Work-life balance and leadership in challenging times

Which one would you decide for: attending an important meeting or taking care of your loved one at the hospital? Responding to a client issue or helping your child with home-schooling? Everything is not equally important. Decisions should be taken based on our values and priorities. Juggling between work and personal life is not always easy. It requires wisdom, courage and self-knowledge to make sure the right decisions are taken.

I've had the great privilege to be part of IBM Fast Start Women's Experience this week, as one of the mentors of the Express Mentoring Session. Based on the event's theme "Believe in Yourself, Be You", I decided to share my key lessons about "Work-life Balance and Leadership in Challenging Times". I've focused on the period that I needed to juggle between work and family, while I was supporting my parents through their journeys to the death due to two devastating diseases (Cancer and CJD). It was the most challenging moment of my life. Almost one year living their deaths on daily basis. Lot of lessons along the way.

After seeing so many people struggling with challenges imposed by Covid-19, I decided to join the IBM initiative. My intention was to support my colleagues at work by sharing my key lessons based on how I've cope with the tragedy of my parents' death. The feedback from participants was so encouraging that I decided to write this article to share my lessons broadly. My first article in Linkedin. A tribute to my parents... and to life. I hope you find the tips useful!

How to cope with challenging moments (and to keep work-life balance)

1) Be honest to yourself (and to others). Admit you are facing a challenging moment. This will naturally mobilize people to support you.

2) Death can be life (challenges can be opportunities). Change your mindset. You will be surprised by looking at things from a different angle.

3) Create a plan, with clear goals, and have an agile mindset to adapt it along the way. It will help you organize the chaos.

4) Prioritize as per your goals. It will help you take the best of advantage of your time.

5) Look for similar stories. Knowledge sharing is very powerful.

6) Engage people. A good support system helps a lot.

7) Be ready for the new. Paradigm shift is very important. Something really good can raise from the chaos.

8) Be present to the moment and actively pay attention and listen to people. This is priceless (and can give you good ideas).

9) Find the positive aspect of your challenge. It will calm things down. Remember: Life is not always made of happy moments but we can always make moments happier.

10) Finally, trust in yourself. Your background will sustain you. By the way, it's totally fine not to attend all meetings!

In time: The disease that took my mother away is called Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), a very rare and fatal degenerative brain disorder that affects about one person in one million per year worldwide. When I had to decide between going to an important meeting and joining my mother at the hospital, I opted for the second one. It was the best decision that I took. While I was there, I realized that I was lucky enough to reflect what life means before my beloved ones passed away… and fortunate enough to be able to review how I was spending my time till then.

What about you? What have you been doing to cope with your challenging moments?