Confessions of a Workaholic

There has been a lot said in the press lately about business leaders who expect everyone in their company to perform at the same level they do at all times. I have a different view, though I admit it might be controversial.

You see, I work all the time. I’m an absolute workaholic – and I love it. Not because anyone makes me do it, but because it feels completely natural to me. To put it another way, I actually enjoy working at full capacity all the time.

However, just because that works for me doesn’t mean that I expect the same thing out of my team. I want them to have their own work-life balance, which means that they need to have the capability to accomplish their work responsibilities in a timely fashion.

For example, I saw that Elon Musk was recently called out for sending an email to his staff very early in the morning. So what? I send emails all the time, but I don’t expect a response until work begins the next day. If something is really important then I’ll call, but I’m very careful about what things I consider to be urgent – and I make sure to only call other leaders of the business as well.

Then there are holidays: I always work when I’m on leave because that’s my time to reflect and think about strategy for all of my business. But that’s my thing, and I don’t expect my team to make it their thing as well. In fact, I go out of my way to make sure that when they’re on holiday that they’re contacted only in an emergency.

However, what I do expect is that when you’re on my senior management team that you check your phone regularly to make sure your own team is okay: If you’re a leader, then you’re always responsible (even if you’re not in the building). In my experience it’s extremely rare for top management not to be contacted while on holiday, but again, that comes with the territory. The bottom line is that success is earned with hard work.

Speaking of hard work, in every company I’ve ever belonged there is always that one person known for working 12+ hours each day. Some people would categorize that as “extremely dedicated,” but I actually wonder what that person gets up to all day. I suspect that the majority of the time it isn’t the workload that’s the problem – it’s probably the person, who is either a control freak who doesn’t know how to delegate, someone who doesn’t trust their peers, someone who is easily distracted in conversations or someone who confuses their team with long-winded explanations. Every once in a while, though, I’ve encountered an individual who is extremely efficient, but the workload is simply too much. In that case I’ve just tweaked the team structure or the process that’s holding them back. But again, that’s not a common situation.

I’ve found that what people tend to forget about hard work is that if you love it, if you truly enjoy what you do, then you won’t class it as work. Think about how passionate you are about your favorite sport or hobby; now think about how much energy you put into that football match or golf game. Is that work? Technically, yes, but because you love what you’re doing it doesn’t feel like it. When you bring that same mentality to your paid job, you have fun with it, and the long hours and consistent efforts don’t feel like a chore.

Of course, as a manager who wants to enjoy his or her work to the fullest, you also have the responsibility to create a culture of passion and fun for your team. I make this a priority in all of my businesses and if you spend even a few moments browsing my Instagram page (@gregwardofficial) you’ll see regular examples of hard work balanced with glimpses of the great teams I’m lucky enough to work with. We work hard but we play hard as well, which goes a long way considering that we spend a lot of our lifetime at work, sometimes seeing one another more than our own families. Might as well make it enjoyable for everyone, don’t you think?

In the end, no matter your role within an organization, you have to find a balance that works for you, and that means enjoying life, both in and out of working hours. To me, that’s the key: Love what you do and you’ll naturally find your own form of balance.