Quick! Define what success means...
Quick! Define what success means to you. A prestigious job title? An impressive salary? A corner office with a view? Traditionally, these have been the yardsticks used to measure success. But, as we stand on the threshold of the 21st century, the meaning of work is undergoing a profound revolution - particularly for women. An increasing number of women appear to be finding themselves at an emotional, and even spiritual, crossroads.
Caroline a 45-year-old executive at a Fortune 100 company, is one such woman. Sure, she seems to have it all - an elegant home, a successful husband, two beautiful children, a live-in nanny, a fancy car, a fat bank account. Yet despite all the outward trappings of success. Caroline feels hollow inside.
"My entire life is work," she admits. 'In my quest for success, I've neglected family and friends. And when I look at who I've become, I don't like what I see. All my hard work and tangible rewards have not given me the joy and peace of mind I though they would. I keep wondering, "Is this all there is?"
Caroline is far from alone. Scores of successful women like her report feeling empty, disillusioned, and unfulfilled.
What gives? At a time when many women have attained career success beyond their wildest dreams, surprising numbers are discovering that they want much more than the bottom line provides. They resent being married to their jobs. Instead of doing more and more and enjoying it less and less, they seek lives that are more multidimensional. They long for sufficient time to devote to family, friends, community, and other outside interests, as well as time for solitude and self-reflection to balance how much of themselves they typically give away. They yearn to feel that who they are and what they do matters. They want the workplace to be more than a place to earn their daily bread. In essence, money is not enough.
Clearly, this is a time of reckoning for working women. For years, many women - grateful and even flattered by opportunities to climb the corporate ladder - have taken whatever job was offered to them without pausing to consider their own needs. And in the process of constantly trying to meet others' expectations, these women have let others define their own destinies.
But no longer.
When Money Isn't Enough, through a series of thought-provoking and inspirational stories, shows how growing numbers of women are beginning to redefine success on their own termsIand in a variety of ways. In the book you'll meet:
- President and CEO of Pepsi, Brenda Barnes, who resigned her seven-figure job because she wanted to spend more time with her kids.
- Laura Brogden, who left her financially rewarding but exhausting position and backtracked to her former, less stressful job - a disastrous career move that nonetheless "saved her soul."
- American Express Bank Vice President, Shoya Zichy, who made a clean break to become an artist and consultant to professional women who, like herself, were burned out by the corporate grind.
In our research, one dominant concern among working women emerged: the quest for meaning and balance in one's life. As women have become more and more successful in traditional terms, they have come to question the real meaning of success. This rampant ambivalence is what convinced us to write When Money Isn't Enough - to focus on what is perhaps the most important work-related issue of our time: winning at work without losing at life.
We hope that When Money Isn't Enough will help you define and create a definition of success that fulfills your own needs, your goals, and your dreams.
Copyright © Connie Glaser
