Why You Should Go ROWE

Yesterday, I attended a ROWE Workshop with the DK New Media team. (If you don’t know what ROWE is, check out this blog post I wrote for DK New Media.) It was amazing to say the least, and I owe a huge thanks to Michael Reynolds from SpinWeb and Christy Runningen from Culture Rx. I left feeling refreshed and really ready to lead the ROWE way, even though our company was already working in this fashion. But it wasn’t until today that I realized that as an individual, I wasn’t living the ROWE way yet.

Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a real go-getter. I have a bright future ahead, and I will always be working hard to get farther in life (I don’t say that out of arrogance, I say that out of determination). I have the lucky fortune to absolutely love what I do, while being a part of a supportive work environment that lets me work when I want to work. But I am also that person who will put her work at top priority. And let me tell you, that is not a part of the ROWE way.

Of course, work is important – and to me, work isn’t work. But ROWE is all about having a work-life balance. That means that my personal life and my work life should be equal in importance. Yet, I find myself working at all hours of the night, checking my email on a Sunday afternoon, and giving up social functions because I “need” to finish client work (this is my doing, not my employer). But 30 years from now, I’m not going to look back on my life and say “oh, I’m so glad I finished that email for a client.” I’m going to look back and hopefully remember the great times I had with my friends and family.

There are a lot of important people in my life, but I haven’t spent enough time with them and I know it now. And for that, I am truly sorry to whoever I have hurt on the path to my career.

So why should you go ROWE? Here’s why: Because you’ll get to go your child’s baseball game on a Wednesday afternoon without feeling guilty. Because you’ll be able to take a vacation in the middle of the summer without worrying about the other employee’s schedules. Because you’ll be able to go to lunch with a friend on Thursday and stay for however long you want. And because you’ll be able to go to a play with a friend you haven’t seen in a while.

Sick of Corporate American norms? Be a part of the change.

Go ROWE.

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Jenn

Marketing Consultant at DK New Media

Jenn Lisak is a Marketing Consultant and Client Advocate for DK New Media, an inbound marketing agency that specializes in new media optimization, social media, infographics, and marketing strategy. She is responsible for content and infographic development, social media strategy, and managing and advocating for her clients. She writes and speaks on content marketing, infographics, and social media, and she was nominated for Junior Achievement’s Best and Brightest Award for the Technology division in 2012.