There is no such thing as work-life balance. We bring our work to life every day, and our life gets enmeshed in our work equally so. In a post-pandemic era, there is no way around this tangled reality. Work is incorporated with life, not balanced.



Subsequently, leaders must consider how work and life fit in with one another and how they can support their team members to be their best; to be in bloom.

In Work-Life Bloom, author Dan Pontefract draws from primary and secondary research, interviews, and analysis, to identify six key work factors as well as six key life factors that, when all engaged, enable team members to be at their best. The key factors are:





Work Factors: Feeling trusted, and valued with a sense of belonging and purpose, while aligning with the organization's norms and strategy.
Life Factors: Feeling a sense of well-being, meaning, agency, and respect while using innate skills and engaging in satisfying relationships.

However, it is equally important for leaders to acknowledge that their team members cannot always be in bloom. Just as there are four seasons to every year, there are four states-Renewal, Germination, Cultivation and Bloom-that each person may find themselves in as they negotiate the 12 factors that constitute the philosophy contained in Work-Life Bloom.



Through an in-depth exploration of each of the factors, as well as each of the four states, leaders will be armed with the tools they need to identify the state each of their team members are in, and to nurture the happiness of their people so they can effectively work towards being in bloom.