My Work-Life Balance Manifesto: The 3Cs Approach to Living Your Purpose
Are we allowed to talk about work-life balance anymore? With the latest return to work policies, AI taking over jobs, and job searchers facing the worst job market EVER, can I still advocate for work-life balance for myself and my team? Maybe the question isn't can I, but should I?
When I published DIPLOMATICALLY: A Guide for Creating Work-life Balance in the Foreign Service (purchase on Amazon here) in 2023 it was a different world. We were all coming back to work from COVID, workers realized how wonderful it was to have flexible working arrangements and organizations were happily surprised to learn they could operate remotely. COVID proved that we could do it and everyone hoped this would usher in a new era of workplace flexibilities that would lead to greater work-life balance overall. And then 2025 happened: unprecedented job cuts, whole sectors of work disappearing, welcome to the job market from hell.
Despite this, I continue to believe that true success is marrying your personal priorities with your job and making it all work together so you can live out your purpose. If you don't keep your top priorities at the forefront, no one else will; if you don't advocate for them, someone else will set them for you. This hasn't changed. I still want to move up the professional ladder, but much like before, I refuse to do it in a way that compromises my active role as a wife and mother to five children. And thus, my answer is yes, I will continue to advocate for work-life balance.
With a caveat. We all need to up our game and be even more strategic now than ever before when trying to negotiate for work-life balance. I welcome you to apply my 3Cs Approach™ (Connection, Communication, and Courage) for achieving your personal priorities in your workplace.
1. Connection: Build Your Allies
In a massive company or organization, you cannot make change happen alone. You must invest in relationships and build strong alliances so you have allies for your cause. This means going beyond superficial pleasantries to find a unique connection with the people you work with from the senior leadership to the office supply manager. When people connect with you as a human being, they are more likely to support your agenda and grant you the grace you need when you set boundaries.
2. Communication: Keep it Strategic
To get your time back, you must work smarter and achieve results faster. People who simply cut back on work get labeled as lazy. You actually need to accomplish more in your 8 hour work day than others to get some time back for yourself. To start, fine tune the way you speak. There are a million ways to deliver a message and you must choose the way that your listener will hear you best. In difficult conversations, keep it short and stick to the facts to avoid emotional landmines. Advocate for yourself and your objective in every interaction.
3. Courage: Show Up Intentionally
You must have the courage to show up at work with your priorities taking center stage. This means setting clear boundaries and sticking to those. Sometimes you state your priorities out loud, but it's not always necessary. Most of the time, your actions will speak louder than words and people will observe and adapt to you. If you are starting a new position, remember to start the way you want to finish.
The Bottom Line
I'm going to quote myself from my first book (at the risk of tooting my own horn), "If you ruin your health and die tomorrow, your organization is going to replace you with someone younger and cheaper." But your loved ones only get one shot, they only have one of you. True or false?
Single, married, with kids, no kids -- stop asking for permission to have a life. Be courageous, work with intention, and let your actions speak for themselves. "Du courage" as we like to say in French in Francophone Africa, be courageous! It's the equivalent of the American "you got this!"