Balance & Beyond Podcast

Uncover the hidden dynamics of corporate culture and its profound impact on women with Coach Sabina.

We're asking the provocative question: Is corporate culture failing women, especially in the wake of shifting work flexibility post-pandemic?

As companies increasingly enforce office mandates, women are uniquely challenged by the demands of balancing professional obligations with domestic responsibilities. With women comprising a significant portion of the workforce and over half of university graduates, why is the mental load still so unevenly distributed? We tackle the resurgence of hustle culture and question if the push towards more masculine corporate environments truly serves women's well-being. This episode is a call to reassess priorities, advocate for a balanced life, and recognise the power of self-awareness and open communication in reshaping workplace dynamics.

This isn't just a podcast episode; it's an invitation to reflect, reassess, and redefine your personal and professional life.

Episode Transcript

INTRO: Welcome to Balance and Beyond, the podcast for ambitious women who refuse to accept burnout as the price of success. Here, we’re committed to empowering you with the tools and strategies you need to achieve true balance, where your career, relationships and health all thrive, and where you have the power to define success on your own terms. I honour the space you’ve created for yourself today, so take a breath, and let's dive right in…

Jo Host

Is corporate culture failing women? This was a question I was asked recently, and it’s the topic of today’s podcast. We want to discuss the return to work and the shift in workplace flexibility happening around the world right now.

What does this mean for women? How do we thrive, stay true to ourselves, and find the balance so many of us are searching for? Today, I’m joined by the wonderful coach, Sabina. Hi Sabina!

Sabina Guest

Hello, hello, Jo! Lovely to be here again.

Jo: This is such a juicy topic, isn’t it? Is corporate culture failing women? Where do you go with this? Where would you like to kick us off? There’s so much we could talk about here.

Sabina Guest

This is what I’ve been saying! Having worked in corporate HR for many years—particularly through the pandemic—the topic of hybrid work and working from home has been incredibly relevant. In recent years, this has become an ongoing conversation for women, especially mothers.

Women are potentially the most disadvantaged by this new trend, and work flexibility really shouldn’t be a fad. My concern is that we’re moving backward by mandating—or attempting to mandate—a greater return to the office. The reality is that women still carry the lion’s share of domestic and childcare responsibilities. They’re juggling a lot.

We love the men in our world, but let’s face the facts—women are the ones most likely to be disadvantaged by these changes. This is a conversation we need to have so that women don’t feel like they just have to dig deep, hustle through, grin and bear it, and ultimately find themselves staring down the barrel of burnout. And while not every company has enforced a return-to-office mandate, we’re seeing more and more women struggling under this pressure.

Jo Host

These days, a lot of companies operate on a hybrid model, with employees in the office about 50% of the time. However, we’re seeing a global trend where more and more companies are beginning to mandate increased in-office work. When we look at the corporate world as it stands today, we have to remember that it was originally built by men, in an era—particularly in the early 1900s—when society operated very differently. 

Back then, there was typically only one income earner in a household, women didn’t work, and their primary role was to raise children. That’s not to say that wasn’t an important role—in fact, it’s one of the hardest jobs in the world.

But now, we’re in an era where women make up more than 50% of university graduates and are a significant part of the workforce. And yet, as you pointed out, what’s shifting at a much slower pace is the redistribution of the mental load. For most women—certainly the ones I’ve spoken to—that’s what really worries them about the current corporate culture.

How am I going to stay on top of everything? How am I going to juggle everything? Is this just going to be, you know…? Yes, it's great to put on some real clothes and see my colleagues, but what is the cost—particularly if this ends up being full-time back in the office? How am I going to do this?

Sabina Guest

That's it. And unfortunately, what we see and hear a lot is that women are not speaking up. They're not speaking up within themselves; they're not checking in—number one—with their own truth. What does this mean for me? How am I going to cope? What do I need for this to be doable? So, they’re not checking in with themselves, and they’re not necessarily having open communication at work. They might just take it as a given.

I can't stand up. I don't want to be career-limiting. I can't ask for flexibility. And if they have a partner at home, children, or even if they don’t have a partner but have people around them, they’re not having conversations to shift the goalposts and recognize that it’s not all on them. They’re not expanding their capacity to manage these demands.

This could potentially be a significant problem—expanded demands in corporate culture with sometimes less flexibility. But the key is to check in, assess what’s possible and what’s not, speak up, communicate, and create a plan.

