1. Accenture Audiocast
Dual-Career Parents
Managing Professional
And
Personal Ambition

2. Are you a boiling frog?
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3. My Defining Moments
• August 1994 – Left my family and
friends in Nigeria to pursue a
college degree at Boston
University
• May 1998 – Graduated college
and passed the CPA exam
• December 2000 - Got engaged
• March 2001 – Gained admission
to Harvard Business School
• December 2001 - Got married
• May 2003 – Graduated from HBS
What happened
and became a mother
here?
• July 2007 – Resigned from my
corporate career and began life as
an entrepreneur
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4. Introducing 2Hats Network
• At 2Hats Network we equip busy professionals with the
tools, resources and skills they need to be successful at
work and at home.
• Launched in 2007 we have several clients in professional
services, financial services, publishing, non-profit and
academia
• We offer seminars, coaching and consulting services
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5. Optimize Your Life
The unexamined life is not worth living
– Socrates
Accept Your Definition of Success
Become Time Savvy
Collaborate with Your Stakeholders
Delegate with Abandon
Energize Yourself
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6. Accept Your Definition of Success
• Write down the following:
– Your favorite food
– The most successful person in America
Bill Gates Warren Buffet Barack Obama
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7. Accept Your Definition of Success
• Do you know the answer to this question:
– By the end of my life, what do I want to have accomplished?
• This is your definition of success
• Accepting your definition of success requires you to:
– Be conscious
– Be courageous
– Be confident
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8. Become Time Savvy
Notable Quotes
• To live is so startling it leaves little time for
anything else.
– Emily Dickinson
• The time is always right to do what is right
– Martin Luther King Jr.
• How long a minute is, depends on which side
of the bathroom door you're on.
– Zall’s Second Law
• If you want to make good use of your time,
you've got to know what's most important and
then give it all you've got.
– Lee Iacocca
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9. Become Time Savvy
• Time is Money Life
– What are you spending your life on?
– Are you getting your life’s worth?
• Time Allocation vs. Time Management
– Time Management focuses on organizing
your time while Time Allocation focuses on
your level of satisfaction with the time you
are spending on your priority activities
• Beware of “Tyranny of the Urgent”
– Can only be overcome by relentless
prioritization
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10. Become Time Savvy
• Time Allocation Process
1. Identify your priority activities
2. Assess your level of satisfaction with your priority
activities
3. Evaluate the appropriateness of the amount of time you
are spending on these activities
• If just about right, leave as is
• If not enough time, identify an activity to reduce time
spent in order to make time for this priority activity
• If time spent on activity could be reduced without impact,
identify an activity that needs more time and allocate some
of that time to it
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11. Become Time Savvy
Priority Level of Time Reduced Increased Action
Activities Satisfaction Allocation activity activity
Spending 9 Could be Spending Set aside
time with reduced Time Saturday
the kids without with evening as
impact Husband date night
Writing 2 Not TV Set aside
Book enough Thursday
evenings to
work on
book
Church 9 Just about
volunteering right
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12. Collaborate with your Stakeholders
• It is essential to partner with
your stakeholders to ensure
that your life runs smoothly at
work and at home
• As a Dual-Career Parent your
primary stakeholders are
typically your spouse and
your boss
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13. Collaborate with your Stakeholders
• According to Dr. Xavier Amador,
Columbia professor and clinical
psychologist, the key to getting
people to cooperate with you, is to:
– Be clear on what you need from
them
– Listen reflectively in order to
fully understand their position
and expectations
– Empathize with any hesitancy
to buy into your idea
– Focus in on the areas of
agreement
– Partner to work on solution that
works for both parties
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14. Delegate with Abandon
The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick
good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough
to keep from meddling with them while they do it
- Theodore Roosevelt
• Anything that needs to be done but
is not on your priority list should
be a candidate for delegation
• Overcome the underlying thoughts
that hinder delegation
– “It is quicker, easier or cheaper if I
do it myself”
– “No one else can do this”
• Lack of delegation is the primary
reason why we succumb to the
“Tyranny of the Urgent”
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15. Delegate with Abandon
• Successful Delegation Tips
– Assign the task to the best person for the job
– Do not micromanage
– Be very clear on your expectations
– Communicate any dissatisfaction promptly
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16. Energize Yourself
• Time is limited but energy is
boundless
• The key to increasing your energy is
to develop positive habits that
directly impact your energy level
• According to Energy Gurus Jim
Loehr and Tony Schwartz, there are
4 main sources of energy:
– Physical Energy
– Mental Energy
– Emotional Energy
– Spiritual Energy
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17. Energize Yourself
Energy Maximization Tips
Physical Energy Mental Energy
•Go to bed as early as you can •Check voice mails and e-mails at
•Exercise at least 3 times a week designated times
•Take short breaks throughout the day •Prioritize daily
•Eat small meals and light snacks •Perform your work in order of priority
Emotional Energy Spiritual Energy
•Focus on the positive things in your life •Live your core values in your daily
•See things from a learner’s point of view activities
•Defuse negative emotions through deep •Proactively find ways to engage in
abdominal breathing activities that leave you fulfilled
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18. Got Motivation?
If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,
he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
Henry David Thoreau
• Expect inertia or homeostasis to
set in
– Inertia: Natural resistance to
change
– Homeostasis: Tendency of a
system or organism to stay the
same
• Don’t let these resistance factors
keep you from making the
changes you desire
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19. We’re Here to Help
• 2Hats Network has coaches on staff to
help you develop a customized
program to achieve your goals
• We will take you through the Learning
Journey as you learn to live an
Optimized Life
– Unconscious Incompetence
– Conscious Incompetence
– Conscious Competence
– Unconscious Competence
• Contact us at info@2hatsnetwork.com,
972-989-2770 or visit our website at
www.2hatsnetwork.com
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