About the Book >> Book Award | Acclaim | Author Q&A | Sample Book
Author Q&A
What is the Libra Solution?
What inspired you to write this book?
This book provides a roadmap for women and men to come far closer to this stated ideal of equality in marriage and greater balance in their lives. The book provides a vision – as well as practical guidance – for bringing down the intensity and building in more joy and greater sustainability into our lives at work and at home.
My goal with this book is not to suggest that everyone should follow this highly shared, more moderate approach but rather to let people know that it is very possible, and highly pragmatic. The book shares many real-life stories of women and men who are employing the Libra Solution in their lives.
What do you think will surprise women about your book?
What do you think will surprise men about your book?
Men may also be surprised to find that based on academic research, men in more egalitarian marriages – where both partners share more equally in the family and home management and in the breadwinning – are physically and mentally healthier and report higher marital satisfaction. And yes, they have more sex.
What are the benefits of the Libra work and life model?
Children are greatly benefitted by the enormous stability that is created by this partnership approach to career and family management. They see parents who care about and support one another and they see a living model of adults actively working to balance their own needs with the needs of others.
Why is the Libra Solution good for organizations/ employers?
The two most common reasons clients retain my services as an organizational consultant are to support their efforts to better develop and retain diverse talent and to facilitate employees working most effectively. My work helps organizations to understand how their employees experience their work environments, and the particular issues that diverse employees face. For instance, I could illuminate the distinct challenges that professional women encounter, both work-life challenges related to women acting as the primary family manager in many households and those having nothing to do with work and life issues, such as the narrow range of acceptable styles for women leaders. Armed with this knowledge, organizations can adapt their work environments in ways that enable women (and typically men as well) to thrive. Examples of these changes might include the creation of a more flexible work culture or greater attention to proactive career development.
What is the biggest barrier to employing the Libra Solution?
Why do you think the Libra work and life approach is not more common?
I also talk in the book about the confluence of powerful forces that come together and lead us to excessive busyness and more gendered marriages after having children. Without the perspective that allows an individual to recognize the approaching wave, it is far too easy to get swept up in the flow. The book helps women and men recognize and manage these forces so that they can write their own work and life scripts.
Is the Libra Solution only for couples who have young children?
Some couples start from the outset while others don’t move to this shared approach until their children are pre-schoolers or school-age. For some it is purposeful and planned while for others it evolves through time. Couples move to the Libra model from traditional families, reverse traditional families (with the father as the at home parent while the mother is the breadwinner) and from the most common dual-career model whereby both parents work outside the home but the mother remains the primary home and family manager. The catalysts for moving to a Libra arrangement range from a parent dying or the birth of a special needs child to an unplanned job loss, a planned career change, or the desire to dial down the frenetic pace of life.
The starting points are variable, and many, yet all end up at approximately the same place – where sharing and moderation come to define how they do things on a day-to-day basis.
How is the Libra Solution possible for someone who is a _____ (you fill in the profession/role)?
Because Libra professionals have more time and space in their lives for a range of priorities, they typically feel highly energized and excited about their professional work which fits into, rather than takes over, their lives. For Libra professionals, career decisions are made within the context of a broader mosaic; at some junctures they are throttling back while at others they are speeding ahead. The unifying factor for Libra men and women is a compass set to equality and balance over the long term and a willingness to experiment and make adjustments as necessary.