Former U.S. President Barack Obama thinks that sometimes, professionals must devote themselves to the highest level. The White House experience, however, also illustrates how family time and personal relationships and responsibilities should not be traded away for eternity.
Professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs are finding it harder than ever to balance their work and personal lives perfectly. Careers can require long days, hard choices and sacrifices. However, an overworked employee can encounter issues that cannot always be corrected through success in the workplace.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama has a frank assessment of this challenge. He feels that if they are seeking excellence in an arduous career, they must be prepared to sacrifice some of their attention to personal life and relationships while in the grind.
But there is a caveat to his message: hard work should not be an excuse to abandon family and personal obligations in the long run.
In October 2024, Obama spoke with The Pivot Podcast about how his own campaigning and two years in the White House have shown him the price of success when it comes to his own ambitious goals.
His main point was that it’s not necessary to have a perfect balance every day. Rather, people should be aware of the needs and priorities for every age and adjust their priorities as they get older.
Professional Success Sometimes Requires Imbalance, Barack Obama’s View:
“Successful professionals” don’t have to keep work and personal life separate, as the saying goes, but that’s what Obama thinks.
He said those who strive for excellence in other professions, like business, politics, sporting or music, will at some point find that work takes up more of their time than they’d like.
These periods can be when people are focused on their goals, especially in the midst of achieving big career objectives or starting a new business.
For entrepreneurs, this could be one of the hours that will be worked more in the early days of a company. It may be a significant restructuring for corporate executives or a complex business situation.
But Obama wasn’t recommending this be done forever.
His argument was that things change in life, and so do professional and personal priorities. Sometimes work needs to be focused and sometimes families need to be stepped back.
It is significant to note that the desire to gain a career and to take care of oneself do not need to conflict. But the question is, at what time to prioritize one over the other.
Also read: 3 Productivity Techniques to Master Your Priorities, According to Google’s Expert
The Presidential Campaign That Tested His Family Life
One of Obama’s views on work-life balance is rooted in his personal journey.
He had about 18 months to run an extraordinarily busy political campaign during his first presidential bid. He was quite busy, and on occasion had to take time off from his campaign work, but this put a strain on his family.
His wife, Michelle Obama, continued to work her own job and his youngest daughters, Sasha and Malia, were still very young.
Obama admitted this was a time when Michelle shouldered many of the duties for the household and the children.
He also knew that the deal she made would have demanded a lot from her, and that’s what she has been telling him all these years.
It proved a valuable lesson in the nature of high-achieving careers: sometimes, those who don’t go for it sacrifice themselves for others.
One of the couple can assume extra household duties for a period while the other focuses on career development.
These can be successful but they need to be understood and communicated, and there needs to be a willingness to share responsibilities if things change.
Why Obama Made Family Dinner a Priority in the White House
In fact, managing family time was easier after Obama entered the White House, he said.
Although it was an exceptionally demanding presidency, the house of the President and the Oval Office were close enough for regular family interaction.
He began to dine with Michelle at 6:30pm each evening, and with their daughters.
Importantly, this was not necessarily the end of his working day.
If his official duties were not completed, then he can go back to his office after spending time with his family.
The deal enabled him to keep in touch with his children, while keeping to his presidential duties.
On The Pivot Podcast, Obama shared that spending time with his family helped keep him grounded and give him perspective. He said those interactions helped him become more effective in his work.
The model provides a beneficial guideline for executives and business owners. Working outside of office hours should not be interpreted as giving up your work duties. Establishing boundaries can sometimes aid individuals to get back to the place of work with clarity.
In a related essay on his own Medium page, Obama contained, Obama also shared his thoughts on the value of family time in his time in office, noting that dinner was a key factor in helping him get back in touch with the people that were closest to him.
Obama’s definition of a meaningful life in terms of career achievements could be incorrect
When it comes to work-life balance, one of Obama’s most memorable quotes was made during an Obama Foundation event in 2019.
He shared some thoughts about what he feels were the greatest accomplishments in his life.
His thesis was that at the end of his life he would probably not remember most for his political achievements, acts of legislation, speeches or large public assemblies.
Instead, he hoped to have the most significant experiences with his children and relationships.
The difference exemplifies a larger problem for high-performing professionals in general.
Success in the workplace can be measured in several ways including promotions, financial improvement, business expansion, recognition and measurable success. These can be significant, but not necessarily a measure of personal life quality.
A business can be a success and the executive may be unhappy in their relationships at home. An entrepreneur can make a successful business, but forget to take in the important family moments in the process.
If anyone is considering reading this article, Obama’s words should resonate with them: “Career success shouldn’t be measured by just professional accomplishments.
It’s possible to have it all, but not all at once
When thinking about the obligations of couples, Obama’s words are especially applicable.
He said he and Michelle viewed their career choices as a way that both could have a successful career, but in different ways and at different times.
At times, it may be necessary for one partner to work more hours, or to work different hours, to support their career. The other might temporarily bear more of the burden of household responsibilities.
But the arrangement should go for both ways.
If the situation changes, the partner that was previously supported should be willing to do the same to the partner providing the support.
This will produce a fairer long-term relationship.
The principle can be implemented practically like:
- When there is busy work to be done, agreeing on household responsibilities.