Women often aren’t looking at the data. Wow, that’s another six, seven, eight hours of travel time—that’s eating into my schedule. They’re not necessarily analyzing the numbers, and they’re also not fully checking in with their emotions: What does this mean for me? All of this needs to be reviewed. It’s important to take a step back, reflect, and use strategies to step up and effectively manage what’s on their plate.

Jo Host

And to your point—you know, the first thing everyone says is, “Right, I just need to have meal plans.” “I need to, you know, plan my shop.” That’s not it. Because when you’ve just added a lot of extra stress, whether these mandates apply to you or not, we are seeing an increase in hustle culture.

And we’ve got Mark Zuckerberg to thank for some recent comments in the media about how corporate cultures need to become more masculine. He was actually completely misquoted—but that’s a story for another day. Still, there’s now this question: Do we just need to push harder? Do we need to grind? Do we need to be a little harsher?

That’s an environment women have been operating in for decades, and it’s not serving us well, is it? It’s not allowing us the time and space to tap into emotions. Because, let’s face it—when your to-do list is this big, who has time to feel? “Sabina, I don’t have time for those messy things.” “I’ve just got to do it!” “Have you seen my list?”

Sabina Guest

That's right. And again, this is another really important contributing factor to burnout. When we are purely living in our heads and our bodies are moving at 200 miles an hour on autopilot, there’s a disconnect. What am I thinking? What am I actually feeling? What are my emotions around this?

How can I shift and be more present and more in control? And I don’t mean that in a grin and bear it, grit-your-teeth kind of way. But how can I create more balance—really connect with myself, with what my gut and intuition are telling me, with what my emotions are telling me, and with what my physical energy is telling me—as well as with what my brilliant intellect and mind are telling me?

And again, these are the conversations we have with women. They often come to us at the point where something is about to break—because work has just expected this, or they’ve taken on another responsibility at home, and then comes the question: Who’s going to pick up the pieces? Good old me. 

That moment—when exhaustion, stress, or resentment rears its head—is an opportunity. It’s a chance to check in with yourself. Speak up. When women speak up, change can happen. But when you don’t speak up at home, nothing changes, and you might become more irritable. The family might feel the ripple effects.

When you don’t speak up at work, you may be seen as not being as strategic as you could be. We need to learn to check in with ourselves and speak up so that a ripple effect of change can occur. When a woman speaks up in the workplace, it gives other women the opportunity to speak up, and then policies may change. So the trick is to notice when you're at capacity and ask yourself: What needs to change here?

Jo Host

And this ability to connect with ourselves is something we see can be hampered by some of our lovely self-sabotage programs. It's the perfectionist who says, Nope, the house has to look this way. I have to look this way. Life has to operate this way. I have to do this at work. I have to recheck everything. I have to go over emails I’ve sent to make sure there aren't any mistakes in them.

So many of these old behaviors, in this environment, are going to become even more destructive. They’re going to fuel burnout at a much faster rate unless they're addressed, aren't they? That's right?

Sabina Guest

Yeah, it’s the negative consequences of going above and beyond that will really start to backfire. And again, another key area is your boundaries. Your boundaries have to become really, really clear, and again, that involves checking in with yourself and also checking in with other people and communicating.

You know, we talk about this pattern a lot. It’s a form of self-sabotage or a coping mechanism when your boundaries aren’t strong or when you’re a people pleaser. People often don’t like to admit that phrase, but people-pleasing means you’re saying yes to others over and above yourself. You’re abandoning your truth and your needs in service of pleasing others, and that can be very true in the workplace.

We don’t want to speak up, we don’t want to be seen as incapable, or as not being the most trusted, go-to person. But it’s critical—absolutely critical—that we start checking in with ourselves about these patterns. Something’s got to give, and it’s going to be you if you don’t upgrade your coping strategies.

Jo Host

And that's what we see, isn’t it? Often, people feel—we hear this all the time— “Well, I just need to change jobs.” “It’s work!” “The workplace is toxic.” “My environment, my boss, is toxic!” Everyone loves to throw around that "T" word: “I'll change.” “I’ll change jobs!”

But what they don’t realize is that just because they’ve outsourced their boundaries to their employer—who, no surprise, doesn’t respect them—their lack of boundaries follows them everywhere. Their resentment follows them everywhere. The leaning into that hustle culture, the “do-it-all” costs, and the perfectionism follow them everywhere.

So, if you're someone who reflects and thinks, Oh, I’ve felt this way in most of my jobs, well, that’s a sign that it’s not the job. The job can contribute, yes, but a lot more is in your control than you realize, isn’t it?

Sabina Guest

Yeah, that’s right. It’s being able to recognize where you do have control and where there’s an opportunity for you to upgrade your operating system. And also, again, communicating.

