Michael Lissack
husband, is on a business trip and can’t just swing by to pick up Josh. Lisa tries to reach her mother, but it’s Tuesday and Lorraine is on the golf course on Tuesdays. Can she ask Mark, her executive assistant, to go get Josh? Not a great idea. Mark gets huffy about non-job-related tasks (as he defines them - get coffee, yes; make copies, yes; drop the client at the airport, hell no). What could she do? Mark buzzes that the school has called again. Today of all days. Can’t they just give him an aspirin and tell him to lie down? Wait, what am I say- ing, this is my eight-year-old I’m talking about. The perfect child - except when he gets sick right before Harvey is coming to lunch. How will the contract get signed (without that damned early termination clause) if I’m not here to remind Harvey that we never sign early termination clauses? If I leave it up to Jim and Rhonda, the contract will have us paying Harvey for the right to stay in instead of him paying for the right to leave early. Josh, Josh, why today of all days? If this sounds all too familiar, it is because everyone has days like Lisa. Whether we like it or not, we each occupy a multitude of roles and they have a nasty habit of making conflicting demands just when we don’t want them to. And in today’s hyperconnected world, the boundaries between these roles have become increasingly blurred. The smartphone that constantly pings with notifications doesn’t dis- tinguish between your role as parent, professional, friend, community member, or individual with personal interests. The video conference that brings colleagues into your home office also reveals glimpses of your do- mestic life. The social media post that connects with friends may be seen by clients, supervisors, or potential employers. In the workplace of today, the issues raised by the competing demands of multiple roles have moved to the forefront of employee/employer rela- tionships. The old command-and-control model of “Josh will just have to wait” may have worked fine when father was at work and mother was at home, but that idealized picture of the perfect family has not been true for decades (if it really ever was). In today’s corporate environment, the demands placed on Lisa are not uncommon. But, knowing what to do,
122
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease