Musings & Amusings

Can’t say I was a fan of Leaning In so loved Lucy Kellaway’s comments (didn’t read the whole book I confess):

Stop leaning in at once. It isn’t a comfortable position to adopt, and I’m not at all surprised to hear that after 18 months you are suffering in body and soul. Forget Sheryl Sandberg and try my three easy rules for leaning out which I have been perfecting for the past quarter of a century.

1. Never ever go to any evening events for work unless you think they would be a) enjoyable, b) useful in a specific way, or c) not going would do you harm. In my experience so few things fall into any of the categories; it means only turning up to things once or twice a year. This has the advantage that when you do present yourself you are such a novelty that everyone will want to talk to you. It’s called scarcity value. Choke off the supply of yourself, and watch the price go up.

2. Try to work out what you are measured on. If you are a fund manager, presumably you are measured on whether you make any money for your clients. This isn’t directly related to the amount of time you spend, so do it as well as you can — and then go home.

3. Stop caring quite so much. That doesn’t mean performing worse, it means worrying less. This is one of the main advantages of having children. They are a reminder that work only matters up to a point. Most mothers get this wrong by feeling full of guilt — when they are in one sphere they look over their shoulders worrying about what they aren’t doing in the other.

Source: Financial Times