DEAR
CAPTAINS of Industry and Public Institutions,
In
recent years, few workplace ideas have been discussed as frequently and as
loosely as work–life balance. It is often raised with good intentions, defended
passionately, and yet applied inconsistently. As leaders, we must pause and ask
a harder question. Have we truly understood what work–life balance was meant to
achieve, or have we allowed a shallow interpretation to quietly shape
behaviour, expectations, and performance in our organisations?
In
this article, I would like to suggest that it is time we reframe our thinking.
We need to move from Work–Life Balance (WLB) to Work–Life Integration (WLI),
and then push further toward a higher aspiration, Work–Life Mastery (WLM).
These
terms are not semantic exercises. They form mental models. Mental models are
the internal explanations or maps we use to understand how the world works.
They influence how we think, interpret situations, make decisions, and solve
problems. When mental models are flawed, behaviour becomes distorted. When they
are clear and mature, performance improves, both for individuals and for our
businesses.
Today,
work–life balance is often misunderstood and interpreted naively. In many
cases, it pits work and life against each other, as though they are natural
enemies competing for time and attention. That was never the original
intention.
Properly
understood, work–life balance refers to the ability to meet work
responsibilities while still having sufficient time, energy, and mental space
for personal life, including family, health, rest, learning, and community. It
is not about working less. It is about working in a way that does not crowd out
everything else that allows a human being to function well and meaningfully. It
was never meant to be a stopwatch. It was about sustainability, dignity, and
long-term human well-being that includes productive work.
The
idea itself is relatively modern. Its roots trace back to the Industrial
Revolution, when factory labour imposed long hours under unhealthy and unsafe
conditions. Workers pushed back with calls for limits such as “eight hours
work, eight hours rest, and eight hours leisure.” In the late twentieth
century, the rise of white-collar work, dual-income households, and digital
technology blurred the boundaries between work and personal life. Work–life
balance then became both an individual and organisational concern. The
intention was clear. Avoid short-term output that sacrifices long-term human
and institutional well-being.
What
work–life balance was never meant to be is equally important. It was never
anti-work. It was never meant to imply equal hours of work and leisure every
day. It was never a justification for laziness, lack of ambition, or a rigid
formula that applies to everyone. It was never anti-performance or
anti-excellence. It does not treat work as a burden from which life must be
protected, nor does it suggest that time spent working is time stolen from
living.
Yet
today, we increasingly encounter a distorted mental model. We hear statements
such as, “I work strictly from 8:30 to 5:30. Everything outside that is mine.
Do not call me during my private time.” At the same time, there is little
hesitation in attending to personal matters during company hours, messaging
friends and family, scrolling social media, running errands, or mentally
checking out. When balance is invoked selectively, it is not balance. It is
asymmetry. True balance assumes mutual respect for time in both directions.
This
is why many thinkers and practitioners have moved toward the idea of Work–Life
Integration, sometimes described as Work–Life Harmony. The core idea is simple
but demanding. Human beings are not meant to divide themselves into
compartments. We are meant to live integrated lives where work, ethics, effort,
rest, and meaning form one whole.
With
this mental model, we do not ask for balance before contribution. We do not
protect time at the expense of results. At the same time, we do not allow
organisations to destroy people in the name of performance. Integration
restores adulthood to the workplace. Values do not switch off after office
hours, and responsibility does not disappear because the clock has moved.
However,
as Captains of Industry, Work–Life Integration should be the minimum standard
we expect from our people, not the end goal. Our ambitions must be deeper and
further. If we are serious about building top-performing talent pools and
credible successors, we must promote a higher aspiration. That aspiration is
Work–Life Mastery.
Top
performers, whether in general management or as high-level individual
contributors, live in a different operating reality from the average employee. Top
management, specialists, master engineers, surgeons, researchers, and
deal-makers understand something fundamental. Success requires longer learning
curves, higher stress tolerance, greater emotional regulation, and sustained
periods of intense effort.
They
accept that decisions follow them home. Problems do not clock out.
Responsibility often spills into weekends, sleep, and reflection. They do not
see this as exploitation. It is a price they are willing to pay for
significance. This is not because they lack boundaries, but because they
understand what mastery demands.
For
them, the goal is not a stress-free life. The goal is a meaningful life that
can carry stress without breaking. They do not attempt to avoid stress. They
learn to work with it. They develop the ability to focus deeply, sit with
complexity, think without immediate reward, and wrestle with ambiguity. These
capacities require solitude, tolerance for boredom, and strong mental and
emotional discipline - skills many never consciously train.
With
this mastery, they read when others rest, practise when others scroll, and
reflect when others switch off. They work deeper and longer on what truly
matters and spend far less time on trivialities. Effort is not scattered. It is
directed.
Paradoxically,
the best performers do not define themselves only by their work. They anchor
their identity beyond their job. Family, values, faith or philosophy, service,
and physical, emotional, and mental health provide grounding. These anchors
give them peace of mind under pressure. Without them, intensity becomes
burnout. With them, intensity becomes meaningful effort that supports
meaningful living.
Many
of these individuals would describe their lives simply and confidently. “I work
harder than most, but I also recover better than most. I carry stress, but I am
not owned by it. I integrate work, life, learning, and meaning into one
coherent life. I do not seek work–life balance. I strive for work–life
mastery.”
Dear
Captains, this reframing matters. The mental models we promote shape the
behaviours we tolerate and the talent we produce. Moving from balance to
integration and finally to mastery is not about demanding more from people
without care. It is about restoring maturity, responsibility, and purpose to
our organisations and our people. This is leadership work. And it begins with
how we set the correct mental model.
Peace,
anas
zubedy
zubedy
(m) sdn bhd
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