Good Reads You Might Have Missed: Cultivating Work-Life Balance

Burnout and mental health are common points of discussion these days, for obvious reasons. And work-life balance is a big factor in defining the contours of these conversations.

Leaders also play an important role in that discussion—after all, they help to define those contours too.

With that in mind, here are some highlights from the Associations Now and ASAECenter.org archives to help get leaders thinking strategically about work-life balance:

How to Offer Your Staff the Right Kind of Flexibility. Having an understanding of what flexibility looks like, and how your association could best offer it to your staff, can help ensure your definition of flexibility matches everyone’s needs. This 2021 piece discusses topics such as flextime, flexible locations, and PTO.

Five Ways to Grow Your Career Without Sacrificing Work-Life Balance. Whether it’s understanding the need for personal guardrails or detecting signs of burnout before they become huge problems, getting a handle on things early is important when balancing career growth and work-life balance. Also helpful? A strong career focus. “One of the major mistakes—of course, we all want to grow—is that we don’t narrow our focus,” said Sharon Givens, board president of the National Career Development Association.

The Tao of Association Leadership  (opens in a new tab) (along with part two  (opens in a new tab)). This two-part series, written pre-pandemic by Stephen Gold, president and CEO of the Manufacturers Alliance, takes an in-depth look at mental health within associations. “We live in a society that is connected 24/7, and workers today are exposed to information overload and external pressures that prior generations never knew,” Gold wrote. “Associations aren’t exempt from any of these pressures.” The first piece focuses on the why; the second piece emphasizes the how.

Leading Through a New Brand of Burnout. “A lack of autonomy puts people on a fast track to burnout,” according to workplace expert Liz Fosslien. And honestly, given the shifts of the pandemic era, there’s less autonomy in some ways than ever before. This piece breaks down some subtle tweaks to leadership strategy to help cut down on these risks.

CEO to CEO: Work-Life Balance While Traveling  (opens in a new tab). Whether it’s about bleisure or being thoughtful about booking flights, this CEO to CEO roundup has a little bit of anti-burnout advice for everyone. One novel approach comes from Henry Chamberlain, FASAE, CAE, president and chief operating officer of BOMA International: “I bring family on some business travel and schedule time to see friends in the cities I visit.”

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