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This is the third installment in a series of blog posts based on Vena's ongoing "Women in Finance" video series. Each post corresponds with a different interview with a woman in financial leadership.
Watch Episode 3 below.
For Muneerah Kanji, the definition of good work-life balance comes down to one thing: having enough time for all of the important things in your life.
Over the years, Muneerah's ability to actually accomplish that, though, has been a little hit or miss. "It's never perfect. Work-life balance is not 50% here, 50% there--it's a sliding scale," she says. "Some days you devote more time to work, some days you devote more time to family. But as long as you have that flexibility, you have that even-keel balance."
By taking that approach, Vena's Vice President of Finance has been able to find her way to the top echelons of finance success--all while raising a family of her own.
It hasn't been a direct path, though. In fact, she pursued a career in pharmacology and toxicology before even deciding to pursue her MBA and CPA designation. She's worked across industries since, and over that trajectory, she's learned a few things about establishing boundaries and building positive work-life balance.
Muneerah shared those experiences in Vena's third Women in Finance video, Finding Work-Life Balance in the Hybrid Workplace. And during the interview with Wendy Braithwaite, Chief Financial Planning & Orchestration Officer at Microsoft Canada, she offered some tips on achieving better work-life balance.
Let's take a look at some of the benefits of setting boundaries and achieving positive work-life balance first. Then we'll see what advice Muneerah offers on how to achieve that balance while still building towards your leadership goals.
Key Takeaways:
So why is good work-life balance even important? If you're starting out your career and are eager for leadership opportunities, why worry about building that balance into your career?
The truth is, learning how to set good boundaries early on can help you throughout the trajectory of your career, and actually benefit your leadership ambitions. And there are several reasons why. Here are three:
You may think you can do everything. You may even think you have to do everything if you want to get noticed and make your goals a reality. But a lack of work-life balance can quickly lead to burnout, especially when you're in a workplace where you don't feel supported. Establishing boundaries early on--and finding a workplace that honors those boundaries--will go a long way in ensuring you don't burn out before you even get a chance to shine.
2. You're Learning To Communicate Your Needs
As your life progresses, your needs will change and the boundaries you set in the workplace will have to change with it--becoming more flexible or rigid depending on your life circumstances. Whether you're starting a family, experiencing mental or physical health challenges or going through a personal or family crisis, work won't always be the most important thing in your life. Learning early on how to set boundaries and communicate your needs will prepare you for when it's not, ensuring you always have the work-life balance you need to stay on top of work and life--no matter what.
The best leaders understand what it takes to build both a productive and happy team. And they know that's not going to happen if everyone is on the brink of burnout. So helping everyone set their own boundaries is simply part of being a good leader. But so is showing them how to do it by leading through example. Learning how to set boundaries early on, then, will let you achieve better work-life balance when you do achieve those leadership goals you're looking for--empowering you to become the leader your future team deserves.
But the question is, how do you establish those boundaries--and good work-life balance in general--while still demonstrating to your managers that you're the right fit for leadership opportunities? All while also building the skills you need to make those goals a reality.
In her interview, Muneerah offered some tips leaders-in-the-making can use to put that work-life balance in place:
It can be easy to forget about work-life balance if work is the only thing you have in your calendar. And that's how burnout happens. So one of the keys to finding balance is to intentionally put aside time for your own life. This is especially important in the new remote and hybrid work environments, Muneerah adds, where work and life are both happening in the same space.
"For me, we've started doing date nights--dates with family, with friends, my kids and with my spouse," she says. "I think that's important. [As is] taking family vacations. Part of the joy is planning ahead so that you can have something to look forward to, then taking that time."
2. Stay "Present," No Matter Where You Are
Of course, when you do take that time for yourself, it's just as important that you're able to enjoy it--and use it to focus on yourself and the people around you. That means staying present in the moment--whether you're on a family vacation or taking care of a new baby--rather than splitting your focus with thoughts of work.
"Make sure you're there, as opposed to not, and not letting that attention wander," Muneerah says. "As humans, we have to be self-aware enough to not feel guilty that we're taking that time. That is your time and make sure you prioritize it."
Of course, sometimes that's easier said than done--and there will be times when you're going to fail. But by trying, you'll not only be able to share more meaningful memories with the people in your life, but you'll be rejuvenated when it's time for work as well. That means you'll be better able to put your full self into your work goals too.
When you're first starting out but have big ambitions going forward, it can be easy to get into the habit of saying yes to everything. This can set unreal expectations, though, on the amount of work you're able to take on. And that's not fair to future you, who's likely to burn out.
That's why it's important to learn how to say no.
Saying "no" doesn't have to be confrontational, either. It just means learning to communicate with your managers so that they understand your limits, as well as your goals--and prioritizing your opportunities around those. "For me, the keys to successful work-life balance are, first, the ability to prioritize and create boundaries [and], I think, open communication with your leader and your team about your requirements," Muneerah says.
In our last Women in Finance post, we talked about the importance of finding a workplace that supports you along your leadership journey. That's true when it comes to work-life balance, as well. It's easier to balance boundaries with leadership ambitions when you find a workplace that supports both. A flexible workplace and a culture that supports their employees' home lives can go a long way in avoiding burnout and staying on track.
"It's the culture of the company that you're in--the way your leader is and what their expectations are," Muneerah says. "If they have unrealistic expectations, unrealistic priorities or deadlines that you cannot really meet, that causes that imbalance to happen."
Finally, don't be afraid of saying no or speaking out for fear of missing out on a project or other opportunity. Because there are other projects and opportunities waiting around the bend.
"Your career journey is a marathon, it's not a sprint," Muneerah says. "Things will come, and as long as you are following your heart and following your priorities, things will happen as they should."
By taking the long view, you can pursue the opportunities that best fit your goals, workload and current availability--as opposed to every opportunity that's put in front of you. And by doing that, you can still have time left for other things--including family and home life.
The world of finance is competitive. We know that. But you still shouldn't have to sacrifice your life and mental well-being for your work goals. A positive work-life balance and the right set of boundaries will help you stay on the leadership track--with a focus on the long term--without burning you out along the way.
And that's going to help you become a better leader once you get there.
The full "Finding Work-Life Balance in the Hybrid Workplace" video is now available, featuring an interview with Vena Vice President of Finance Muneerah Kanji. And stay tuned for the next interview, with Larysa Melnychuk, Founder and CEO of the FP&A Trends Group and Managing Director of the International FP&A Board. It's scheduled for release March 29, 2023.
As Senior Director of Content and Communications, Jonathan Paul leads content strategy and execution at Vena, overseeing the development of owned media and content experiences that help finance professionals fuel business health, as well as their personal and professional growth. When he's not dreaming up new ways to offer audiences value through content creation, Jonathan loves to lose himself in an immersive video game with a solid narrative, lose golf balls pretending to be good at golf and lose time dreaming about time travel.
