Chasing Daylight by Eugene O’Kelly, published by McGraw-Hill

Eugene O’Kelly, global CEO of KPMG, thought he had a great and well balanced life until he found he had three months to live. But this news made him evaluate whether his life priorities had been well balanced and he soon decided to resign from his job and spend his remaining time tidying up the other aspects of his life that he now realised he had been neglecting - his family, friends and all the things that he had never had time to do. He also decided to write this book in order to help others see things as clearly as he did.

The book then describes the story of his last three months, the last chapter being completed by his wife as he became too weak to finish it. He also became too weak to do some of the things that he had planned but this did not seem to matter; he had found a positive purpose to help him cope with his devastating news.

It is difficult to know whether his admirable combination of clear thinking and contentment was a sort of bravado or a genuine response to tragedy, but in a way it does not matter. I not only read the book myself but also gave to several others who are in busy management roles; the feedback confirmed that no-one can read this book without thinking more seriously about their own life work-life balance.

Is it a good thing to encourage managers under pressure to think this way or is it best for them to carry on blindly as company committed workaholics? Clearly there is no answer that applies to everybody because we all have different circumstances and needs but this book will make everyone who reads it stop and think about their life priorities.