- Over the years, CEOs and business leaders have shared their thoughts on the phrase “work-life balance.”
- Some aren’t a fan of the phrase and think workers should take a different approach or view.
- Jeff Bezos, for example, thinks the relationship between work and life is a “circle” instead.
You wouldn’t think that the phrase “work-life balance” would be a controversial one. However, the way that different CEOs interpret the term varies greatly. Some think of it as an important thing to maintain, while others hate it or call it a “lie.”
Here are some of the hottest takes on work-life balance, given by some of the top business executives in the US.
Jeff Bezos says work and life should make a circle, not a “balance”
In 2018, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said that workers should aim for work-life harmony, not “balance,” at an event hosted by Business Insider’s parent company Axel Springer. Bezos also called the concept of work-life balance “debilitating” because it hints that there’s a trade-off.
Bezos said that it’s not a work-life balance, but “it’s actually a circle.”
Bezos said that if he feels happy at home then it energizes him and makes him more productive at work. Bezos is currently the second-wealthiest person in the world, just behind Elon Musk, with a net worth of $167 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
Satya Nadella thinks you should focus on “work-life harmony”
Microsoft’s CEO also thinks that “work-life balance” shouldn’t be a worker’s goal. Instead, they should focus on work-life “harmony.” In 2019, he shared his thoughts with the Australian Financial Review.
Nadella says he used to think that he needed to balance relaxing and working. But, he’s shifted his approach, aligning his “deep interests” with his work.
TIAA CEO thinks the entire concept is a “lie”
“Work-life balance is a lie,” TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett told Fortune CEO Alan Murray earlier this year. Brown Duckett has previously said that she used to struggle with guilt and balancing her demanding job and being a mother.
Brown Duckett says that she views her life as a “portfolio,” and that she takes time to perform different roles like mother, wife, and business executive. Though she may not always be able to be able to be there for her children, she says that she strives to be fully present during the time she is able to spend with them.
Arianna Huffington says you shouldn’t have to choose between work and life
Arianna Huffington, founder of Thrive Global and HuffPost, told Great Place to Work that we shouldn’t view productivity and relaxation as two opposing forces. Huffington said that when one area of your life improves, the other does as well.
According to Oxford University, happy employees are 13% more productive compared to those who aren’t happy. Huffington told Great Place to Work that employees should focus more on “work-life integration,” since we bring our entire selves to work.
Still, Huffington believes that your personal life should always come first.
“While work is obviously important and can give us purpose and meaning in our lives, it shouldn’t take the place of life,” she told Great Place to Work. “Work is a part of a thriving life, but life should come first.”
Don’t expect work-life balance if you work for Elon Musk
Elon Musk is a known workaholic, and he expects those who work beneath him to be as well.
In 2022, just after Musk had taken ownership of X, he sent out an email to employees telling them to either dedicate their lives to working or leave the company. Musk reportedly made X employees work 84 hours a week. While some people have felt remote work improved their work-life balance, giving them a more flexible schedule to attend to family-related responsibilities, Musk has often criticized it and called it “morally wrong.”
Musk holds an even tighter working schedule for himself, though. In 2018, Musk said that he works 120 hours a week, amounting to 17 hours a day. Musk would also sleep on the factory floor at Tesla due to his nonstop work schedule, according to CNBC.
According to Walter Isaacson’s biography about Musk, the billionaire would stay at the office overnight and shower at the YMCA when he joined the workforce in 1995. Musk has continued the habit while working at Tesla and buying Twitter, often spending the night at work.
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