Making the tough choices…or are they?

I talk a lot about understanding when work takes precedence vs. when other interests take precedence and having the flexibility to be able to move between them.  But what about the conviction? When does something other than a great work opportunity take precedence?

In the intro to the book “Womenomics” there is the scenario of going to your kid’s baseball game vs. a plum assignment.  For me that’s a no-brainer…plum assignment (provided of course it’s not a “championship” game of some sort).  But what about an unbelievable career opportunity and a personal invitation that you hold very dear?  What to do then?  Penelope Trunk writes about just that in her most recent Brazen Careerist blog post.   I love that for a while she was living in the fantasy world of being able to do both…I’ve certainly been there.

I also think this kind of decision-making  and brazen choice is what employers need to pay attention to.  We value our careers, but we also value many other aspects of life and Gen X and Gen Y are more than willing to say “no” or “your rules don’t work for me.” And I think employers who stick to their out-dated rules will find that they can’t hire the kind of talent they need to achieve great results.

How about you..what tough “choices” have you made in career vs. personal life?   How do you feel about those choices now?  Would love to hear from the men on this one…you all make choices regularly, too.