During a recent conversation with a very senior corporate leader, he casually mentioned how he wasn’t able to respond to messages and emails promptly because he was busy helping his son find bearings in a new city, with a new job in tow.

It was clearly a first for me, I had never heard a senior leader, let alone a man talk about his family, before. 

Apparently, there’s data to support my stance here!

A 2014 study by Citi and LinkedIn reported that 78% of women had never heard of a “successful man talk about the importance of striking a balance between work and family life.”

It’s not that men don’t have partners and children; it’s just that they do not talk about them. 

All too often, the challenges of navigating through work and life get labelled as a “women’s issue,” but the same survey suggested that finding “the right balance between work and family life” is a top priority for both men and women.

Open conversations about family life foster a more equitable work culture. 

The more that men talk about their identities (of being a parent, partner, primary caregiver et cetera), the more that “work/life” stops being a female problem!

#culture #leadership #worklifebalance #family #equality