CEO of Me: Creating a Life That Works in the Flexible Job Age

You are the CEO of your life: you, and nobody else. You can establish the new rules that will help you achieve true balance between work and the rest of your life. And if you don't do it, nobody else will. Now is the time to take control, and this is the book that will get you there. CEO of Me is like no other "work-life balance" book you've ever seen: there are no clichés here, and no one-size-fits all solutions. Instead, Drs. Ellen Kossek and Brenda Lautsch help you identify which of six worklife "patterns" you fit into and how to move towards a pattern that's more productive and comfortable for you, one step at a time. As leaders of North America's largest research projects on work/life balance, Kossek and Lautsch are singularly well-qualified to write this book. Drawing on their unparalleled research insights, they show how to identify the personal triggers that cause you the greatest stress...make the small changes that make the biggest difference...make technology work for you, not against you...redraw the lines between work and family as your life changes...master powerful strategies for managing yourself, your colleagues, and your supervisors...leverage emerging work options that are available to our generation for the first time. The authors' radical new approach will transform the way you view both your work and your life and help you make the practical changes that lead to true fulfillment.

ELLEN ERNST KOSSEK, professor at Michigan State University’s School of Labor & Industrial Relations (Ph.D. Yale), is a leading expert on research on improving relationships between work, family, and personal life in organizations, new ways of working related to flexibility (telecommuting, flextime, reduced-load work), management of talent and diversity in the global multicultural firm, and workplace innovation and change. She has published dozens of articles and a number of books on these topics. She was elected to the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Management, chair of the Gender and Diversity in Organizations Division, and fellow of American Psychological Association and Society of Industrial Organizational Psychology. Her research on work and personal life has been supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the Gerber Foundation, and major corporations. She has taught managers in North America, Europe, and Asia. She is married with four children.

BRENDA A. LAUTSCH, associate professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada, received her Ph.D. in industrial relations and human resources management from The MIT Sloan School of Management. Her research examines the equity and work-life implications of new ways of working, including contingent and flexible work forms. Her work appears in leading journals such as the Industrial and Labor Relations Review, the Journal of Vocational Behavior, and Industrial Relations. She is married with two delightful sons (Oscar age 4 and Kaspar age 7 months).