by Caroline Leach | Jun 6, 2023 | Careers, Work/Life
With all the news about return-to-office policies, a middle ground of hybrid work seems optimal in many cases.
This gets the best of collaboration and culture building with a few days in the office, balanced with a few days of remote work for better focus, productivity, and work/life integration.
As an example, I’m working in Mammoth Lakes, California this week, a five-hour drive from my home base in Los Angeles.
My dad is visiting from the East Coast to attend meetings in Mammoth. While he’s a pretty active 80-something-year-old, I jumped in as the driver and travel companion.
How is this working out?
🔴 Coaching and consulting client meetings continued on as usual via Teams and Zoom
🔴 New client proposals got created and delivered as usual
🔴 Admissions committee work for the graduate program I teach in continued on
🔴 Event and catering inquiries for my family’s Redondo Beach restaurant Pacific Standard Prime got responses
🔴 Driving from LAX to Mammoth, my dad and I met my son for lunch at UCLA between his classes
🔴 My dad and I spent time together and caught up on each other’s lives
🔴 The change of scenery in the stunning and still-snowy Eastern Sierras brought new perspectives and ideas
Overall, it’s been an integrated and effective way to combine work and life.
Of course, having my own coaching, consulting, and speaking business The Carrelle Company means I can work wherever and whenever I need and want to.
Doing restaurant-related work remotely was a bit trickier, however, and more limited in scope.
There are many ways to do great work from anywhere. There are many ways to combine the best of being in the workplace at times and being remote at times.
What works well for you?
by Caroline Leach | Jan 25, 2023 | Leadership, Work/Life
Even when we leave companies, or companies leave us, the relationships with our colleagues remain.
The highs, the lows, and the in betweens of our work fade away. What sticks around? Special connections, if we choose to spend time with people who are important to us.
It was fun to gather recently with DIRECTV alums, and hear what’s new with everyone.
It was the ride of a lifetime to work together, and it’s even better to stay in touch.
A group of us gathered for dinner last week (pictured above), and another group gathered for drinks last month during the holidays (pictured below).
Last fall, I became intrigued by what makes us happy and contributes to our well-being. It has been a challenging few years, for a variety of reasons, including the pandemic. This is true for me, and I suspect is true for all of us.
My husband Kevin and I each launched our own businesses in 2018. My consulting/coaching/speaking business The Carrelle Company LLC and his restaurant Pacific Standard Prime steakhouse were both established that fall.
In a stroke of randomly poor timing, the restaurant opened in August 2020, a few months into the pandemic. To say it’s been a rocky road is a major understatement.
A quote attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th U.S. President, gives me great comfort and guidance (and which Roosevelt credits to Squire Bill Widener): “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
This has been my daily mantra, to focus on each day only. Instead of wishing the road was easier, I ask myself what I can do, with what I have, where I am.
It turns out, a lot.
Here we are in 2023. The road isn’t necessarily easier.
Yet the restaurant is still open, and people on Yelp give the team a lot of love. Major credit to Kevin for following his dream and keeping at it every day, along with an amazing team of employees and wonderful guests who come back time after time.
And my business continues to grow, more quickly each year. This is thanks in part to friends and colleagues who have provided encouragement and made referrals.
Back to my question about what makes us happy. It started with a Hello, Monday podcast episode from LinkedIn with Dr. Laurie Santos on the topic of increasing happiness. I wanted to know the secret.
Can you guess?
Turns out it’s social connections.
The Harvard Study of Human Development underscores this finding. Launched in 1938, it’s followed the lives of more than 700 initial participants, and later, their families.
What has it found so far? More than following a healthy diet, exercising regularly, or getting enough sleep, it turns out that cultivating relationships has the biggest impact on our happiness and well being.
So I reflected on what I could do, with what I have, where I am.
And I thought, my family owns a restaurant. Why don’t I invite different groups of people to dinner? It started with some high school friends in November (pictured below). And continued with former work colleagues this month. Who knows where this will go, but it’s sure a lot of fun!
One of the people invited to the dinner was Pat Doyle, the former CFO of DIRECTV. Even though I didn’t work in Finance (I led Corporate Communications as part of the amazing HR team led by Joe Bosch), both Pat and Joe opened a door for me to work on a major M&A integration team led by my colleague and now friend Jennifer Cho.
Heartbreakingly, the day I confirmed the dinner plans with the group, I learned about Pat’s untimely passing the day before. Pat was a gentle, smart, and kind leader, with incredible integrity. He was a father and a grandfather, and way too young to leave us. Pat will be missed by so many people for whom he was a role model and a shining light. What a legacy he leaves for his own family, for the DIRECTV family, and for the larger community.
This brought into sharp relief a mantra from another colleague, Linda Simon. She ends every email with “enjoy every day!” This could not be more sage advice. Today is all we have. Let’s enjoy it, and let’s enjoy our relationships with the special people in our lives.
So if you’re struggling with the loss of a loved one, an unexpected layoff, a business setback, concern about the future, or anything else, here are two questions to ask yourself.
What can you do, with what you have, where you are?
And who can you reach out to and connect with today?
by Caroline Leach | Dec 26, 2022 | Work/Life
Ah, the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. It feels like the world (almost) stops, for one golden week. Texts, emails, and calls drop off in frequency. Calendars have open space. Demands lighten up.
Indeed, it would be tempting to float through these blissful days without a care in the world.
But wait. What if there’s a better way?
What if there’s a path that combines rest, reflection, and renewal? How could you create a deeply satisfying week? One that would end your year on a high note and help you start strong in the new year?
Our values – what’s important to us – can light the way. What’s most important to you? Let that guide your plan for this week. So that when you wake up on New Year’s Day, you feel deep satisfaction in how you chose to use this time.
Anything you’re eager to be and do in the new year, you can start today. Take a small step. And then another. And so on.
Therefore, here’s what’s on my plan for this golden week:
* family and friends: savoring time with loved ones
* writing: creating content for LinkedIn and a new book idea
* business: reflecting on this year and planning for the next
It’s worth noting that there are a few other items on my plan. However, in the interest of prioritizing and not creating a laundry list that will be more exhausting than refreshing, I limited the list to three.
What’s on your plan for this week?
How will you spend this quieter, golden time that comes once a year?
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