How to Serve the Next Generation: Model & Teach Sustainable Success.

• Author: Burich, Woodrie
• Position: BALANCED BOUNDARIES

We seem to be aching for a way out of the rat race we've created--and the next generation is demanding it. Research shows Millennial place an extremely high value on work-life balance-some studies even assert that it tops all job factors (including salary). This focus on work-life balance comes as a stark contrast to the well-known high work demands and long hours many managers and corporate Headers have logged over the past few decades. It makes one wonder, how we will merge these two worlds and their contrasting needs?

Perhaps COVID, and our response to it, will actually help shed some light on a solution. In just a short time, COVID has taught us much in this area. We've learned that business resilience is built on individual resilience. Personal life is not separate from work life; rather, these two worlds are intermixed. And not just by a little--they are much more broadly intertwined than we ever imagined. Thus, it makes sense that the solutions , themselves will also need to be more ; broadly encompassing.

As we consider broad solutions, what initial steps can we as leaders take to immediately support stronger work-life balance for our staff? How do we strengthen hiring and deploy work policies that help us find and retain highly engaged and motivated team members? In a time of continued unknowns, how do our organizations rise stronger and lead at the forefront of our industry through creative innovation? We start by supporting our team members and teaching a new success model-a sustainable one.

THREE WAYS TO IMPLEMENT SUSTAINABLE SUCCESS STRATEGIES

Model It:

Consider for a moment your relationship with the concept of "Sustainable Success." While there are a variety of definitions associated with this term, the meaning and measurement of it is largely personal. For simplicity purposes, let's use this simple definition: a full-range and broad feeling of well-being across the major aspects of one's life (i.e., personal well-being, family/friends, work, and community).

When you reflect on your own Sustainable Success metrics, have you found it to be attainable? Are you currently embodying it, or has it remained elusive? At first glance, this seems a simple enough question. I have often found people respond to such a question with one of two immediate type responses: "I don't need balance, I chose to live in Alaska for that," or a quick and sometimes harried response of, "I'm so busy, I don't know what Sustainable Success would even look...