An article about me was published in Business Woman, number 01/2015, Vol IV.
Supposedly, one very successful manager is envious of the fact that I built my career while enjoying the time with my children as well. I am lucky that I enjoy my work. Primarily I am lucky that I met the people in my life that I have. My work is part of my life, my life is part of my work. My wish is that it will be like this always. My work and private life in balance. They mix and mingle together and enrich one another.
So far, I have managed to keep this balance, plus or minus. It just takes some practice. It is necessary to have clear priorities, life values, to know how to hold back on some things or to at least put them off for a later time. It is important for me to think about my family and my close friends and to show them how much I love them and how happy I am that I have them and that they tolerate the path that I chose. But at the same time, it is important to take things with some perspective, when it’s not a matter of health or life. And primarily to be humble and know that everything can change in an instant. I always have this on my mind, among other things, that my entire life moves around health.
I am not perfect at everything and sometimes I truly fail at something, but I am trying. I work on my energy a lot so that I can handle everything and live a life according to my expectations. Fortunately, I get enough energy out of life and what's important is that I know how to recharge. Ever since I was a child, I figured out that I could give positive energy to certain people, that I am able to encourage them and give them self-assurance. I think that this is one of the reasons why I am in the role of a leader and manager today. A role I never dreamed for and never guessed that I would enjoy. Not too long ago I learned that management is actually work with energies.
The people that I am surrounded by often expect that I am going to be well tuned in and that I will find a solution and cover for others, especially when the situation is bad. Usually this is true, but mostly I need to recharge my energy. Once, a friend of mine said that in order for other people to love someone, that person needs to love them self, first - I understood this as meaning I need to take care of myself in order for me to be able to help others.
I need to have “recharging” my energy on my mind and then plan everything else accordingly. I know how to be strict and thorough on myself sometimes. It doesn’t bother me to have to stay in the office until ten at night or to have to leave the office well before then to see a nice exhibition. I similarly have no problem with not doing anything at all from time to time. I am not afraid to manage my own feelings, assuming it is possible.
I would never allow myself to advise someone on how to live or how to relax or how to organize their life. I only promised to speak on this topic, because I know that once in a while some women find inspiration in my experiences. It will probably be better for me to write down some of these thoughts that I have, which are related to this topic and which I am trying to achieve, resulting in some greater or lesser successes:
- It is necessary to take care of both your physical and your mental health. I don’t take the things that happen around me deadly serious and I enjoy even the smallest joys which life brings. Thanks to these small moments I have the strength to solve various problems.
- It is not necessary to prove to myself that I can handle everything perfectly, at work or at home. When I found someone to help around the house, I had more time for myself, the children, my husband and friends and furthermore, I am able to return from work to a beautifully, cleaned home. All of this gives me energy and takes my attention away from the problems at work. And I am able to help another person, by providing him with work.
- I go for a lot of walks and it’s the best to do so out in nature. I take our retriever out every morning. I have to wake up earlier for this, but it’s worth it. Here I am alone with my thoughts and I am often able to come up with a solution to some problem, right there on my walk. I read that walking is very healthy as a preventative to many of lifestyle diseases. And plus, I have the opportunity to meet up with my neighbors, which, thanks to my otherwise long work schedule, wouldn’t usually be possible.
- I feel the need to clear my mind from time to time by going out for some cultural event - I love books, movies, jazz, classical music and the theater.
- I am trying to find time for yoga, which helps me even more to deal with many ailments, brought on my stressful work.
- As a manager, I try to take on very capable people and to then delegate the work load. It is beneficial to their individual development, as well as the firm’s and my own. I can rely on them and devote more of my time to other tasks.
- Family values are important for everyone. I feel the need to thank the wives and husbands of our employees for being patient and tolerable that their other half works a lot. Every once in a while, we all, including our partners, get together in our free time. I personally wouldn’t be able to do all that I am doing if I didn’t have a tolerable partner.
- Even if it is only a little bit possible, I make time for my friends, to broaden the family. They will surely be the ones to support me should any complication at work come up. I don’t burn bridges behind me. Your work shouldn’t disturb the relationships you have with your colleagues, friends or family. Other people always manage to somehow recharge us.
- Gradually, I’m pondering what I will do as soon as I no longer have my current job. To make sure that this doesn’t surprise or break me. Anything can happen in the future and that is why it is important to have something that we will not lose immediately.
- Let's be a little selfish and not live a life only for other people or even for our responsibilities. Everybody is working with all their strength for their company, but we need to have free time for our families, to enjoy some culture and our hobbies... In order for me to do my job well, I have to have some clearly, given time just for me. Until recently we had management council on Monday mornings for example. So, on Sunday evening after seven p.m. I would start to get prepared and then I waisted that time, which I could have used for resting. The solution to this was very easy: for several months now, we have been having council meetings on Tuesday and I devote some time for these same preparations at work.
- Let’s not be afraid to change our priorities. I create a weekly plan of what I should do. I do a check at the end of the week to discover that I did not meet all the requirements I made for myself, because some other tasks came along, which were more important at that time. But this does not cause me to break down. I simply take care of the less important things the next week.
- As managers, let’s not consider our employees as tools we use to achieve our tasks. Good relationships at work lead to a positive atmosphere where it is possible to do better work. We are often times at work more than we are at home. When the director of Biogen for Europe took me on, he said to me: “Michaela, results are not the most important, but rather how the atmosphere governs the firm and how the people feel there.” It was then that I knew that I had found the right place.
- It isn't only about what somebody knows how to do, but what that person is really like. I make decisions during the selection process according to what kind of personality I see sitting before me. Almost anyone can learn new work skills, but the nature of a person doesn’t change right away. I like to surround myself with a harmonious environment. I actively avoid people who don't want to build anything but would rather complain about everything. If you surround yourself with such people, they then could suck all the positive energy out of you. I like people who are prepared to help others and who don’t try to, as they say, only play for themselves.
