Close your laptop at 5PM

"Manage the project so that your team can close their laptop at 5PM." That was the challenge my BCG partner, Jungkiu Choi, gave me on my very first project as a manager. I'll always be grateful, as his push reshaped how I lead, and how I live.

In consulting, where leaving at 9PM was considered "sustainable," it sounded almost like a betrayal.

Yet, we kept close track of priorities, progress, and deliverables. The project wrapped up strong with only a couple of late nights. I realized how norms were just imagined.

Sometimes it felt unnerving walking out while the sun was still up. I had moments of panic: what if all this balance ends in a failed project?

It's not like I was able to do it for all other projects, with different partner philosophy, project structure, and client demands. But I learned to continuously set and challenge my own boundaries.

I carried that lesson into my first CEO role, right after maternity leave. My boundaries looked different then: lunch hour locked for pumping, no lunch meetings. Leaving much earlier than everyone else for the baby's night routine.

From day one, I was upfront with my board. Their response: "As long as you hit the KPIs, we trust you know what to do."

In fact, those months were probably my and the company's most effective. I had limited time onsite, so every minute of meetings needed to deliver real value. We kept pushing our expectation of resource optimization.

A few years later, when my parenting demands lessened, giving me more flexibility, I didn't observe more productivity. I had more hours, but not necessarily sharper decision-making.

High achievers take pride in grinding. But sometimes, that grind is just a safety blanket. Managers push teams past breaking point so that if things go south, they can at least say, "We worked hard."

That's not driven by strategy, but fears.

Challenge yourself to cut, to focus, and to win without the crutch of endless hours or sacrifice.