{"id":1763,"date":"2026-06-19T09:44:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1763"},"modified":"2026-06-19T09:44:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:44:36","slug":"work-life-balance-is-a-lie-tiaas-ceo-broke-down-at-a-bus-terminal-after-a-long-work-day-then-found-a-better-way-to-think-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1763","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Work-life balance is a lie\u2019: TIAA\u2019s CEO broke down at a bus terminal after a long work day, then found a better way to think about it"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>\u201cWork-life balance is a lie. It never reconciles\u2026so get rid of that,\u201d Duckett recalled the wakeup moment in <em>Fortune<\/em>\u2019s <em>Titans and Disruptors of Industry <\/em>podcast with Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1761\">NOBULL Whey Protein Powder Review (2026): RD Reviewed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Her mindset shift came one night during her nearly nine-year tenure at JPMorgan Chase, where she rose to become CEO of Chase Consumer Banking. Her intense workdays were sandwiched between long commutes to New York City from New Jersey, leaving little time for family outside her office life.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Duckett was waiting for the last bus of the day at Port Authority, watching as stragglers headed to the casino and the janitor cleaned up for the night, when the pressure hit a breaking point.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In tears, she called her husband to vent about never seeing her kids before or after work. And her husband\u2014a stay-at-home father, marine, and engineer\u2014delivered a perspective-shifting response: \u201cthen quit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He reasoned with her that if her current situation wasn\u2019t working for her, then it wouldn\u2019t work for the family either. And thanks to his bluntness, something clicked.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was in that moment that something had to change, and it was my mindset,\u201d the TIAA leader said. \u201cAnd so this work-life balance, I was catching an L [loss]. I was feeling like I was failing my husband, I was failing my children, I was failing my mom, my dad, my brothers, everyone. I was just not winning, and I needed a win.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>That realization has impacted how she\u2019s moved throughout her career since. After letting go of the fight for work-life balance, her success only continued to grow; in 2021 she was tapped to be the CEO of a Fortune 100 company, retirement planning giant TIAA.<\/p>\n<h2>Duckett\u2019s secret to managing all responsibilities: A \u2018diversified portfolio\u2019 mindset<\/h2>\n<p>Leaders of billion-dollar businesses each have their own philosophies around work-life balance, and the CEO of the financial services giant is no different. Brown Duckett came up with her own strategy: rather than striving to give every area of her life equal attention, she now thinks of her time and energy like investments that must be allocated intentionally.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1757\">How FIFA restructured the World Cup into its biggest payday ever, as host cities face a budget shortfall<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThis diversified portfolio shift\u2014because I am in finance\u2014changed everything,\u201d Duckett said on the <em>Fortune<\/em> podcast. \u201cIf you live your life like a diversified portfolio, you tell yourself the truth. You only have 100%, you do not have 110%. The other truth is that you allocate to the things that define who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Duckett makes sure to allocate energy to the relationships and responsibilities that matter most.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As a philanthropist, mother, sister, aunt, wife, and executive, she is constantly pulled in different directions. Now, she recognizes that splitting up her time also means no one gets to have all of her.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The 52-year-old leader says even her children don\u2019t receive 100%\u2014realistically, they can only get 30% after subtracting sleep, work, and school from their schedules. And instead of feeling guilty about not being able to invest more time with them, Duckett accepts her limitations and says it even allows her to show up more intentionally.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy recognizing that they only have 30%, I\u2019m a more present mother by living my life like a diversified portfolio, just like market volatility,\u201d Duckett continued. \u201cLife will life, and you will have life volatility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Living by that mindset has also made her a better daughter and sister, the TIAA chief said. And that\u2019s because she\u2019s no longer burdened by the anxiety of having to give 100% to everyone all the time. Everything that matters to her is still in her portfolio\u2014just now, she allows her time and attention to sway in response to market or life conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI give myself a ton of grace,\u201d Duckett said. \u201cIf you live your life like a diversified portfolio instead of trying to reconcile work and life, you will outperform this thing called life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1755\">The 4 Best Mini Massage Guns (2026): Approved by Fitness and Recovery Experts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TIAA President and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett now looks at her life as a \u201cdiversified portfolio\u201d and says it\u2019s set her up for success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[286],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fortune-500-titans-and-disruptors-of-industry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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