12: On Finding Balance When You Want To “Have It All”, Teamwork & Avoiding Stress - Ruth's Story

I'm delighted to introduce my guest of this podcast episode, Ruth Todd CBE. Ruth's career has been full of managing complex infrastructure and change projects for a string of blue-chip companies, often under public scrutiny. Formerly Programme Director of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce, Ruth now works as Chief Commercial Officer of the largest infrastructure project in Europe: a new high speed rail line being built in the United Kingdom called HS2. She is also married with two children, and has multiple interests outside of her work and home. How does she find a balance between all of these "compartments" of her life? Well, that's what we get to in this podcast episode. Ruth is one of a handful of 'A Fine Balance' blog and podcast guests that have declined to assign a figure to their work:life ratio. For Ruth, balance comes down to "having it all", and being mindful of living “in the present” and accepting your choices with confidence and conviction. In this podcast episode, Ruth and I touch on some of the practical approaches that she has mastered to avoid feeling stressed, as well as the benefits of self-awareness to avoid "over-playing your strengths". Ruth shares her insight also on the value that building a diverse and values-based team has had on her sense of balance. So that, for example, through surrounding herself with people that complement her strengths, she can ‘have it all’, without ‘doing it all’. Similarly, her ‘teamwork’ approach at home, where she and her husband share the work load equally – enlisting their sons to get stuck in too, and employing additional help where needed – has created the foundations for them both to pursue the careers and family life they desire. Whether or not you identify with Ruth's work-life balance choices, this podcast episode is an inspiring listen, which centres on living life to the full and being present in the moment.