In a time when we often find ourselves divided instead of united,

Be reminded, there is only one force that overcomes fear and hate,

LOVE makes US great!

Welcome to the tenth month of LOVE makes US great! This blog follows a monthly formula. Fifth week – bonus! Let’s start loving.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. 

This fifth bonus week topic may not seem related to Breast Cancer Awareness, but indeed it is. 

Have you heard all the chatter about 9-9-6? Not 6-7, 996. I'm old enough to remember the "lunch is for wimps" quote from the movie Wall Street in the 80s. I took bizarre pride in working long days and weekends. Admittedly, sometimes it helped me in my career growth. Being a workaholic worked, until it didn’t.

For the uninitiated, 996 is working 9am to 9pm, six days a week. 996 is gaining news coverage for becoming more prevalent, especially in Silicon Valley, where company cultures are shifting and job security fears are on the rise. It's scary that some folks and their leaders believe this is a good thing. It's scarier that there isn't more pushback.

I've witnessed how this story ends. When I was the HR Director for a Big 6 consulting firm in the 90s, a 20-something-year-old consultant wound up in the hospital from exhaustion. He had been working non-stop and experienced heart-attack-like symptoms. Thankfully, with rest and care, he recovered. This was a wake-up call for the company and our project leaders.

The link to cancer? While I cannot prove any causality, I was working extraordinary hours and experiencing significant stress in the few years before my diagnosis. I was creating conditions for my immune system to fail.

There are times when 996 makes sense – crisis response and startup mode, for example. Short-term, while not pleasant, it may be necessary. Long-term, it's a no. It is not sustainable if we want healthy humans. The danger is that when it persists for an extended period, it becomes "normal." 

Drawing healthy boundaries – for ourselves and for anyone we lead – is love in action. Please share what you do to set and hold boundaries for yourself and your teams.

Love requires participation. 

Love requires sharing. 

Love requires action. 

Love requires commitment. 

With gratitude,

Joyce Aiko

(Yes, love really is my middle name.)