Pictured above: Sarah Kinley.
Looking to prioritise a better work-life balance for herself, Sarah Kinley founded The New Normal, a consultancy bringing about positive organisational change. This International Women’s Day, NZBusiness hears how she’s empowered herself as a business leader who can have it all, and offers learnings for others on trusting leaders to deliver on their own terms.
Recognised as a safe pair of hands by her clients, Sarah Kinley describes herself as a strong generalist with the ability to get to the nub of things quickly, and on her terms. “This has seen my business offering now focus on bringing people centred structure to purpose-led organisations,” explains Sarah. By accident she has ended up in roles with not for profits working in the disability sector, something that “quickly fulfilled a part of my work journey that I hadn’t realised was missing”.
She says that being able to affect change in organisations with purpose gave her more purpose, and has made her working days not feel like work at all. “I am now a trusted advisor, working alongside organisations affecting positive change for the disability sector, and I love it.”
In a sit-down interview, Sarah shares how this has empowered her to do business that fits in with her new normal, and not any preconceived versions of it.
How did The New Normal come about?
The New Normal started five years ago out of a need for better work-life balance. After many years trying to climb the career ladder while raising a family, I was pretty much burnt out. The New Normal was my way of taking control of my own professional journey in a way that worked for my mental health and wellbeing, as well as giving me greater flexibility to be a more present parent.
What’s your New Normal?
At home, I’m Mum to two boys (14 and 12), a partner to Sam, a great friend, sister and daughter and someone who loves coffee, staying fit, and the occasional wine.
Work me is a successful self-employed woman, working with organisations to “tame their flux” (bring continuity, order, and consistency to business).
My new normal has been challenged recently by vision impairment and a subsequent MS diagnosis so I am slowly working to reframe this in a way that is positive and empowering.
Your advice to leaders looking to bring about positive change to their businesses.
I think to bring positive change to your business, you need to be surrounded by people who hold a similar mindset and vision. You need to be able to clearly articulate the journey, and its why and see that those around you are as passionate about making it happen as you are.
How are you helping create a new normal when it comes to women in leadership?
I firmly believe that work should not be defined by how many hours you’re at your desk – it should be about your ability to deliver awesome work in a way that allows people to balance their home and work life.
I aim to model this with all my clients. They know I will get “shit” done but they also know I will do this in a way that works best for me at any point in time. This means I can be at the school assembly, or receiving treatment for my MS and not need to justify where I am and what I am doing.
Trusting your leaders to deliver, to manage their own time around their own commitments, is powerful. It says, as an organisation, that you are respecting your employees as “whole people”. This approach more openly supports women in leadership as they still tend to juggle work and home life more than their male counterparts.
What’s wrong with the current normal?
COVID did us lots of favours, as it forced employers to allow their teams to work remotely, however, I do feel like the pull back to the office and a more traditional model of work (being office based 40 hours a week) is flawed.
The current normal does not value the whole person, i.e. it does not openly support people who are juggling kids, illness and all the other stuff that exists outside the workplace. This means you either end up with staff who are stretched and feel like they are failing in all aspects of their life (as they are pulled between them), or you lose great staff who burn out, or who just can’t do the juggle anymore.
International Women’s Day 2030, what will we be celebrating?
That’s a tough question, as, in some ways, I feel disheartened by how little has changed for women. We still hit glass ceilings. We still (more often than not) carry the huge invisible workload of home life alongside work lives. We still see and hear sexism and discrimination.
Gosh, that sounds depressing! However, amongst all that, I do see that women are mobilising and realising the power of many. Strong connected women are a force to be reckoned with. With this in mind, International Women’s Day will be celebrating the support of many and the power of knowing you have a posse of mana wahine walking beside you.
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