Gimme a Break! - Industry Trend or Event

Balancing work and life in the new economy is like juggling fire. Here's how a few execs who needed time off learned not to get burned.

Linda, co-founder and chief operating officer of an Internet service provider, took her first vacation in three years in January. Rejuvenated after her holiday, she strolled into her office to find all of her belongings packed in boxes.

Linda (not her real name) claims she fell victim to a management coup after her partner persuaded the board to fire her while she was away. As most executives in her position would, she's considering legal action [see "On the Firing Line," Jan. 15, 2001]: She suspects that her partner had always wanted to run the company alone and waited until she was away to maneuver into position.

There are two sides to every story, and there may be more to Linda's situation than meets the eye. But ask executives what they fear most these days and right at the top is the fear of being left out of the loop and getting canned for appearing less than dedicated.

A year ago greed drove the new economy. Today fear permeates every level of the organizational chart. Executives are afraid of being laid off, fired or pushed off track for advancement. During a slowdown, they feel more pressure than ever to prove their worth, and taking time off --whether for vacation or for a family emergency -- often isn't in the cards anymore.

What's a manager who needs some time off to do? Executives who have survived a work-life crisis offer a few ways to navigate the political land mines ahead and keep your job, health and dignity intact.

IF YOU GET SICK

Whatever you do, don't hide a crisis or make it appear less important than it is. This lesson almost cost Ellen Shuck her life. The senior consultant with Silicon Valley-based Hagberg Consulting Group came close to death while working with clients in Singapore two years ago. She contracted chicken pox and viral meningitis -- both potentially deadly for adults.

But instead of letting her boss and colleagues know she needed immediate medical treatment and time off from working with her client, she insisted on continuing to consult from a quarantined ward of her hotel via teleconferencing.

"I just wished I could put a pistol to my head and get it over with," Shuck remembers about that time. "While I was giving the presentation, I could feel the chicken pox coming out all over my body. But being a consultant, you're supposed to be tough and you're supposed to stay in the game."

There are other, less-dire ways to stay in the game, however. Shuck's fear of letting down the company and the client gave her an almost fatal case of tunnel vision. She admits that she was too afraid of losing her status at Hagberg and of losing her clients to other colleagues to do the right thing: cut back on nonstop travel and protect her health.

After enduring several surgeries related to an autoimmune disorder she developed from her illness, Shuck took a sabbatical at her boss's behest. She's now back at Hagberg, but working part time.

IF A FAMILY MEMBER NEEDS CARE

When illness strikes a loved one, it's time to communicate and delegate, says Mark S. Albion, a consultant and author of Making a Life, Making a Living. His mother developed terminal cancer when he was a professor at Harvard Business School. The situation changed Albion's life: He says Harvard was incredibly supportive, respecting his need to make his mother his first priority and to cut back his teaching schedule.

He now advises executives to be clear about what they need without fearing retribution. "CEOs often complain to me that their executives are either too afraid or uncertain to say what they want," he says. "If they knew, arrangements could be made in many cases."

Even if you're an executive who fears handing over duties or clients to a power-hungry colleague, work-life consultants say it's the best way to prove that you're a team player who's concerned about the company's success and not just your own.

Mark Swanson, founder and CEO of AppGenesys, an Internet infrastructure provider in San Jose, Calif., swears by the delegate-and-manage strategy. Swanson was a senior VP of engineering at iXL three years ago when his daughter was born with a heart defect. When his daughter had to undergo open-heart surgery, Swanson immediately let everyone in the company know, making arrangements for another executive to take over his travel schedule. "I delegated work from the hospital room, and I worked from home," Swanson says. "I remember numerous times I'd work all night while my daughter lay there sleeping."

Instead of taking a career hit, Swanson was promoted to CTO during this period, something he chalks up to his communication and delegation skills.

"The way you move up in the world is to delegate your job to other people," he says. "If I had been really protective, I wouldn't always have had extra bandwidth for other projects -- and that helps you get promoted."

IF YOU NEEDABREAK