Keep your life in balance — even in crisis

When (Dell CEO Kevin) Rollins is at work, his focus is intense, uncompromised and entirely on Dell. And with Dell extending its global reach into foreign markets, Rollins maintains a very heavy travel schedule that sometimes requires him to fly on Sundays and keeps him away from home and church obligations for extended periods of time. "Sometimes the church or church assignments get postponed," Rollins said. "But then when I'm home sometimes the business suffers. That's how you balance — you don't try to do too many things all the time."

The demands of running a large company can easily eat up any potential family time. Even when executives are home, it's difficult not to bring their work with them, particularly in times of crisis. One of the most difficult and stressful points in (Life Re Corp. founder) Rod Hawes' career came right after he and his partners purchased control of an insurance company in Tampa, Fla. Only after acquiring it did Hawes discover that the company's balance sheet had severe deficiencies. Millions of shareholders' dollars were at risk. Hawes immediately put his house on the market in Connecticut, moved his family to Tampa, and took over as CEO of the company. For the next few months his family hardly saw him as he tried to navigate the firm through the financial crisis.

On one particularly bad day among a string of tough weeks at the office, Rod arrived home much earlier than usual. That and the look on his face as he walked through the front door told his wife, Beverly, that a major financial fiasco had occurred.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Silent, Rod dropped his briefcase on the sofa and removed his suit jacket, tie and shoes. Then he walked past the children, out the back door and to the pool. Fully clothed, he jumped in.

Beverly couldn't believe it. The kids loved it. Convinced their father was playing a game, some of them jumped in before bothering to change into their bathing suits, too. Beverly couldn't help but laugh. After about five minutes, Rod emerged from the pool with a smile. "I am having a midlife crisis, and that is all the time I had to give it," he told her. Then he went off to his bedroom to change his clothes.