Work-Life Balance
Dr. Debbie Kristiansen
Senior Vice President OVG Middle East -EEA Distinguished Leadership Award- UN Women USA Rise & Raise Others Award- Female CEO of the Year - Top 50 Global Inspirational Women - Board Member-Doctorate EIU Paris France
My own balance comes from the incredible support of people at home and work ....where do you get your strength from?
As with anything in life, you need to create your own boundaries to ensure a happy balance between work and life, but it is not an impossible task. We all need to make that choice for ourselves.
My working day starts early at 5am to ensure that we have enough time for a sit down family breakfast (cooked by my wonderful Husband Jacob) together before we drive our Son Luca to school. It’s very important to make the most of family time, these moments are precious.
I’m in the office by 0730am, I’m always the first to arrive, it means I get some quiet time to review and reflect before the craziness starts although I’m not complaining. I love the atmosphere and the energy in the office, we are in the Entertainment business after all, so we need to feel the energy and the passion, our daily focus is all about our customers and what we can do to make sure every visit to one of our cinemas is a memorable one, A great time out, every time.
My Novo team are all young, mostly millennials but an equal balance of both men and Women…diversity and inclusivity are very important to me. We have over 30 different nationalities working happily alongside each other every day, different faiths, different nationalities, different cultures but everyone treats each other with the utmost respect.
We celebrate all the special holidays together, Ramadan, Eid, Diwali and Christmas. I am blessed with an amazing team that make coming to work each and every day very exciting and fulfilling. I always say that when the day arrives that you don’t want to get up and go to work, then it’s time to move on, thankfully I don’t see that day coming anytime soon, I absolutely love what I do. I put my heart and soul into everything in my life both personally and professionally and I try my best to educate my team to do the same. Work life balance is important for everyone to achieve, not just to preach it but to practice it and lead by example.
Wellness / Beauty / Hospitality Business Consultant
5 年Very nice article Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen .. the most important learning point in this article is the source to balance is in both home and work .. that is why it is so important to create a happy and respectful culture ... Happy cows produce more milk ... and it is all determined by attention to detail in our daily communication ....
A valuable read Debbie! The US long-drilled 12hr day concept with little time off. As single mom of several sons — balance meant something completely different. I relished time for hair & nails — sleep the third commodity!
HR Operations |Talent Management |Talent Acquisition|OD
5 年Well said Debbie thank you for sharing. I believe that the 8–8–8 rule is an effective way to achieve work-life balance. Ideally, a person should spend 8 hours at work, 8 hours for sleep & balance 8 hours for his personal & social activities. This kind of a balanced schedule will help a person to set priorities in life effectively & reduce stress thereby leading to a healthy work-life balance.
Let's think back, 30 years ago were people talking about Work Life Balance the way that they do now?? I don't think so... and why?? Because our way of living is shifting so dramatically? -that now we concentrate on work and our personal life is an afterthought.? It is not sustainable
President & Chairman of the Board for Isobar Public Sector at Dentsu
5 年Great post Debbie - Thank you for sharing!