Cisco's Padmasree Warrior's Problem With The Term 'Work-Life Balance'

The Problem With The Term 'Work-Life Balance'

We shouldn't be emphasizing work-life balance, according to Padmasree Warrior. We should be striving for work-life "integration."

The Chief Technology Officer of Cisco, a tech giant specializing in networking, said during a Friday chat with HuffPost Live in Davos that the language surrounding how we divide our work and personal lives might be flawed.

"I came to this realization that balance suggests perfection and life isn't perfect," she said.

"I like the word integration much better. And the reason I like integration is it's not just your work and your family; you have to take care of yourself," she said. "And 'yourself' doesn't just mean your physical self, but your emotional and spiritual self."

But there is one area where you should strive for balance, according to Warrior. And that's in giving back, both at work and in our personal lives.

"I think in business we need to change the notion of just hiring go-getters," she said. "[Of only hiring] people who are always ambitious to [hiring] people who are go-givers. Meaning people who are more balanced about giving and getting."

"I think giving allows you to gain happiness, and that's important," she added.

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