How C-Level Leaders Can Balance Work And Life: 19 Expert Strategies
Separating the person from the professional isn't always a straightforward process for C-suite executives, especially when they're facing high-stakes challenges on either front. While the complete separation of one's work from one's private life might be unrealistic, maintaining a healthy boundary between the two is crucial for effective leadership and long-term well-being.
Below, 19 members of Forbes Coaches Council share practical strategies that help leaders stay focused, resilient and grounded even when personal and professional hurdles arise. From boundary rituals to emotional discipline, these insights offer powerful ways to navigate both worlds without letting one derail the other.
Leaders can maintain separation by building intentional boundaries and support systems. This includes having clear rituals, such as transition routines between work and home, to mentally shift roles. Most importantly, self-awareness and emotional regulation are key; leaders must recognize their stress triggers and use techniques like reflection, coaching or mindfulness to prevent spillover. - Charles Dormer, APEX STP, LLC
Separating one's personal life from one's professional life can be daunting, especially for C-suite execs. The boundaries tend to become blurred. I believe that even the definitions can become blurred, such as when one really loves one's work, and it can sometimes become personal. So, you must be clear about what is personal and make sure to make time for it, but allow for professional emergencies. - Ash Varma, Varma & Associates
Leadership is about knowing what matters most, not only strategy and results. If you've promised to be home for dinner but stay late at work, your family may feel let down. If you leave work when things are critical, you might be abandoning responsibilities. Clarity about your values helps set boundaries and priorities. It allows you to choose with intention: unresolved conflicts or work catch-up. - Mathilda Klingberg, Klingberg Stockholm AB
The most effective leaders practice 'strategic integration,' establishing clear boundaries while acknowledging inevitable connections between domains. They use strategic boundary rituals for context transitions, apply emotional intelligence to prevent negative spillover, maintain robust support networks in both spheres and develop mindful presence skills to stay fully engaged wherever they are. - Anna Barnhill, AdvantEdge Leadership
Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
In my experience, the best way to achieve this balance is to set clear boundaries and prioritize self-care. You should clearly define work hours and personal time and adhere to this plan while clearly communicating it to your work team and family. In addition, regular exercise, adequate sleep and a mindfulness practice will help you deal with challenges in either aspect of your life. - Peter Accettura, Accettura Consulting LLC
The real challenge isn't separating work and life; it's protecting identity from performance. I've seen C-level leaders stay grounded by doing things that remind them who they are beyond the title: a standing call with someone outside the business, for example, or a ritual that brings them back to center. That's the kind of boundary that actually holds. - Laurie Arron, Arron Coaching LLC
It's crucial to keep both sides alive. If you're facing huge professional challenges, like having to downsize or investors pulling out, don't stop personal activities like working out, spending time with family or reading. Likewise, if you're facing a huge personal challenge, like someone in your family not being well, keep up your leadership acumen at work by meeting deadlines, delegating and facing the media. - Vinesh Sukumaran, Vinesh Sukumaran Consulting
You can create a balance by actively compartmentalizing what is private and what is professional. You can do this by creating a time and space anchor: When you arrive home, for example, your keys and mobile land in the hall basket and you actively shift your attention to your family or dog. When you work from home, you close your laptop and take your dog for a walk. You should create two or three rituals that have you stop, change and start. - Cellene Hoogenkamp, KokuaHub Inc Coaching
You can separate work and personal life by modeling healthy boundaries. Strong executives demonstrate respect for work-life balance, take undisturbed vacations and delegate effectively, building team trust while protecting their own well-being. Remember: Your role isn't to control but to set the vision and empower others to make your vision a reality. - Aurelien Mangano, DevelUpLeaders
C-suite execs don't need to separate their lives; they need to separate emotion from logic. Challenges in one area won't derail the other when leaders build emotional discipline, self-awareness and clear filters for decision-making. It's not detachment; it's discernment that keeps them steady across both. - Heather Yerrid, Selfcessful™
I recommend ensuring C-level executives have enough 'me time' to engage in a hobby or other interest that helps them become 100% present and disengage from other obligations. These activities help shift the leader's focus away from pressing challenges, offering their subconscious time to solve issues, while ensuring a particular problem doesn't become all-consuming and spill over to other areas. - Hanneke Antonelli, Hanneke Antonelli Coaching, Inc.
C-level leaders need space to reflect outside the business. They can use tools like journaling or sparring with trusted partners to process challenges privately. This mental separation helps prevent personal stress from bleeding into leadership—and vice versa. Clear reflection routines protect focus, resilience and decision-making. - Stephan Lendi, Newbury Media & Communications GmbH
As humans, it is hard to separate our thoughts when we are challenged and have to move from one situation to the next. One tool I recommend is clarifying your intention before entering each meeting. It may be helpful to write notes to capture what comes up when challenges bleed into otherwise unrelated meetings so that you can return to them when you have the time and capacity to respond. - Maureen Metcalf, Innovative Leadership Institute
I am a fan of white space on my calendar, particularly mornings, which allows me to block out personal time for myself (to read, exercise, meditate, pray) before I open my email or do anything work-related. Leaders must be rigid about their calendar and treat exercise and other personal things as if they were their most important appointments that day. This provides the energy to excel professionally. - Aaron Marcum, Breakaway365
I suggest building a mental airlock—a clear, repeatable transition ritual that signals you're shifting roles. Whether it's a walk, a journaling habit or 10 silent minutes before switching gears, it creates the boundary your calendar won't. High performance doesn't come from blending everything—it comes from knowing when to compartmentalize, and how. Clarity between roles protects clarity within them. - Alla Adam, Adam Impact Institute
Something I learned is to integrate, not isolate. Instead of separating life into boxes, create clear zones—spaces, people and times that belong only to family, to work or to yourself. As a result, there is no need to hide challenges; rather, manage where they belong. This emotional discipline isn't detachment; instead, it is knowing what deserves your energy, and when. - Arthi Rabikrisson, Prerna Advisory
Leaders should focus on developing emotional control, one of the factors of emotional intelligence. Emotional control helps us effectively regulate our emotions so that we can be more resilient and less reactive and manage our problems at work and home much more effectively. - Megan Malone, Truity
It's a false belief that you can keep your private and professional lives completely separate. How you perform and feel at work impacts how you show up at home, and vice versa. Rather than trying to separate the two, consider what tools you might adopt so that they enhance one another. Great leaders learn how to integrate both aspects of their lives in a way that promotes balance and authenticity. - Dr. Kyle Elliott, MPA, CHES, CaffeinatedKyle.com
The real work isn't separating personal and professional life; it's building the internal capacity to lead when either gets hard. Self-regulation allows leaders to respond, not react. Practices like naming what's real, buffering between meetings, energy check-ins and grounding routines create the space needed to lead with clarity and composure. - Melissa Cidado, Breakthrough Coaching
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