ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an analysis of thirty-four texts written by or about high-ranking executives in Fortune five-hundred firms. It evidences a macro discourse that one should almost always work and should not take time away from work. One way that the popular texts discursively characterized good workers was through the notion of passion. Hugh Hefner described an extreme, passionate, dedication to his work. His personal identification with Playboy became almost total. Some of the men referred to their jobs as callings or destiny and referenced a higher power as guiding their occupational lives. The passion the executives felt for their jobs culminated in excessive time commitments to work. The comments about work-life circled around three main themes: First, some of the men described work and life as interchangeable. Second, many men made supportive comments about balancing work and other aspects of their lives and third, a few men directly spoke about not supporting work-life initiatives.
