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Walmart exec: ‘I’ve never believed in the term work-life balance’—this i
| Mainlining the $ecret Truth of the Univer$e | 09/02/25 |
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Date: September 2nd, 2025 11:19 AM Author: Mainlining the $ecret Truth of the Univer$e (You = Privy to The Great Becumming™ = Welcum to The Goodie Room™) Walmart exec: ‘I’ve never believed in the term work-life balance’—this is the mantra that made her highly successful instead
Work-life balance looks different for different people.
For some, the term can mean not working nights, weekends and holidays. Others may look at it as no text messages and emails about work after 5 p.m., prioritizing self-care in the evening instead. While this divide may give you a sense of happiness and fulfillment, it isn't always realistic, says Walmart executive vice president and chief people officer Donna Morris.
"I've never believed in the term work-life balance," says Morris, who oversees the experience of over 2.1 million employees. "I call it work-life integration. There are times that your life requires a lot more, and there are times that your work requires a lot more. … I don't think that's a bad thing."
When Morris is visiting family, for example, her main focus is on them. But if there's something at work that needs her attention, she won't wait until she's back in the office to do so. Work-life integration helps her stay on top of her work duties while still showing up for herself and the people she loves, she says.
"You might be [at your kid's] soccer game, but you happen to look at a few emails," Morris says. Maybe you're chatting with your boss via text while waiting for an appointment, or tying up a few loose ends at work before you put the kids to bed. That doesn't necessarily mean you're a workaholic who lacks boundaries — rather, you find ways to combine your personal and professional duties that work for you, instead of being strict and inflexible with your time.
Morris' insight comes as young professionals are demanding more out of work, shaping new professional norms like relaxed dress codes and mental health days. Along with an inadequate salary and burnout, lack of work-life balance is one of the top reasons why Gen Zers would quit a job, according to a 2022 report from Talent LMS, a workplace training company, which surveyed over 1,200 respondents between ages 19 and 25.
The pursuit of work-life balance can also cause mental distress, Jeff Karp, a professor of biomedical engineering at Harvard Medical School and MIT, told CNBC Make It in September 2024.
"We hear these things from others, [like] trust in the process [and] balance is so important, we need more balance, it's the ultimate goal," Karp said. "It ends up being very frustrating and can lead to anxiety, because we're constantly feeling like we're not in balance. There's a state we should be in [and] we're never in that state."
Of course, sometimes you may actually need a complete reset, shutting off your laptop for a few days and turning your work phone off. But if your boss doesn't use their vacation time, or is constantly reaching out during your time off, unplugging can feel impossible.
That's why it's up to leaders to set the tone for boundaries in the office and what good work-life integration may look like.
"If I never take a holiday, the tone that I set for everybody is, don't take a holiday — you can't do that. And I don't think that that's right," says Morris. "As leaders, we have a responsibility to role model what we expect of others."
"At the end of August, I'm going away [on vacation]," she adds. "And my team will all know, [so] when they're able to actually go off and do something, they should go off the grid and do it." |