You know that ominous feeling you get when you suspect something big is about to happen?
My sixth sense has served me well over the course of my career, as it did one day in September when my boss summoned me to her office. At least I wasn't caught off guard.
She told me we were acquiring an 85-person engineering firm in Fort Worth, Texas. As communications manager, I was expected to play a significant role in the acquisition.
My job was to work with the integration team to develop and execute both short- and long-term communication strategies aimed at sharing the news with the firm's clients, business partners and maybe, most importantly, its employees. Oh, and by the way, the whole process was being fast-tracked.
This was good stuff. I happen to love solving the communications challenges that are so unique to mergers and acquisitions. However, it came with a price, as most opportunities do.
As exciting as my job was about to get, it was also going to consume a large part of my life for quite a while. And I certainly wasn't looking forward to that.
You see, we Generation Xers are known for our insistence on achieving a Zen-like balance between work, community, family and play. To that end, we've learned to manage the stress that results from constant minor disruptions to our schedules in a world where multi-tasking reigns supreme.
But long-term changes to our daily routines are problematic no matter who we are, when we were born, or what we do for a living. Mentally writing off months or even years of nights and weekends is never something to look forward to.
Which brings me back to the acquisition. I had two choices: I could be bitter about the prospect of work intruding on my personal life for weeks on end, or I could find a way to not only complete the assignment, but knock it out of the park while living every aspect of my life the way I wanted to.
As a loyal Gen Xer, few things are higher on my list of priorities than achieving and ultimately maintaining balance. I seek happiness and contentment in every thing I do, including my job. Translated, this means working hard is just as important as playing hard. I want it all.
So the choice was obvious: I would work hard -- but I would do it on my own terms.
Work hard I did -- as did everyone else involved with the integration. And I mean everyone, from our CEO on down, including all the folks in Texas. We all shared the same attitude: We were going to do this, and we were going to do it right.
What was amazing was that each of us kept things in perspective while juggling multiple personal and professional priorities. In my case, I was balancing work with my obligations to several professional and community service organizations, all of which were hosting one or more events and activities at the time.
On top of that, I coached a softball team two nights a week. Forget getting home by 6 or 7 p.m.; I was looking at 9 or 10 every night.
But so was everyone else.
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?
storyID=668457&category=BUSINESS&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=3/2/2008
