Why are we still working 9-5?

The Modern Leader’s Struggle to Balance it All

There’s a series of viral videos making the rounds where Millennial moms are staring into the camera, asking a question that resonates with so many of us: How are we supposed to do it all? They talk about the overwhelming pressure of balancing full-time work, raising kids, managing households, and somehow still finding time for self-care. It’s a question that’s been on women’s minds for decades, and now, it's gaining louder traction.

As I watched these videos, one thought kept coming back to me: Welcome to being a woman.

When I was starting out, I looked at the leaders I worked for—mostly Boomer men—and realized their success wasn’t just a result of hard work and ambition. They had wives at home, managing the day-to-day tasks of family life while they focused on climbing the corporate ladder. For them, balance was achievable because they had someone behind the scenes making sure everything else was handled.

I needed a wife. But what I got was a husband.

And believe me, it’s not the same thing. My husband, while a partner in many ways, didn’t carry the mental load of managing all the details—meals, laundry, vacations, orthodontist appointments, planning, and keeping track of everything else. It fell on me. The pressure to "balance it all" is still, decades later, a reality that many women face, especially working moms. The question Millennial moms are asking—How do we do this?—is one I’ve been asking for years.

The Modern Woman’s Burden: Balancing It All. Still.

The viral question is simple but profound: How do we manage to hold everything together—being a good mom, a good partner, a successful professional—without completely burning out? The truth is, we’re expected to juggle far more than previous generations did. While societal expectations around women working have changed, the expectation that women handle the lion’s share of household and emotional labor has not.

And in the corporate world? Forget it. Women are still expected to keep up with the demands of the workplace, which often doesn’t account for the fact that many of us are also managing homes, children, and the invisible work that comes with it.

The solution isn’t more time management hacks or the elusive “work-life balance.” The solution is a fundamental shift in how we approach leadership, work, and family life.

Gen Z is Questioning More Than Just Balance

And here’s where things get interesting. While Millennial moms are struggling to balance everything, Gen Z is questioning the whole concept of the 9-to-5 work model. They’re asking: Why are we still doing this?

They’re not just interested in figuring out how to balance work and life—they’re rejecting the idea that work should dominate life in the first place. Gen Z is demanding flexibility, autonomy, and a new way of working that doesn’t squeeze life into the gaps left over after work. They’re not just challenging balance—they’re challenging the system itself.

What We Can Learn from Both Generations

So, what does this mean for leadership today? It means we need to rethink what success and leadership look like. We need more than just flexibility or "better balance." We need to ask the bigger questions that Gen Z is raising—about how we structure work, what we value, and how we prioritize people over productivity.

As a leader, I’ve learned that the most important thing we can do is shift the conversation. Success isn’t about doing it all—it’s about doing the things that matter. And part of that shift means understanding that leadership doesn’t look the same for everyone. We need leaders who model empathy, flexibility, and a rejection of the idea that more is always better.

So, the question isn’t just How do we balance it all? It’s Why are we still doing things this way? Let’s build a new kind of leadership—one that works for everyone, not just those with endless support systems.