Two-Career Families (HBR Working Parents Series)

6

Navigating Trade-offs in a Dual-Career Family

by Monique Valcour

Quick Takes

• Focus your shared life—and dual careers—on what matters most
• Build and maintain consensus on what you want as individuals and as a family
• Agree on the kind of life you want—and stick to that shared vision even when circumstances change
• Experiment with ways of shouldering work, household duties, and childcare

When Patrick Pichette, Google’s 52-year-old chief financial officer, retired to spend more time with his family, he gave voice to the sentiments of countless midcareer professionals in his retirement announcement when he asserted that “Life is wonderful” but it also involves a series of tradeoffs between professional endeavors and commitments to family and ...