HBR Guide to Managing Stress at Work (HBR Guide Series)

Chapter 5

No, You Can’t Have It All

by Eric C. Sinoway

Imagine that a company needs two volunteers for a high-profile, out-of-town project. Who should go? Everyone has pressures and commitments to consider. There’s the young manager eager for his next promotion but worried about leaving his wife at home with their toddler and newborn son; the rising star who’s already juggling long hours at work, a part-time MBA program, and the planning of her wedding; the mid-career executive who just joined a nonprofit board and doesn’t want to miss his first meeting; the single colleague who would relish the assignment but is about to move her father into a nursing home; and an overweight team member with a family history of diabetes who knows the travel ...