TIAA CEO says ‘work-life balance is a lie,’ so she treats her time like a diversified portfolio: ‘Sometimes you have to short the stock’

Fortune

“Work-life balance is a lie,” according to Thasunda Brown Duckett, president and CEO of financial services company TIAA and just one of two Black women CEOs in the Fortune 500.

Transcript

00:00 I say that word like that is a lie

00:03 because I remember the days where I get up in the morning

00:07 and I don't see my kids.

00:09 I get home at night and I don't see my kids

00:11 because I do work hard.

00:14 I feel like I'm catching an L

00:16 because that didn't reconcile.

00:18 I have a great husband,

00:21 but I feel like I've catched an L

00:23 in terms of I'm not that great of a wife.

00:26 I'm a daughter, but my parents live in Texas,

00:29 and I'm not there the way I would want to be.

00:32 So I decided to shift my mindset and my perspective,

00:37 and instead of a work-life balance,

00:39 I choose to live my life like a diversified portfolio.

00:42 (audience laughing)

00:43 And so here it goes.

00:46 Write down everything that matters to you,

00:49 and this is what I have done.

00:51 I said I'm an executive.

00:53 I'm a philanthropist.

00:54 I'm a daughter.

00:55 I'm a mother.

00:56 I'm a sister.

00:57 I'm an auntie.

00:58 I'm a friend.

00:59 I'm a niece.

01:00 And allocate.

01:02 The reality is you do not have 110%,

01:05 so tell the truth.

01:07 I only have 100%.

01:09 The reality is that my children do not get 100% of me.

01:13 Tell the truth.

01:14 They probably get about 30%.

01:17 But by understanding this allocation,

01:21 I gave myself permission to respond to market volatility

01:25 and have three Calibrate in my portfolio.

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