No one can have it all, at the same time. I've never seen that.

My view is that leadership is not about position - you can lead very well with no one reporting to you in a hierarchy and you can lead quite poorly with many people below you in the traditional chain of command. Leadership is about mobilizing people toward valued goals, and anyone can do this, in any aspect of life.

Having a 9-to-5 workday in which work is left behind when one leaves the office is no longer the norm as employers expect employees to be available outside of work.

The really good news is that when you give people the tools and the support to pursue what I call "four-way wins" - that is, improved performance in all parts of life - they are actually much likely to achieve these wins and, through the process, develop further their leadership skills.

Knowing what matters most, what I call "being real," is the alpha and omega for leaders.

In my talks in organizations around the world I ask, "What kind of leadership do we need now?" The most common responses are "adaptable," "flexible," and "innovative." This isn't surprising, in light of how fast and overwhelming is the pace of change in our world.

I am very gratified to have lived to see a revolution in the field of work/life: Everyone - men and women, employees and employers - now has this issue top of mind.