Everyone Deserves a Season to Step Back

The generally accepted framework for working at a job is either you do it or you don’t. The expectation is that, if you’re working, you’re fully committed. All in. Giving it 110%, as the saying goes. Or else you’re taking a full leave of absence to manage an illness, for example, or to take a sabbatical.

Often this framework is sufficient. But there are plenty of times that it falls short: when a first-time parent returns from leave and is still adjusting to new family rhythms; when an adult child suddenly must assume eldercare responsibilities; when an individual faces a legal or health situation; or any number of other sources of acute stress. The catalyst could also be an opportunity rather than a crisis: starring in a play, for instance, or competing in an athletic tournament. In all these cases, a brief adjusted work schedule could be invaluable.

My work, inspired by my professor and mentor, the late Clayton Christensen, focuses on how to answer his question, “How will you measure your life?” It recognizes that our time and energy are always being allocated and adjusted across work, creative projects, family time, community, health, and spiritual commitments — a mix of purposefully chosen investments.

In my model, there are options beyond either pushing through a disruption in your life or, alternatively, taking a full leave of absence from work. And for good reason: Pushing through increases the likelihood of burnout and its long-term consequences on both employee and organizational health, while taking leave can also prove harmful, whether for the organization’s capabilities or for the employee’s engagement and career. Work is not just something we do; it contributes to identity, purpose, and community. And in a worst-case scenario, such a leave could harm future growth opportunities or become unintentionally permanent.

Enter the “season of stepping back.”

What a Season of Stepping Back Can Look Like

A season of stepping back can take many different forms. It could look like shifting from a manager role to an individual contributor, delaying a promotion, moving to a role with less travel and more-predictable hours, or trimming back a workload to allow for flexibility or shorter days. What’s true in all cases is this: It is time-limited; codesigned by the employee, their team and manager, and HR; has no negative ramifications for the person stepping back; and offers a seamless reentry when they are ready to reengage.

Unlike a formal switch to part-time or contract work, this is a temporary accommodation within an existing career trajectory, with no effect on future reviews, promotion opportunities, or tenure. Over the long term, such arrangements can benefit both workers and their organizations.

Take the example of Melissa, for instance, who was diagnosed with breast cancer (some identifying details have been changed). She contacted the head of human resources at the venture-backed company where she worked to discuss accommodations. She didn’t want to follow the typical solution in the United States of going on short-term disability leave. Melissa was clear that she didn’t want to stop working. She liked having something to think about other than her treatment; it offered some normalcy during a tumultuous period. So, she and HR crafted a set of parameters: She needed to start late on Mondays, end early on Fridays, and be off camera for meetings for a few months. While she was undergoing chemotherapy infusions, she would be available over email and on Slack but would decline or reschedule meetings.

The approach worked well. Melissa was able to take care of her health on her own terms and ramp back up at work when she was ready. Equally valuable, the company retained an ambitious, high-performing employee who had deep institutional knowledge and an even stronger sense of loyalty.

Consider, too, the case of Chas Carey (full disclosure: Chas is my husband). When serving as the deputy general counsel of the New York Office of Housing Recovery Operations in 2017, he was offered a role in an upcoming off-Broadway production. After talking to his boss and team about how he might make the opportunity work and still keep his job, Chas was able to shift his hours to a nontraditional schedule for the four weeks he was in daytime rehearsals and then, once performances began, cut back on hours by delegating and deprioritizing while tending to the most urgent and impactful work. After a four-week run, the production wrapped, and he returned to his “real life” with gratitude for the flexibility and a renewed energy for the work. Over the next three years, Chas continued to excel in his job and was promoted first to general counsel and then to acting director of the agency.

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Are Seasons the Future?

Today, Melissa and Chas’s stories are the exception. But having a season of stepping back is both possible and beneficial for all parties, aiding in everything from burnout prevention to learning and development. My case studies and research also reveal that a wide range of individuals can benefit from a dynamic allocation of their time across work, relationships, personal growth, and community. In doing so, life becomes richer — and different areas of life can positively reinforce one another. For example, having a side hustle can boost job performance and you can gain an influx of innovative ideas from a diverse, second-degree network.

Will organizations get on board and recognize similar benefits, such as boosting retention? Corporate culture will be the deciding factor. If taking a step back for a limited time is seen as an option only for those with less ambition, or if it is held up as evidence against high-potential status or a demerit come promotion time, then the practice doesn’t stand a chance. Further, if it fails to address long-held assumptions about business leaders — for example, that leaders are married men who have stay-at-home wives to manage the messiness of life without it impacting quarterly results — then stepping back may be seen as a weakness, not a strength.

But if the practice is adopted across the highest levels and communicated as such — “The head of product is in a season of stepping back for the next four months, and we are thrilled to offer stretch assignments to his deputies, allowing them to show their readiness to level up” — it can unlock transparency, flexibility, commitment, and retention throughout an organization.

I’m cautiously optimistic. But it will require reframing the larger conversation around how both individuals and companies view successful careers.

Last year, while on tour for my book, The Portfolio Life, an interviewer asked if an alternative title could have been Lean Out, referencing Sheryl Sandberg’s 2013 female empowerment manifesto, Lean In. The notion that designing and rebalancing our lives to reflect the seasons we are in would be considered giving up on our careers caught me off guard. I stammered out a flat rejoinder in the moment, but here’s what I wish I had said: “I am, and remain, incredibly ambitious, but my ambition is not reserved for my career. I am ambitious for my young family, for my marriage, my health, my community. I am ambitious for meeting the demands of my life and thriving because I can rebalance my portfolio as my priorities change. A season of stepping back is not leaning out.”

I believe this wholeheartedly, and I trust that organizations that adopt this mindset will have happier, more loyal workers. Everyone’s life has seasons. Will you work with your employees when they need to step back so that they can flourish in the future?