Guilty. This is a big thing in education--not only do we not work till 2, we bring stuff home, design stuff, and then do professional work, like goals, and data. Then, we correct on nights and weekends, answer emails, and do a ton more things by going to all the school activities... Balance!!

So the education profession does not encourage balance?

Quite the opposite, I find. It's the highest burnout career--there are so many requirements. You teach all day, but you have to prepare before or after, correcting, going to things...If I went to everything that would include soccer (boys/girls) basketball, clubs, events, parent meetings at night, baseball, softball...And people are disappointed if you can't/don't so there's a huge pressure... I used to do all this.

One colleague interviewed for a job at a school that asked him, "Do you mind being available to your families at all times?" He said, "No, I'm sorry. That's my family time. They can talk with me the next day." They were expecting him to give his personal contact info for 24/7 availability. He did not get that job... Education's burn out rate exceeds that of emergency response professionals. That's huge. 

I really loved this article because as a worker in any profession, you do what the culture expects you to do... The example in this article shows leadership "leads by leaving." It sets the tone that business is important, but so is the quality of life for people. No one should feel like a bad employee for going to their kid's ball game--they should be able to make and keep those family scheduling promises in the Corporate world.  American culture often lacks balance. I've worked for jobs where I struggled to make a plan because there'd always be a work "emergency" to carry over. One was insurance. You can't tell me a fender dent needs to be seen on Christmas on a rotating on-call basis...This article is important--leadership creates that culture, and in the long run, well-treated, loyal employees are happy and healthy for the bottom line. 

Wow. So the profession really encourages "do as I say not as I do"!