Two weeks ago, I had an opportunity to present the GEO Principle to a group of people meeting in North Carolina. A man in the audience asked a good question. He said his boss recently had left the company and he was contemplating whether he should apply for the opening. The new job would mean more money, but it would also mean more responsibility and, he feared, more time away from his family. His question: What should he do?
The GEO Principle ideal integrates work and family life. So often, we in the work world face dilemmas which pit family against work. What a losing proposition! In fact, both family and work are important. Without family, work would have little meaning, and without work, family would have little to eat.
As I have pointed out in this blog before, a century ago, work and home life were more integrated. With 40 percent of the American population involved in agriculture in the late 1800s, many people worked where they lived. Before chain retailers and big box store, families ran small stores. They often lived and worked in the same building. Spouses worked together to run the store, and kids grew into the business.
When work was a family endeavor, no one had to worry about the impact of additional work on the family. The industrial revolution and now the information age have long since obliterated this home-based economy. Work pulls families apart. Dad and mom leave the home and kids in order to do work that doesn't involve the kids at all. When they come home from the office or factory, they are tired -- often too tired to have any meaningful interaction with their kids.
When we think about what kind of job are we going to take next, one consideration might be the extent to which the job permits the integration of home and work. If you took the new job, would there be a chance for you to train a son or daughter in the company? Is there any way for you to work at home, or to take family along on business outings? At a minimum, do you feel comfortable talking about your business -- even in detail -- with family at the dinner table?
When God-fearing people get opportunities to advance, in general, I think it is a good thing and they should take it. The world needs God-fearing people to be in positions of responsibility and leadership. While family is important, it must not become an excuse to avoid new responsibility. Personal growth comes when you are challenged, not when everything is cruising along on auto pilot.
In the best situations, we would seek integration between our home and work life. In cases where that is not possible, I would likely take the new job, work very hard to make sure the work doesn't encroach unfairly into family time, but long term, I would seek a better career direction which permits work/home integration rather than pitting those two against each other.
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