Serving in an organization alongside your spouse can be both deeply rewarding and uniquely challenging. Serving in an organization with your spouse allows you to share a common mission, deepen your connection, and support one another through the demands of leadership. However, it also can blur the lines between personal and professional life, requiring intentional boundaries and communication. When not managed well, work-related stress or conflict can easily spill into the marriage, but with mutual respect and clear roles, couples can thrive both in their relationship and in their service to the organization. In today’s episode, John and Jim unpack four practical ways leaders can navigate both the joys and the challenges of working alongside their spouse.

Joys

• Partnership.
• More time together.
• Trust.
• Rounding out the team.

Perils

• Avoiding nepotism/the appearance of nepotism.
• Managing conflict.
• Genuinely punching out from work – where does work stop and home begin?
• Lack of proper boundaries:

How to navigate the joys and perils?

• Celebrate wins together.
• Set boundaries.
  • Who does what? Who leads what?
  • When does work stop? When does work start?
• Honor each other’s gifts.
• Address poor communication.