Sharon et Linda

By then, Sharon and Linda were expert at one of the most important things anyone can do for their career: managing a boss's expectations. As Rossi recalls: "Sharon warned me, 'Remember that you didn't hire two people who are on call all the time.' And I did find myself excited that I had two people. I had to remind myself that they were really one person." Rossi also had to resist the tendency to divide assignments based on each one's strengths. Sharon is very organized, Linda less so. Sharon is a confident public speaker who likes leading group training sessions; Linda prefers one-on-one interactions.

A year and a half ago, Linda and Sharon's position was eliminated. They returned to dealing with compensation at PNC, their seventh job together. As is often the case with them, the move was lateral. As Linda says: "Would we be in the same place if we both worked full-time? No." But over the years they have rejected offers of full-time jobs. "There may be certain situations we don't like, but we're willing to do pretty much anything because we treasure working with each other," says Sharon.

This spring, Sharon began working at home on her days off on an independent project for PNC. Her department is short-staffed, and she is ready to work more now that her kids are older. But she's uneasy about the new situation. "I'm not used to it, and I don't really like it," she says. "Linda and I are not as connected." By Susan Berfield

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