Meet our CalmCon Speakers: Triston Francis
Leading up to CalmCon, we’ve interviewed several of our speakers so you get to know them a bit better. Today, we speak to Triston Francis, Leadership Institute Design Manager at Boston Consulting Group. He shares more about what work-life integration means to him, how he got to this balance, and what the audience can expect from him at CalmCon 2021.
What does work-life integration mean to you?
Work-life integration means being able to achieve your professional goals without sacrificing a high-quality personal life.
Was there a period of time when you did not have this work-life integration?
Yes, when I started my career within investment banking I was regularly working 100+ hours a week.
Beyond the large amount of hours I was working, I was failing to achieve work-life integration because even during the (few) hours I wasn’t working, I felt as though I was carrying the baggage of my work 24/7. Even when it was the weekend, I was so stressed about work that it was hard for me to be present with my friends.
Ten years later, my work schedule remains demanding while the number of causes and organizations I want to support is ever-expanding. That said, I have found tactics that help me in terms of striking this balance better (more details on this below).
How does one apply work-life integration in a highly competitive and demanding industry like strategy consulting without affecting career prospects?
Below are the three tactics I find most impactful. For further context on what I mean by these, here is the link to an article I wrote this past June on preventing burnout and staying motivated while in a demanding career:
Define what work-life balance means to you and regularly defend it
Restructure activities that exhaust you into ones that fuel your energy
Be intentional about scheduling meetings at optimal times of the day.
In terms of work-life integration in a demanding career, I think the biggest point would be defining work-life balance and then defending it. Achieving work- life integration requires having guardrails in place and protecting what is important to you. This is difficult to do if one has not carved out the time to understand what is important to them. Furthermore, when one hasn't made their priorities clear and communicated this to their team, the team certainly won’t be aware of what is important to you. In other words, they won’t be able to be considerate of that and work around it (even if your manager or colleague has the best intentions of being able to do so).
Given what you now know and believe, what would you have done differently from a work (or study) - life integration perspective in the past?
Given what I know now, I think the most important thing for me, from a work perspective, is to select the right manager. Now, when I am looking for roles, I prioritize the manager that I think I'm going to have the strongest rapport with. I know this will also help me from a work-life integration perspective.
When I started my career, if you had asked me what the most important factor was when I looked for a job, I would have mentioned being focused on either the prestige of the company, the title of my position, or the content of my role.
While I still do value these things, none of them are nearly as important as having the right manager. To achieve work-life integration, I find it helpful to have a manager that respects me and vice versa. This shared respect goes beyond what you can contribute to your team and touches on who you are as a person.
When you have this level of shared respect with your manager, it becomes easy to communicate your personal priorities and what you are focused on outside of work. If your manager respects you, they will view you as a holistic person - the two of you will be able to work together in order to create a balance where you are not only delivering what needs to be done for the job but doing so at a pace and style that gives you the space to achieve the personal life you want.
You’ve shared that no one succeeds in the world on their own - could you elaborate on this?
Everybody benefits from having support and my experience with therapy is one thing that helped me realize this.
Prior to trying therapy, I didn’t think I needed it because I had close friends and family I could go to when working through something that was troubling me.
I came to realize that therapy offered something that these other relationships could not provide. Therapists are trained professionals, objective, and solely focused on their client. If you’d like more of an elaboration on those points, here is the link to an article that I published on therapy early this month
What can the audience look forward to during your panel?
Authenticity.
I will be fully candid about my experiences and would love for the discussion to touch on whatever topics are top of mind for individuals. In my mind, there is nothing that is “too personal” for this discussion.
One of the things I love the most about Calm Collective Asia is that it enables individuals to have discussions about topics that many may have historically been afraid to bring up due to stigmas.
Speaking about mental health and my personal experiences is not only important in uplifting others by normalizing these conversations, but also makes me stronger as a result of being able to talk openly about mental health and explain complex topics. This will ultimately make me a better leader, manager, friend, partner, etc. in life.
Hear more from Triston as he talks about “How to Achieve Work-life Integration” at CalmCon, Calm Collective’s virtual mental health & well-being festival for Asia, taking place 12-13 November 2021. Make sure to head to calmcon.asia to get your tickets!