How do leaders find balance?

I was assigned the task to interview my mentor, a very talented administrator, in order to "pick his brain" on various topics related to the themes we are discussing in my course. Topics such as motivation, decision-making, problem solving, conflict resolution, and communication. The questions were designed to provide me with the BIG picture about the life of a leader. What I found most interesting was his answer to the question about balancing his professional life with his personal life. His response was that he doesn't. He told me that he has a difficult time finding a balance, that the job is all consuming.

Tonight at dinner with my best friend, also a leader in the education field, I ask her what she does to find balance. Her response was very similar. She explained that she hasn't figured out how to keep the different aspects of her life in balance, rather she alternates her focus depending on where the demands are the heaviest. Admitting that this is neither ideal nor what she would like to have, just the reality she has found herself in.

So tonight, as I try to both prepare for class tomorrow and finalize my plans for the trip I leave on Sunday- going to see my daughter for a few days- I can't help but wonder if this is a problem for all leaders. Does being a successful leader mean you have to sacrifice your private life? I've spent so much of my life focusing on the needs of others, but this journey I am on is for me. Will it land me in a place that will require me to sacrifice ME again?

Even now while I am in school, I am finding that I am consumed by the work. If I don't get in the habit now of making time for me, and making time to spend with those people that enrich my life, I fear that I will fail to have a balance too.

 While this blog site was designed for a school project, it does provide me with a forum to do what I have always enjoyed doing... writing- not APA style though :0) So, perhaps for now,  it is my way to help me find balance and to do something I enjoy doing... that and a dinner with a friend, a trip to see my daughter, and a planned get away with my man. Maybe I am doing OK with balance after all. Let's hope I can keep it up as I move towards becoming a leader.