Jun 18, 2020
Every couple wants a happy relationship and a meaningful career but how do we balance both especially when we're both at home, sharing office space and childcare? That's the question for this week's guest Professor Jennifer Petriglieri.
Professor Jennifer Petriglieri, author of Couples That
Work
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO SHOW ME THE WAY WITH PROF
PETRIGLIERI
She is a Professor of Organizational Behaviour at INSEAD, Paris and
has pent over a decade researching how people’s close relationships
shape who they become professionally and personally, and for the
past 6 years she's been studying the lives of dual-career couples
which has culminated in her book Couples That Work: How Dual-Career Couples
Can Thrive In Love And Work.
One of the biggest career decisions you will make is who you choose
as a partner, she says. And one of the things that the global covid
lockdown has highlighted for some is that they've made the wrong
decision. There are many couples who are spending all this time
together but feel like they’re drifting apart. She says a lot of
couples who she is speaking to are feeling the strain because
they’re polarising in terms of how they’re reacting to the crisis
and it’s putting a lot of strain on the relationship itself.
Professor Petriglieri asks us to consider when the last time was
that we had an annual review with our partners as you would at
work. Possibly/ probably never!
She says that right now just a little time each day to check in
with each other can make the world of difference. It can be over
lunch to find out how the morning has gone or whilst cooking
dinner.
In the episode she explains that the more we understand about our
partner and the more they understand about us, the more it flicks
us into an mindset of empathy. "When we’re in that mindset of
empathy we are much more likely to be sensitive to each other and
to support each other. So it’s a win, win and it doesn’t take a lot
of time".
Her recommendation for Emmeline's bookshelf is Sophie's World.
Her book is Couples That Work: How
Dual-Career Couples Can Thrive In Love And Work.