工作与生活不该界限分明

    眼下，许多美国公司都面临困境，这并不是什么秘密，而且经济困境也并不是唯一的原因。甚至连白宫也曾讨论过提高工作生活平衡的必要性，以及工作场所灵活性的经济效益，但与灵活的工作时间相比，公司还面临一个更严重的问题。

    其实，真正的问题并不是要迫使人们将他们在公司、家庭和社区中的生活分开，而是如何使人们在生活的方方面面都保持精力充沛，全身心投入。在过去四年的研究中，我与我的同事们发现，优秀的领导和优秀的公司一致认为，只有员工全身心投入工作，服务于更宏大而有意义的目标，他们才能做到最好。

    商业产品批发商联合文具公司（United Stationers）CEO迪克•古切纳尔说：“如果你在为一家公司工作，而且能从工作中找到至少一部分重要的生活目标，那你就是这个世界上最幸运的人。因为活得最幸福的人通常都有自己的目标，并在为之努力。如果你在白天工作时能抱着这样的态度，而不是说：‘我只是通过这份工作赚钱而已，我能从工作之外找到生活的目标’，它将产生非常强大的力量。”

    从工作中找到人生目标能够带来非常强大的力量，它会使人们超越实现工作与生活平衡这个问题，将工作与生活融为一体。这样两者将互相支持，相得益彰，而不再只是一个简单的零和游戏。如果人们能将自己的工作融入生活当中，与家人和朋友分享自们的工作，他们就会充满力量，并在工作中投入更多热情。

将工作融入生活

    我们对古切纳尔和其他30多位CEO的采访显示，在工作中抱有更宏大的目标，不仅会激励员工本人，也会感染周围的人。这些领导者将他们的决策和行为与他们的价值和信仰相融合。他们同时会借助家人、朋友和信赖的同事们的力量，保持专注和平衡。

    例如：刚刚退休的沃尔沃集团（Volvo Group）CEO雷夫•约翰森通常用他所谓的“餐桌测试”来检验他的决策和行为：每周六早上与家人共进早餐时，他都会自问：“解释我这一周的成就和我所做的决定难不难？我的家人能够理解吗？我的话会使他们为我骄傲吗？告诉他们这些会让我觉得自豪吗？”

    我们在联合文具集团的讨论中也出现了这种从员工延伸到家人的工作自豪感。联合文具集团的宗旨是“为伙伴成功提供助力”，其中“伙伴”包括员工、客户、供应商，以及当地社区。许多员工都认同公司的这一宗旨，纷纷参加联合文具基金会的书包项目，帮助无力购买文具的小学生。员工的孩子也会帮助分装书包，而在这个过程中，他们也会更深入地理解父母每天的工作。

    It's no secret that much of Corporate America is stressed — and not just because of the difficult economy. While even the White House has weighed in on the need for better work-life balance and the economic benefits of workplace flexibility, there's a much larger issue at stake here than how much flextime companies offer.

    The real issue is not about forcing people to compartmentalize their lives at work, at home, and in their communities but rather how to keep people energized and engaged in all aspects of their lives. In our research over the past four years, my colleagues and I have found that great leaders and great companies recognize that people are at their best when they are able to bring their whole selves to the job and can connect what they do at work to a meaningful larger purpose.

    Dick Gochnauer, CEO of business products wholesaler United Stationers, describes it this way: "If you are working for a company and you can find at least a key part of your life's purpose in your work, you're the luckiest person on earth. Because the people that find the most joy in life are those who have a purpose, and are fulfilling that purpose. And if you can do that during your day job rather than having to say, 'It's a day job, I am just making money, and I find purpose outside of work' … it is very, very powerful."

    Finding a sense of purpose at work is powerful because it allows people to go beyond balancing work and everything else to integrating what they do at work with their lives as a whole. In this way, the parts become mutually supportive, rather than a zero-sum game. People feel empowered when they can bring work into their life, sharing their work with family and friends, and can bring their full lives and passions into their work.

Bringing work into life

    Our interviews with Gochnauer and about 30 other CEOs suggest that having a larger purpose in work not only inspires individuals but also those around them. These leaders strive to integrate their decisions and actions with their values and beliefs. And they rely on family, friends, and trusted colleagues to help them stay centered and maintain their integrity.

    For example, Leif Johansson, recently retired CEO of the Volvo Group, uses what he calls the "kitchen table test" to measure how he is doing: At breakfast with his family on Saturday mornings, he asks himself, "How easy is it to explain what I have accomplished this week and the decisions I have made? Does my family get it? Does what I say make them proud? Does it make me proud to tell them about it?"

    Pride in the company that extends beyond employees to their families came up in our discussions at United Stationers as well. The company defines its purpose as "enabling our partners to succeed" -- with "partners" including employees as well as customers, suppliers, and local communities. Many employees connect to this shared purpose by participating in the United Stationers Foundation's backpack program, which benefits elementary school children who could not otherwise afford school supplies. Employees' children help to fill the backpacks and, in the process, gain a deeper understanding of what their parents do all day.