Griggs: Balanced mastery: your secret weapon in life
Author pride swelled and quickly deflated as Kathy, the USA Today writer sharing an office, fingered my new book.
“The title ‘Professional Balance’ depresses me,” she blurted, “… makes me think too much about work.”
Mental anguish has been described as worse than physical. Hurt surrendered to sting and then turned into action. The book already was harvested, but my marketing materials slowly tilled in a new term: balanced mastery.
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On a warm July afternoon, leaving the Blue Angels air show at Mountain View’s Moffett Field, I began writing this first book. Bob, a good buddy, had a real date waiting, while I had a typewriter. Tap-tapping away, weeks turned into months as I pushed to have a manuscript done while still in my 20s.
Questioning whether I was either a slow writer or simply preoccupied with keeping my business afloat, the book grudgingly arrived five years later. The world would now see how achievement is the goal and balance is a tool. Global leaders would learn my fixes for the work-life balance failures. Top management would stay in the room when we talked about honoring employee lives and respecting their humanity.
Over time, an ugly reality crept into my thoughts — not as bad as Kathy’s book-title comment but more subtle. Sipping on my room-temperature chardonnay, I’d respond to the cocktail-party query, “What do you do for work?” with, “I teach people how to balance their lives so they can live long enough to spend the money they earn.” Feeling smug, even brilliant, I’d hear them sling over a departing shoulder, “Yeah, I need more balance, nice to meet you.” I finally got it: They had other priorities. Fair or not, results give permission for balance.
My answer was “balance + mastery.” Everyone wants to rule in a kingdom of quarterly numbers and finish-line firsts. Too many want to hit that jackpot of cloud hovering accomplishment no matter what it does to school plays, arteries and the love in our love lives.
Balanced mastery:
• Pick your top five life priorities (score and balance them on time; energy; effort)
• Nurture all five priorities
• Examine what sustained high achievers do (copy them)
• Study historical masters (tools, techniques, motivators)
• Start with will-power but shift to habit
The original work-life balance movement was a pariah in the business world because it failed to factor in getting results. During contract proposals, I dial back on balance, sensing my contacts’ fear their bosses won’t feel the program is “nitty-gritty” enough. People get rewards for solving big, ugly problems, not for chatting about grades over dinner. Balanced mastery builds on results without sacrificing cherished human essentials.
From startups to multinationals, a person’s humanity is larger than the job, the business or the industry. If you don’t allow solid employees to think bigger with you, they’ll think bigger without you. And bigger means their families, their hikes, their gardens and all that makes them human. Balanced mastery.
After witnessing another workplace tragedy, the body still warm, I looked up, dazed at my clearer picture of the situation. Too many spend their “productive” years offering up work done while sedentary, malnourished and sleep deprived. No one can start, grow or revive a business while sitting all day, eating lousy food and bragging about only sleeping five hours a night. I’ve seen it and the picture is ugly.
I sought out exceptional achievers who took their humanity seriously. They knew the value of being a well-rounded human being and how that would buttress their contribution to the world. They saw the big picture of authentic lives. Their results are exceptional and sustained.
My fatigued office friend is probably long retired, and I’m better at picking book titles.
Rick Griggs is the inventor of the rolestorming creativity tool and founder of the Quid Novi Innovation conference. Contact him at rick@griggsachieve.com or 970.690.7327.
Author pride swelled and quickly deflated as Kathy, the USA Today writer sharing an office, fingered my new book.
“The title ‘Professional Balance’ depresses me,” she blurted, “… makes me think too much about work.”
Mental anguish has been described as worse than physical. Hurt surrendered to sting and then turned into action. The book already was harvested, but my marketing materials slowly tilled in a new term: balanced mastery.
On a warm July afternoon, leaving the Blue Angels air show at Mountain View’s Moffett Field, I began writing this first book. Bob, a…