- Promoting the professional growth and career choices for one another.
- Ensuring significant family responsibilities are protected as far as possible.
- Talking with people about workload changes before they lead to resentment.
- Finding time in busy work years to invest in personal relationships.
What’s crucial is that it’s a sacrifice made temporarily and mutually and not a sacrifice that one person takes while the other does not.
In fact, LinkedIn’s co-founder Reid Hoffman is also challenging the notion of work/life balance in today’s society
That’s not just Obama’s view on the matter.
Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, has had a more challenging definition of entrepreneurship.
In 2014, speaking at Stanford University’s How to Start a Startup course, Hoffman claimed that entrepreneurs seeking to create successful businesses must be willing to put a lot of hard work into their ventures.
He believed, however, that in building a startup one had to deal with a lot of uncertainty and competition. With the amount of decisions that need to be made in a short period, and the issues that arise that cannot always be managed in standard office hours, entrepreneurs often have to make choices that happen on the fly and work on issues that aren’t always predictable.
Later on The Diary of a CEO podcast, Hoffman spoke about the early culture of the company at LinkedIn.
He said that workers who had families were able to go home and have dinner. These were usually assumed to recapture their work afterward, however.
This is an alternative form of work-life balance. It isn’t a time out for work, but rather a block of time for family before work demands again take hold.
Several people have criticized Hoffman’s remarks, especially those worried about burnout and outlandish expectations in the work environment.
His take on entrepreneurship is part of a broader discussion on the subject: is it possible to achieve extraordinary growth in a business without making extraordinary sacrifices or can it be done with a more sustainable approach to working?
Not all business leaders are “hustle” entrepreneurs
Obama and Hoffman see the need for the kind of lofty positions that are demanded, but others in the business world have pointed out the need to keep your personal boundaries clear.
Former Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan also talked about his philosophy for work and family life in a feature in Fortune.
Narasimhan said he was very particular about the balance in life. When he was in town and available to spend time with his family, he said, it was necessary to have strong reasons to meet or do professional business after 6 p.m.
He shows that senior leadership does not always need to be at work at all times of the day.
He also mentioned the practice of personal routines, such as meditation and exercise.
Both sides present different ideas, and the takeaway is that successful leaders don’t operate on the same timetable. The strategies they use depends on their responsibilities, professional contexts, and personal values.
How Three Prominent Leaders Approach Work-Life Balance
| Leader | Main perspective | Approach to personal time |
|---|---|---|
| Barack Obama | Professional life can become temporarily unbalanced | Protected 6:30 p.m. family dinners during his presidency |
| Reid Hoffman | Startup founders must accept periods of intense commitment | Early LinkedIn employees could go home for dinner before returning to work |
| Laxman Narasimhan | Professional success should include personal boundaries | Generally avoided meetings after 6 p.m. unless genuinely important |
A comparison reveals that there is no one-to-one correspondence between handling work and handling personal relationships.
The lessons to be learned from these experiences are applicable to the professional and entrepreneurial world
There are several lessons for those who are making their way in the world of work or running a business in the comments by Obama, Hoffman and Narasimhan.
1. Priorities fluctuate in the course of time.
The progression of career development is not always predictable. In a short period of time, a business start-up, a promotion, a large project or financial troubles can bring temporary excess to professional responsibilities.
Identifying these times helps to make it easier to handle your expectations at home and at work.
2. Don’t make temporary sacrifices into permanent habits
During a key work milestone, it may be necessary to work longer hours. But, when you regularly give up sleep, relationships with family members and your health, this can lead to issues in the long-term.
It is important for professionals to regularly check their schedules and ensure that their work arrangements are sustainable.
3. Understand the resources that help them achieve success in their profession.
Support from a spouse, family members, colleagues or business partners may be a part of a person’s career success.
It is significant to recognize these contributions. Professional success shouldn’t be thought of solely as a result of the individual’s personal effort when other people have contributed.
4. Create meaningful boundaries
Even with high-stakes jobs, there is room for carefully-crafted family meal time, as Obama’s own family dinner shows.
Likewise, the idea of setting boundaries for evening meetings is important in Narasimhan’s way of thinking.
These boundaries can be the same for any two people. It is important to make arrangements that work for each person’s situation.
5. Focus on personal accomplishments instead of career success
Income, business growth, promotions and recognition are important measures of career progress.
But relationships, health, and fun outside of work should also be taken into consideration.
A rewarding work life should enhance a positive and productive life, not take it over.
The bottom line: Working harder isn’t enough to be successful
Barack Obama’s comments offer a realistic perspective on the challenges of balancing ambition with personal responsibilities.
His experience shows that sometimes a high level of commitment is required to achieve professional objectives. It also reveals why the family relationship and individual time should continue to be significant factors.
Reid Hoffman emphasizes the intensity required to build a competitive startup, while Laxman Narasimhan demonstrates that senior executives can establish firm boundaries around their personal lives.
Their approaches differ, but they raise an important question for anyone pursuing professional success: What is the purpose of achieving more if there is no time left to enjoy the results?
There may not be a perfect formula for balancing career ambitions and family responsibilities. However, recognizing changing priorities, supporting the people closest to us and making deliberate decisions about how we spend our time can help create a more sustainable definition of success.
Recommended external references
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