind as
0:55.3	you listen.
0:56.3	Above all, thanks for listening. Welcome to the HBR Idea cast from Harvard Business Review.
1:13.4	I'm Kurt Nickish.
1:14.6	Business is fast-paced and so is parenting. We live in a time when people are more open
1:25.7	about the challenges of advancing your career while also parenting a growing family.
1:31.1	But it's still difficult and even disorienting sometimes for women and men.
1:36.2	It's often the case that when you try to balance the needs of a partner,
1:39.7	children, a demanding boss, and even your own high bar of achievement can feel like you're
1:45.0	always disappointing someone that you're always burning the candle at both ends.
1:50.0	Work and parenting say today's guests don't need to be that way.
1:54.3	In fact, they say that making key decisions in your career as a leader at work
1:59.1	can also guide you in the way you parent,
2:01.9	and that those choices can strengthen all aspects of your life.
	...

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