You may need to change jobs, but one thing I would say—again, with my HR hat on—is, if you are thinking about moving jobs, ask yourself: What do you need? Do you need flexibility? It’s important for companies to be able to retain talent or attract good talent, and that requires us speaking up and sharing what we need. It’s really hard to find good talent and retain good talent, so don’t forget that. Don’t stuff your needs down.

Think about where your value is and where you need to communicate this. What’s in your control? What do you need to change? What do you need to ask for? And where do other people need to meet you so that there can be this upward spiral instead of this grinding hustle, contraction, and burnout?

Jo Host

And that's what you love seeing, isn’t it? It is that when women come into our world, some of them do choose to change jobs. But what I love is that they’ve made the decision to leave from a place of I know what I’m worth. I know my values. We are no longer a match, as opposed to I can’t cope. It’s the culture. I’ve got to leave. It’s going to be better somewhere else.

Unless you do that internal work, it never gets any better. And interestingly, we typically don’t see the same level of pay rises or elevation if you decide to leave and move up a level. That doesn’t happen if you're still carrying all this baggage with you, because then you’re blaming the workplace or blaming the boss. So, you’re going into looking for somewhere new with a very, very different lens—Instead of here’s who I am. Are you worthy of my intelligence, capability, skills, whatever it is that I bring to an organization?

Sabina Guest

Yeah, that’s it. How can you be more honest with yourself? How can you be … more resourced, within yourself? How can you be more connected to your, as you say, skills, value, expertise, your needs, and your desires? And from that place, that’s where you want to be making potential changes. That can sometimes feel really overwhelming if you're in the muck and feeling totally burnt out. 

But what we see time and time again is that it doesn’t have to take too long. It can be in a matter of weeks if you have a specific framework or way of approaching this—unpacking it and letting go of the baggage. It is possible to turn this around.

Jo Host

And that’s, I guess, part of the challenge, isn’t it? There are a few things going on. Women don’t like asking for help—part one because, well, we have to do it all ourselves, and there’s something wrong with us. We’re failing if we need to ask for help.

And on top of that, you know, since we don’t like asking for help, we then struggle to do things imperfectly. So it’s like, well, I had someone say to me, I’m not perfect. In my burnout, I’m like, Oh my God, really? And then my perfectionist says, Isn’t perfect enough? Wow, it’s doing a pretty good job there.

So, when we’re able to let go of some of this and really step into the life that we want, this is where we tend to see women thriving at work, isn’t it? So, regardless of the culture, when you’ve spoken up—but you have to speak up to yourself first—when you are able to claim your value in terms of your paycheck and your benefits, well, that’s not going to happen until you claim your internal value and recognize what you have.

So, it’s a really interesting dichotomy, isn’t it? Everyone thinks that it’s just about the stuff outside of themselves. Well, I don’t want to go into the office. Yeah, but if you don’t know what you want and who you are, that’s going to fall flat anyway.

Sabina Guest

That’s going to fall flat anyway. Yeah, and what do I need? What do I need so that I’m working at my best, and my family’s working at its best? What needs to happen and what needs to shift so that we’re moving out of exhaustion, moving out of resentment, and just, yeah, feeling more like we’ve got this? Things are good, I’m in my flow, I’m in my zone. Bring it, like we’ve got this.

Jo Host

Things are good, I’m in my flow, I’m in my zone. Bring it. If only we could all be doing more. Bring it. Right? That’s what we need. That’s what we need. So, I hope this has been an interesting conversation that has provoked something in you—perhaps some reflection on what it is that you need. What is it that you need in your life? 

Whether they’re boundaries, whether it’s access to your intuition, whether it’s thawing some of your frozen emotions to allow you to be your best at work, so that the corporate culture doesn’t fail you, and then you can be the best everywhere else in your life. Sabina, any parting words for our listeners today?

Sabina Guest

I think that's a good good canter through all the options! I think we've covered a lot of ground there.

Jo Host

Amazing. Well, thank you for joining me, Sabina. Happy reflecting, and we'll see you again next time on Balance & Beyond?

OUTRO: Thank you for joining us today on the Balance and Beyond Podcast. We're so glad you carved out this time for yourself. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend who might need to hear this today. And if you're feeling extra generous, leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice would mean the world. If you’re keen to dive deeper into our world, visit us at www.balanceinstitute.com to discover more about the toolkit that has helped thousands of women avoid burnout and create a life of balance, and beyond. Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the Balance & Beyond Podcast.