At one point several years into my General Counsel role for an S&P 500 public company, I wrote three letters up on my whiteboard. They were to serve as my guideposts for the rest of my career.
The letters were these: F H W.
My boss came in one day and asked “What’re those?”
I told him they stood for Family, Health, and Work. I said that they represented my priorities in life, in that order.
He pondered my whiteboard and my statement for a few moments and said, “Those are nice goals … for your next job.”
Message clear. What got you here is what will keep you here. If you want an easy life, go get an easy job.
Balance and performance are like Clark Kent and Superman
That is, you generally don’t see them together.
Nothing in my path to getting a C-suite job by my 30s was remotely the result of balance.