1. The coach’s role in work-life balance
June 2012

2. Why should coaches & mentors care
about client work-life balance?

3. Work-life balance =
Complexity Management

4. Are you a maximiser
or a minimiser?

5. Work =
The time and energy people contract
to a third party for a defined reward
(not necessarily monetary)

6. Life =
The opportunity to achieve
in a diverse range of contexts

7. Work-Life Balance =
A state where an individual manages real
or potential conflict between different demands
on his or her time and energy in a way that satisfies their
needs for well-being and self-fulfilment

8. The work-life culture profit chain
Employee Reduced
Retention Labour Costs
Employee Customer Sales/customer
Satisfaction Profit
Satisfaction retention
WLB
Culture
Employee Productivity, Crea Effective
well-being tivity etc business processes
© Clutterbuck Associates 2010

9. The work-life culture profit chain

10. How the coach can help
• Raising awareness of work-life balance issues and conflicts
• Stimulating exploration and understanding of the forces that
support and undermine WLB for the client
• Clarifying and evaluating choices
• Linking aspirations of balance to client identity and personal
values
• Support through change and setbacks

11. The six life-streams
• Job
• Career
• Domestic/Family
• Health/Fitness
• Self-fulfilment
• Spiritual/Community

12. Some key questions
• What do I want from each aspect of my life?
•How do I sort out the conflicting demands on my time, physical
energy and emotional energy?
•How do I achieve the self-discipline to take charge of my life and
set boundaries for myself and others?
•How do I recognise and manage the stress?

13. Managing the conflicts
• Who defines what’s important for you?
•Let go/accept/move on
•Distributing your time and emotion
•How do you stop thinking about work?
•How do you build space between activities?

14. Allocation of Space and Time
Space/time for distant others
(e.g. community)
Space/time for paid employment
Space/time for close others
Space/time for me
© Clutterbuck Associates 2010

15. Managing the conflicts
• Who defines what’s important for you?
•Let go/accept/move on
•Distributing your time and emotion
•How do you stop thinking about work?
•How do you build space between activities?

16. A sense of work-life balance =
Awareness + Control
Of the big picture Externally focused
Of the current situation Internally focused
Clarity of values
© Clutterbuck Associates 2010

17. Some critical questions
• Where do the boundaries lie?
• Does all executive coaching include an element of “life coaching”?
• How responsible is the coach for the client’s life choices?
• Does the coach have to be a role model for work-life balance? If
not, how do we manage the credibility issue?
• What if the client chooses not to have a balanced approach to
work and life?