There are several lessons leaders in the healthcare industry can learn from Patrick Pichette, who after serving nearly seven years as CFO of Google is calling it quits.
In a heartfelt Google Plus post, Mr. Pichette announced his decision to the world. Although he cited wanting to spend more time with his family as the main reason he decided to step away from his position, his post contained a glimpse into his life and the struggles he's gone through in trying to establish a healthy balance between his personal and professional life.
Mr. Pichette described a morning in the fall of 2014 that set the ball rolling with his decision to leave Google. That morning, he and his wife, Tamar, were looking at the sunrise on the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, when Tamar posed a question he couldn't quite answer.
According to Mr. Pichette's farewell post, as he and his wife sat overlooking Africa that morning, she said, "Hey, why don't we just keep on going." But, according to Mr. Pichette she didn't leave it at that. Tamar continued, "Let's explore Africa, and then turn east to make our way to India, it's just next door, and we're here already. Then, we keep going; the Himalayas, Everest, go to Bali, the Great Barrier Reef…Antarctica, let's go see Antarctica!?"
Although Mr. Pichette told Tamar it wasn't the right time because there was "still so much to do at Google," among other things associated with his career, his wife's question stayed with him even after he returned to work. He said he couldn't quit asking himself, "When is it time for us to just keep going?"
He discovered several self-evident truths by reflecting on that question, and he ultimately came to the conclusion there was no good argument as to why he and Tamar shouldn't just grab their backpacks and go.
Like Mr. Pichette, many healthcare leaders find it difficult to effectively balance their professional and personal lives. It's understandable given the endless hours they could work and the never-ending requests being made of them.
In his post, Mr. Pichette shared some insight into his life that gave readers a glimpse of the personal sacrifices he has made to achieve his professional goals. He wrote about how he and his wife will be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary this summer, and how his children still joke that "it's really to early to tell" if their marriage will succeed because they've spent so little time together throughout Mr. Pichette's 25 to 30 years of nonstop work.
Mr. Pichette is certainly not alone in his struggle. According to a 2014 Harvard Business Review article, executive work-life balance "is at best an elusive ideal and at worst a complete myth." That disheartening conclusion was made after interviewing nearly 4,000 executives and reviewing the survey responses of 82 executives in a Harvard Business School leadership course.
However, the article did provide some guidance for business leaders, as five main themes to help manage and balance the needs of professional success and a personal life emerged through the executives' stories. One of the themes was collaborating with your partner.
Although business-minded people might immediately think "partner" refers to a colleague at work, the HBR article identified strong family ties as a vital component of success. "Most of the executives in our sample have partners or spouses, and common goals hold those couples together," the article stated.
The executives also revealed their spouses or significant others help them "keep their eyes on what matters, budget their time and energy, live healthfully, and make deliberate choices — sometimes tough ones — about work, travel, household management, and community involvement," according to the article.
It appears that theme rang true in the case of Mr. Pichette, as it was his wife who asked him the tough question that led him to discover the direction he needed to take with his life.
Mr. Pichette hasn't left Google yet. He plans to stay on board until a replacement for him has been found. Mr. Pichette also intends to help the new CFO through an "orderly transition," he wrote in his post.
If healthcare executives take away anything from Mr. Pichette's parting words of wisdom, perhaps it should be what he said in the last paragraph of his farewell post.
"In the end, life is wonderful, but nonetheless a series of trade offs, especially between business/professional endeavors and family/community. And thankfully, I feel I'm at a point in my life where I no longer have to make such tough choices anymore. And for that I am truly grateful. Carpe Diem."