Managing Up

17The Workaholic

“There's no crying in baseball!”

—Jimmy Dugan, A League of Their Own

 

Real‐Life Story

After a bad experience in a previous job, Josephine promised herself that she was not going to sacrifice her personal life ever again. That was until she took a position working for Heidi, a senior executive in the federal government. Heidi was a force of nature. She was brilliant, dedicated, and hard‐charging (yes, they exist in the government!). Heidi was on a mission and expected those around her to share her passion and her around‐the‐clock work mentality. While Josephine deeply wanted to protect her work‐life balance, she also knew that working for Heidi at this point in her career could be a huge bonus. While she was inspired by Heidi's mission and wanted to make the most of this opportunity, Josephine wasn't sure she was game for the 24/7 challenge ahead.

 

Ah, the Workaholic Boss. He arrives before you do and is always there later than you. She puts in 12‐hour days, every day. He works every weekend and late into the night. She sends e‐mails and texts at all hours, including on the weekends. He can't seem to get enough of work. She thinks nothing of assigning you projects at 5 p.m. that are due the next morning. He never takes vacations. She piles on work without stopping to consider your bandwidth. Everybody is afraid to leave the office before he does. You find yourself glued to your phone, reluctant to make evening or weekend social plans. You wonder, ...