「ワーキングママ」について考えると、いつもNYに住む友人が頭に浮かぶ。彼女との付き合いは長い。というのも彼女の夫と私は幼なじみで、姉弟みたいな関係だ。この｢弟｣が彼女と付き合い出したころ、彼は大学院生で私たちの家に居候していた。毎日のように彼女のことを聞かされていたので、紹介された時すでに長年の知り合いのような気がしたのを覚えている。
現在、彼女はアルフレッド・Ｐ・スローン財団(www.sloan.org) でシニア・バイスプレジデントという要職についている。昔から何か「世のためになること」をしたいと思っていたそうだ。エール大学を卒業した後しばらくビジネスの世界にいたが、やはり自分は非営利の分野で働きたいと12年前ほどに方向転換する。
それからいくつかの非営利団体で働き、今にいたる。スローン財団は、1934年に当時のジェネラル・モーターズの社長だったスローン氏によって設立され、自然科学、技術や経済の分野の研究と教育に対して、昨年は8千5百万ドルほど(約86億円)の助成金を出している。そこの運営と財務を担当しているのだから、まだ40代後半なのにすごい責任だ。
久しぶりにゆっくり食事する機会があったので仕事のこと、家族のことを聞いてみた。彼女曰く、昔から人生の指針になっているのは、父親に教わった｢自立の大切さ｣だという。自分の力で生きていくことにおいて、仕事はその方法なのだと説明してくれた。生きている過程で夫と出会い、子供たちに恵まれたが、この指針は変わっていないと言う。
育児と仕事の両立については、子供たちが小さい頃はバランスを取るのが大変で夫婦としてもストレスがあったと話してくれた。でも、無我夢中でやっていた分、あまり細かいことを心配せずにいつの間に育ってくれたとも。「昔はもっと集中して働きたいと思っていた。今はこっちがかまって欲しいと思っても娘たちは自分たちの世界があるから皮肉よね」と笑っていた。
若い頃先輩に「有能な人ほど力が入っていない生き方しているけど、実はその陰には並みならぬ努力があるのよ」と教わった。物腰が低い、いつも穏やかな彼女を見ているとそのことばを思い出す。
by ゆき子
When on the subject of working moms, I always think about a friend who lives in New York. I have known her for a long time. This is courtesy of her husband who is an old family friend and is like my younger brother. This “brother” began dating her during the summer that he lived with us as a graduate student, so my husband and I pride ourselves as being one of the first to know of their budding romance.
Currently, she is a Senior Vice President for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (www.sloan.org). After graduating from Yale University, she worked in the corporate world for a while, but realized that it was the non-profit sector in which she wanted to work, so made a switch about 12 years ago.
After working for a couple of non-profit organizations, she began this position two years ago. The Sloan Foundation was founded in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., then-President of General Motors and makes grants to support original research and education in the field of science, technology, and economic performance and to improve the quality of American life. They have an asset of $1.7 billion and gave away $85 million in grants last year. Being responsible for the operational and financial aspect of this organization is a huge responsibility. And to think she is only in her forties!
We recently had a chance to have dinner and talked about her life and family. She explained to me that the guiding principle throughout her life was instilled by her father; that is, the importance of being independent. For my friend, working is a way of ensuring this independence. She says that she has been blessed in meeting her husband and having children along the way but this principle remains unaltered.
As for balancing family and work, she told me that it was chaotic while the children were young and did occasionally put strains on the marriage. However, because they were so busy trying to get everything done, she had no time to worry about the small stuff and the children just grew up. “When my daughters were small, what I wanted was time to focus on work. Now that they are self-sufficient and I have more time, they are too busy with their lives for me. How ironic is that!”
Long time ago, an older friend told me I would meet amazing people who make their life seem easy, though in fact they work really hard behind the scene. They just don’t make a big deal out of all the effort, she said. I always remember this when I think of her.
by yuki
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