Everyone has a philosophy on everything – work, life, relationships, making money. I have a philosophy on balance.
Life is a constant balancing act to achieve Aristotle’s philosophical ‘golden mean’, the middle between the extremes of excess and deficiency, in an effort to make ourselves and our vocation sustainably productive for the long haul. For me, work-life balance may be one of the toughest to achieve. And I guess I’m not alone in thinking so, judging from the 261 million Google results on ‘work-life balance’, way ahead of ‘how to get rich’ at a mere 27.9 million!
As always, concept and strategy are simple compared to execution. For me, a sense of purpose is always the ‘overarching guiding principle’, and I remind myself of this almost daily: my purpose is to be a useful human being to others so that I can leave this earth better than I found it. Executing that purpose requires the juggling of so many roles (father, husband, son, CEO, friend, mentor etc.,) without feeling like I’m the one being ‘juggled’. I humbly admit that I have yet to perfect the art of juggling these roles. However, over the years, I’ve discovered a few guidelines that have helped me remain on course in my continuous attempt to achieve work-life balance.
Firstly, past mistakes are always great teachers. I am now humble enough to acknowledge that I can’t be there for everyone all the time: something’s got to give to ensure my time is well-spent on what should be prioritised at any point in time. One key lesson: I developed the courage to say ‘no’, which I learnt the hard way when my own well-being and personal relationships suffered from overstretching myself many years ago. I thought I was super-human, and often bit off more than I could chew. The result? Serious ‘indigestion’ and I ended up with little result or a meaningless outcome.
And to those events that deserve a ‘yes’, I’ve learnt to be fully present to ensure they achieve their objectives. What helps is to constantly remind myself to listen more than I speak. This is work-in-progress, of course, but I’ve noticed that many misunderstandings could have been prevented through listening well and being more attentive.
Thirdly, as soon as my professional responsibilities got heavier, I quickly realised that no one can do it alone. Thank God for my support network which is a real blessing in helping me achieve equilibrium in my life: from my supportive wife who consciously chose to be a full-time mum to our children, to my highly capable CIMB senior management, and also friends who support my fitness pursuit. It’s not all about me, of course. I am also part of their support system, and I have to understand when colleagues need time off, which I consciously respect.
As important as that last point was, it’s probably more important to go easy on yourself when your life gets thrown off-kilter by unexpected events. I personally have gone through plenty of trials and errors in finding balance in my life, and have developed some wisdom to realize that I may not get it right every time. Situations may (and will!) crop up to throw my best-laid plans out the window – from a child falling ill or a crisis at work. In short, mental flexibility is key.
Best-laid plans are also exactly that for as long as circumstances remain constant. We all go through different stages in our lives, and each stage requires a different balancing act. When I was a student, it seemed so easy to strike a balance between studies and play (more time spent playing of course!). Fast forward to when I started working, I could have spent more time developing skills that would serve my long terms interests. (Looking back, I can finally relate to George Bernard Shaw’s quote that “time is wasted on the youth”!). Over the years, I’d like to think that I have reached some level of maturity to increase balance in my life to help me achieve more in my relationships with my loved ones, my colleagues and myself.
And on achieving balance, tech helps. But either you master tech, or it masters you! Business-wise, tech is a necessary evil to keep us wired in this fast-changing world. Apart from helping me plan ahead quickly, it also improves connections with relationships that really matter to me. Tech has been a real boon for me, as I get to FaceTime my kids goodnight when I’m travelling, and connect with my daughter schooling 10,588km away from home. Tech is pervasive in our lives, but as with all tools at our disposal, it is up to us on how best to use tech to achieve balance. The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) will bring with it more techy tools powered by AI, intelligent automation, robotics etc. Boon or bane? Curse or blessing? It really depends on us. As mentioned earlier, prioritising is key: one can be lost for hours in the virtual kingdom updating ourselves of other peoples’ lives, or use tech to deepen our connections with our nearest and dearest.
I also consciously carve out ‘me-time’, even if it means rising at 4.00 or 5.00 a.m. – way before my little ones wake up – to squeeze in my weekend run or cycle fix, so I can be with the family the rest of the day. This me-time is extremely important for achieving balance in my life. For many, the actual activity of running is very much a lone pursuit and this is perfect for self-reflection. This is when I can really think and process my thoughts, while providing a digital detox for at least 10, 20, 30km (Tokyo Marathon, here I come!) to balance out my (admittedly) device-driven life.
Similarly, in running a bank, it is also all about balance. Our focus on Capital, Cost, Culture, Compliance and Customer Experience (what we refer to internally as the 5C’s) is aimed at strengthening CIMB’s foundation as a universal bank in ASEAN. To ensure sustainable growth, we need to firstly aim for the right balance and priorities, before deciding on strategies for execution under each of the 5C’s. In considering our key priorities, again balance needs to be struck on which ‘C’ deserves more weight, and which requires less, depending on the nature of the priority. Once that balance is determined, the right strategies can be crafted and execution will follow.
I personally feel that there really is no universal gold standard on achieving balance, and every business or individual needs to craft their own formula based on their tools, resources and circumstances. But what I feel most of us can agree on is that we should continuously try to strike the right balance in both our personal and professional lives, because not only is this the way to build stamina for us and/or our business to go the distance, but that balancing act is also key in helping us enjoy this long-haul journey called life.
Tengku Datuk Sri Zafrul Aziz is Group Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director of CIMB Group Holdings Berhad.