A few months ago I was working on a particularly complex, frustrating and taxing project and during a conversation with the company CIO he said something that stopped me dead in my tracks and made me re-evaluate a few things. He said : ‚Don’t worry, it’s not personal. It’s business.‛ I have heard that expression used often enough and I must admit I’ve never really warmed to it. This time it actually made me sad. I was asked to step in and manage a project that was based in Wellington ‌ and I live in Auckland. ( That’s about the equivalent of Durban to Jo’burg.) Which meant a very early flight out of Auckland on Monday morning and a very late flight back on Friday afternoon. It meant evenings in a non-descript hotel room sitting with my laptop and eating room service. But mostly it meant being away from my husband. Oh, I know, the tragedy of the situation! Don’t worry, I’m not looking for sympathy here! In fact, I’m sure that many of you have been in similar or worse situations where you have been away from home for lengthy absences. My point is that I was making very PERSONAL sacrifices to do this job, so I really didn’t understand the maxim: ‘It’s not personal, it’s business.’ I don’t know about you, but time away from my family is very personal to me. So when the person I work for doesn’t understand that � I’m very worried.

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