Picture this…It’s Monday morning, 7am, you’ve already dropped off the kids at the bus stop and sent them off to school, fitting in a quick 10 minute walk with the dog in the process, and thrown a load of laundry in the washer…By 8am, you’ve made your plan for the day, what with colorful highlighting and side notes on your favorite planner, and you’re ready for the first meeting of the day, polished Ann Taylor shirt on top, casual and oh so comfortable elastic pants on the bottom…The thought of not being stuck in morning traffic at least a couple of days a week and dealing with unavoidable work micro-aggressions is making you smile, as you mentally strategize for the week…
If you’re reading this, this may sound like the ideal work-from-home morning…Or if you’re fortunate enough, this may actually be what some, or most of your mornings feel like… The feeling of not having to choose between a well-integrated life that does not require an inordinate amount of running around, overwhelm and burnout….The sense of not having to give up on yourself, your values, your family for the sake of your work, or vice-versa…
For as long as I can remember, this drastic choice between a successful career and a well-integrated life that honors my values and myself as a woman, mother, wife, friend, sister, along with all the other hats we wear as women, has been there…It’s a difficult choice that ends up in a negative loss for all parties involved, mostly for women. Post COVID-19 pandemic, the newfound work flexibility and call to realignment to our values as individuals and women in particular has shaken the dust off of this old, cruel choice…Women are now understanding and claiming their right to own their ambition and lives without the threat of bias, guilt, or burnout…
Workforce trends from the “Great Resignation” , the Great Breakup” and “quiet quitting”, to the recent hype around “lazy girl jobs”, defined as flexible and well-paying jobs allowing for free time as an antidote to the burnout culture affecting many, especially women, have seen people, and women in particular, reevaluate their careers. Yet, despite this, women are far from being “lazy” in their careers. In fact, according to McKinsey&Company’s Women in the Workplace 2023 report, “women are more ambitious than ever, and workplace flexibility is fueling them”. The report reveals 81% of women expressing the desire to be promoted to a higher level, an 11% increase from 2019. A whopping 96% of women declared their careers hold an important place in their lives, in same numbers as their male counterparts. Even yet, 97% of women and men also admit to prioritizing their personal lives while still viewing their careers as important.
What this is suggesting is a new paradigm shift in the way women view their careers and lives. No longer is it a matter of making an excruciating choice between professional success and personal values and life, but rather a matter of re-shuffling the deck of cards to accommodate success in both areas. Thanks to the forced re-examination of our values and systems, as well as the flexibility card reinforced by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, among other factors, women are now redefining what success means to them. In fact, they are re-defining what success has always meant to them, but that they were not allowed to implement…
Yet, even in the midst of this re-defining movement, biases and stereotypes against women still persist. Among these, is the assumption that flexible work can be equated with “lazy work”, whereby employees taking advantage of this benefit are somewhat lacking motivation or are lesser performers. This bias also extends in the unequitable rewards and benefits men get from in-person attendance at the office, including interpersonal connections, access to select information, feedback, mentorship and general support. Meanwhile, women working in person at the office are rewarded with the debilitating impact of micro-aggressions as well as the “broken rung” syndrome whereby men benefit from higher level promotions at higher rates than women.
As a result, many, if not most women, are choosing to re-define where they stand in their careers and lives, somewhere between persisting ambition and lazy girl syndrome. Somewhere between aspiring to being all they can be professionally, and yet still prioritizing better work-life integration and keeping burnout, overwhelm and disease at bay…Somewhere where the choice is not between the better of two evils, but where evil is not a choice…
For this to be possible, it also means that companies, organizations, leaders and every single person out there, must get invested in the discussion and fight for:
- Understanding and respecting women’s work and life values
- Access to greater and fairer flexibility (that does not punish women)
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs and initiatives targeting micro-aggressions, as well as promotion and pay inequities
Are you somewhere between ambitious girl and lazy girl?
The Corporate Sis.
