Page 59 - Free Yourself From

42 It’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor

If you’re lucky, you decide at a moment like this that things are
going to change because your workaholic schedule is impacting the
quality of your personal life far more than you’re comfortable with,
and ironically, it’s sapping satisfaction, energy, and focus from the job
itself. The more time you spend at work, it seems, the less you like
it. If you’re really lucky, you’ll remember your vow the next day and
will make the effort needed to make those changes happen.
Take comfort in the knowledge that you are not alone. I rou-
tinely see examples of work-life imbalance when I counsel employ-
ees at organizations that are supposedly committed to being great
places to work. Everyone in those organizations, but women in par-
ticular, wants to know how they can find balance in the constant
juggling of work and family. They all want to know if it’s really pos-
sible to get that next raise, promotion, or plum assignment without
sacrificing their personal life.

The Balancing Act—Know Your Threshold!

I remember quite clearly the rough and tumble days of starting SHAM-
BAUGH more than 16 years ago. I was a one-person show for some
time. I did the administrative work, marketing, proposal writing—oh
yes, and the actual consulting work, too. At some point I made the
insane decision to go back to school for a master’s degree at the same
time. The demands of building my business and keeping up with my
classes didn’t leave much time for anything else. I worked seven days
a week and studied late at night, early mornings, and on weekends.
Eighteen months after opening up shop, I landed my first big
contract. I hired staff for back-office support and day-to-day oper-
ations, so that I could take care of my very important client and
acquire others.
I was elated about the business growing, but eventually I real-
ized that I had to come up for air.