透视MPW是一个在线社区，美国商界内外的一些大咖会在这里及时分享与职业和领导力有关的问题。今天的问题是：对希望成为公司高管的女性有什么建议？以下为金融服务公司Synchrony Financial首席执行官玛格丽特·基恩的回答。基恩在《财富》2016年美国最具影响力商界女性排行榜中排在第29位。

我来自非常重视传统的家庭。成长过程中，按照家人预期我会念基督教会中学，走上和他们一样的职业道路。当我获得第一份工作，在花旗银行做兼职债务催收员时，我就知道自己走上了一条新路。虽然没指望会升到公司高层，但我很清楚，有远大的理想很重要。

常有女性问我，如何在一个男性主掌的行业做首席执行官。有些答案很简单：努力工作、提升价值、积极参与新项目。不过，我告诉她们最重要的一点是，早早设定目标固然重要，实现目标的过程却是灵活的。世事无常，随着事业与家庭出现需求冲突，“原本的”职业规划往往要调整。

我回想了怎样调节存在冲突的需求，以下是一些我的观察。

眼光放长远

现代社会，人类的寿命和工作时间都延长了，职业生涯足有40到50年，因此必须在事业与生活之间寻求平衡。但也要承认这两者很难同时平衡。有时事业会优先，有时工作要让位给照顾孩子、老人或是患病的伴侣。到底事业与生活能不能达到真正的平衡，还是说生活本就是鱼与熊掌不能兼得？

子女十来岁的时候，正好赶上我的工作繁忙无比。工作几乎占据了睡觉以外全部时间，但孩子们永远不能接受妈妈把工作排在第一位。于是，我决定每天开车送他们上学。这样一来，我们至少有20分钟不受打扰的亲子时光。

但也会出现问题。我常常早上7点就接到公务电话，我和孩子还在车上。有段时间工作格外多，只要电话一响，女儿就会说：“肯定又是他（打来的）。”但即便亲密相处时间受到干扰，孩子们还是能理解我还在努力多陪他们，关系也因此更亲密。

那些年的经历让我学会处理日常生活中事业与生活的挑战，学会自我减压，不要逼自己立刻完成各项任务。有时慢慢来反而比较快。

懂得小人物也可以成大事

正如Facebook首席运营官雪莉·桑德伯格所说，如今职场阶梯已然不存在。职场如同孩子玩的攀登架。平级调动甚至是降级都可能获得新技能和经验，最终帮助升职。

某些特殊情况下，我会为了积累经验接受较低的职务。第一次休产假复工时，我就决定尝试一下。本来我在做企业营销，但又想体验一下销售的工作。所以，我申请平级调动。大部分同事都不能理解，可我知道，要想以后承担更大的责任，我需要学会管理自己的损益表、建立销售和客户目标。

没到一年，我升到了领导职位。

几年后，我又换了次工作。这次是个人原因。当时我的孩子一个五岁一个两岁，而我每天要工作15个小时，一周七天随时得接电话。这种工作对家庭的影响很大，我很快意识到，要是家庭关系不睦，工作也不会顺畅。

换工作是艰难的决定，我离开了深受器重而且升职在望的运营要职，加入了通用电气子公司通用电气资本负责新领域的工作。这次变动后，我终于有机会调整生活，也开拓了视野。事实证明，这次换工作是很正确的决定，我才能走到今天这一步。

这些年我在家庭和事业上做过上百次选择。身为母亲、女儿和妻子，细想之前的选择，每一次都令我受益匪浅，我学会了培养领导能力，接受不完美，也更了解人们奋斗的动力。

我是说过天下没有完美之事。然而，回过头看，生活中很多事又自有道理。（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林

The MPW Insiders Network is an online community where the biggest names in business and beyond answer timely career and leadership questions. Today’s answer for: “What advice would you give to women who hope to make to the C-suite?” is written by Margaret Keane, CEO of Synchrony Financial and no. 29 on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list for 2016.

I come from a family where tradition matters. Growing up, it was assumed I would go to a Catholic high school and follow the same career path as my family. When I instead took my first job as a part-time debt collector at Citibank, I knew I was charting a new path. I didn’t expect it would lead to the C-suite, but I did know it was important to think big.

Women often ask me what it takes to become CEO in a male-dominated industry. Some of the answers are obvious: hard work, adding value and enthusiastically taking on new projects. But the most important thing I tell women is that while it’s critical to set goals early, keep an open mind about how those goals are achieved. Life happens, and the conflicting demands of work and home often change the “original” path.

As I reflect on how I’ve negotiated my own conflicting demands, a few observations stand out.

Take the long view

Today we are living and working longer, with careers that span 40 to 50 years, so work-life balance is a must. But it’s important to recognize that they are rarely in balance simultaneously. Sometimes work will take priority; other times it will take a backseat to caring for children, aging parents or a sick spouse. Is there really such a thing as work-life balance, or is it all just life?

When my children were teenagers, I had a demanding and visible job. I knew work would take over my waking hours, but I also knew my kids could never feel like they came second. So, I decided that I would drive them to school every day. That way, we had at least 20 minutes, just for us.

It wasn’t perfect. Often, I would get work calls at 7 a.m. while we were in the car. During one particularly busy period, whenever the phone rang, my daughter would say, “That must be him, again.” But even when our time was interrupted, my kids appreciated that I was there, and it brought us closer together.

Those years taught me to take each work-life challenge day-by-day and put less pressure on myself to accomplish everything at once. Time is on our side.

Know that smaller roles can lead to bigger things.

As Sheryl Sandberg says, there is no career ladder anymore. It’s a career jungle gym. Lateral movement, or even movement to smaller positions, can differentiate your skills and experience in ways that eventually lead to bigger roles.

On a few occasions, I accepted smaller positions to gain needed experience. When I was returning from my first maternity leave, I decided to make such a switch. I had been in corporate marketing, but wanted to experience the sales side. So, I made a lateral move. Most colleagues didn’t understand, but I knew that to be considered for a bigger role in the future, I needed to be responsible for my own P&L, sales and customer goals.

In one year, I moved up to my boss’s job.

Several years later, I made another move, this time for personal reasons. My kids were five and two. At the time, I was working 15-hour days and on call seven days a week. The impact on my family was very challenging, and I soon realized that if things aren’t working at home, they won’t work on the job.

It was a difficult decision, but I left a significant operating role where I was well-liked and on the right promotional list to join GE Capital in a new role. The change allowed me to recalibrate my life and refresh my thinking. It turned out to be a great career move and eventually led me to where I am today.

Over the years, I’ve made hundreds of choices about home and work. As I look back at the ones I’ve made in my career, as a mother, daughter and wife, each taught me a great deal about growing into leadership, accepting imperfection and understanding what drives people.

I’m the first to say that nothing is perfect. But life has a funny way of making perfect sense in retrospect.