Jack Welch says there's no work-life balance. What do you say?

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  Posted by Andrea Frazer, Good Housekeeping Wed Jul 15, 2009 5:03pm PDT

  Jack sounds like a prick, but at the same time, as long as people are willing to stay on that rat wheel, things aren't going to change.

  I also think that we, as women, don't give ourselves credit for the work we do at home. It's due to us that people like Jack gain the confidence to run companies. It's those extra efforts we make to teach them manners, kindness and integrity that seems so forgotten in today's society.

  I know many men who do this for their children also, and I also know many women who work full time. That is their choice and it's totally fine! I've been going ape ca-ca being at home with my kids this summer. And yet, it's still a choice. No one is forcing my hands. The REAL issue, in my opinion, is to take a side that works for you and your family and then really support it. Because, as Jack basically said, we can't have "it all" based on society's version of this. We can only have it all based on our own choices and resulting attitudes that surround those choices.

  Nice post. It's such a tricky question, isn't it? Good luck to you!

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  Posted by Carol B Wed Jul 15, 2009 6:30pm PDT

  Jack Welch speaks from his experience which I hope is changing today. Balance can be achieved if we are ready to embrace it. As a still relatively young nation, we are not. We need to learn from the European countries that we can still be successful by having various parts of our life. We should also realize that balance may not be achieved every day or every week but on par, we can make time for work, for family, for life. Life is not a dress rehearsal. We need to get our priorities straight. If people had believed in and emulated balance our economy would be in less trouble and the vast majority of our community would be living in a broad middle class rather than experiencing a large gulf between those that have too much and those that do not have enough.

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  Posted by earn Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:14pm PDT

  Jack comes from a different time. He has cut many throats and admitted it.While i did

  not work at G.E. i made many millionaires and was sddenly asked to resign-- lol - but we will recommend you..

  The feminist view point is interesting but i am a male .

  enjoy life work love and live

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  Posted by Jo Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:27pm PDT

  If I had to eat out of a garbage can I would do it before I worked for this so called man. I hope at the end of his life he is able to get warm with all the money piled on top of him. I thought this type of thinking went out in the 80's. I wish him nothing but good with wife number 3, 4, 5, or 6. Those who die with the biggest and best toys....still die.

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  Posted by Dan Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:23am PDT

  He's got a point. Either you're there to work your way up the ladder, or you're just there for the steady paycheck. I know that family is important, but if you want to make it to the top, sacrifices have to be made in your personal life. If you want a family, then sacrifices have to be made in your professional life. Sad to say, there is no such thing as getting your cake and eating it too. The truth of the matter is this: You must choose what you want, then be willing to make special sacrifices for it as needed. One way or the other, either your personal or professional life will have to take the heat for whichever path you decide to follow. One of them will have to be the sacrificial lamb if you want the other one to be truly successful.

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  Posted by Beverly Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:15am PDT

  sad, sad, sad.....to think we really think and live this way. Wake up people. Nobody ever confesses from their death bed they wished they had of WORKED MORE!!!!!

  So go ahead...shoot for that corner office, the one with all the windows. Spend all your time, energy, and spirit devoted to grinding that wheel. Make tons of money you never have time to spend, buy the big house you only get to sleep in when your lucky, watch your kids grow up in the pictures on the living room wall. You'll feel important, powerful, indispensable...untill you are dispensable. Or you have to retire...then you'll be sitting all alone in that great big house, the pharmacuetical co. will be getting all your money, or the nursing home.

  Then you die, and your family gets to tell everybody about what a hard worker you were.

  you only get one chance at this merry-go-round...don't waste it!

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  Posted by computergeek Thu Jul 16, 2009 5:25am PDT

  As a woman who has made the tough sacrifices, i.e. family ahead of work, I sadly admit that Jack is right. I lost my job not because of my performance but because i had the nerve to take care of my beloved daughter and son when they needed me and was kicked to the curb for a bogus reason. Jack sounds like my former boss, living in a big house with his dogs all alone with no children and no wife as she left him.

  This being said, it is sad that in a country such as ours that this goes on.

  My children will pay my former prick boss's social security but I got punished for caring for them. In my mind, both women and men who make the tough choice to take care of their family and attend the soccer games etc. should be rewarded not punished. If companies continue on this way, i believe that this country will never grow. The children are our future and parents should be respected. Sadly, i have found the opposite to be true. I hope things change soon.

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  Posted by ConsciousChange Thu Jul 16, 2009 5:28am PDT

  Most people who make it to the top usually are unhappy with themselves. They look back and see all the great things they could have done (hind site is 20-20). I believe work/life balance is very important like viamari1 said you finally get what you want and realize you have nothing. Open your eyes to how powerful you can be in life, work is not the only place where you can be powerful.

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  Posted by frmadi Thu Jul 16, 2009 5:37am PDT

  I guess in this world we all have to feel wounded....Jack is right to bad he said the word woman....This applies to men and every minority.....Are you looking for an excuse to fail or can you take it for its value and go on....

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  Posted by kk5 Thu Jul 16, 2009 5:48am PDT

  I love working. Honestly I found few other things to be fufilling. As the article states, years of working hard can ocassionally end up with being laid off. However years of investing in a relationship can have more or less the same result. Just because you were a good parent or spouse doesn't mean you will be appreciated. It doesn't mean your spouse won't cheat or your kids won't stop talking to you. It's a risk you take. What I think Mr. Welch is saying is that whatever decision you make, be aware that there are consequences.I am ok with him saying that. Mostly because it's true. I have very lofty career goals and have decided to wait or perhaps not have children at all. I definitely believe that a hard working Mom can out shine an average worker. The problem with the "corner office" is that Moms aren't in competition with average workers. They are up against, above average workers with the time and focus to dedicate all they have to their career. It's easy to judge people that have chosen to live differently than you have. Just because someone chooses thier career, doesn't mean they aren't happy and just because someone chooses thier family doesn't mean they are. Also...everyone talking about how terrible Jack Welch is, perhaps you should google him. Have any of you accomplished as much? Yes those who die with the biggest and best toys still die, but I bet they have a lot of fun before they go;-)

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