A Wall Street executive recently confided that she was losing the battle of “balance” in her life. Her commute to downtown Manhattan was beyond taxing, and her job, despite her boss’s promises otherwise, called for far too many hours and most of her weekends.

As if things on the home front weren’t troubled enough, it finally came to a head late one night when she realized that she was trying to teach her fifth-grade son how to do his math homework from her Blackberry.

You can’t add full value at work if you’re directly or indirectly creating havoc at home. You also can’t have a life if you’re too busy making a living.

Whether you’re new to or a veteran of managerial responsibilities, your learning curve in the “better, faster, and cheaper world” is getting steeper. And it needs to be. Changes brought on by fierce global competition, real-time market shifts, increasing regulation, and demanding stockholders are causing calendar pages to turn in an eye’s blink. Consequently, long hours (though hopefully not like what is described in this Truth) have become more of the norm, and your personal support system—more so than ever—plays a critical role in determining your success.

Before you say “yes” to the new or expanded assignment, be sure you have the support and commitment of your family and the network you rely on.

At home, given the time and attention that you’ll be devoting to managing organizational change—particularly in its early phases—there is bound to be stress and disruption. This may lead to unhappiness and resentment. Your goal is to ease everyone’s burden to the extent possible. Talk about the worst-case expectations for your commitment, and why and how everyone can be supportive. Pledge to stay in touch with the feelings of your spouse and family. Try to resolve differences as they occur, without letting them fester. Make the most of your quality time together with new and familiar activities. Friends and extended family members may be able to help in the short term. Perhaps other resources are available. If you’re relocating, be sensitive to the timing of the move, especially if children are involved, and the need to quickly get acquainted with the new environment.

In terms of your professional network, you’ll need help—and you should not be shy about asking. No leader can do it all. Refresh or develop a small team of trusted advisors within and outside the organization to share your observations, and compare experiences. These people can fall into one of three professional categories: technical advisors, cultural interpreters, and political counselors.

Technical advisors provide expertise, analysis, and insight into available resources, strategy, and markets. They’re treasures of information. They can provide you with tools and applications that will keep you abreast of operational hiccups and efficiencies in real-time.

Cultural interpreters help you understand your organizational landscape and how to best adapt to it. They provide insight into the culture, norms, rites, customs, and assumptions. They help you speak the language of the new company.

Political counselors help you understand your key organizational relationships. They provide advice and act as a sounding board for your change agenda. They provide suggestions on how to implement your ideas and challenge you with “what if” questions.

Be sure to have a good mix of these advisors to provide you the balance of perspective.