From CNNMoney.com comes a humorous article titled Do CEOs make lousy dads (and moms)? The Q&A format is a discussion of an entertaining new book from a former comedy programmer at HBO. The guy is now a CEO of an executive search firm in Los Angeles who almost lost his wife during an armed robbery.
The article starts with some stats from a monster.com survey:
…found that 58% think their employers should do more to accommodate the demands of fatherhood; 71% of those with a child under age 5 took a paternity leave when it was offered. The poll also found that, if money were no object, 68% of fathers would consider being stay-at-home dads.
I’m not sure what accommodations they are looking for and I know I could not be a stay-at-home dad. There must be a happy medium in there. Anyway, on to the author who was clearly out-of-control in his work/life balance:
I used to be the kind of guy who would be texting clients while riding the Matterhorn at Disneyland with my daughters. It was nuts.
And later on this tongue-in-cheek gem:
They (his family) like me better. I play with my kids now. I don’t take work calls at dinnertime anymore. I’ve accepted that, at home, I don’t have the control over events that I have at the office, which is why most CEOs have trouble with family life. You can’t fire your kids, although I am thinking of transferring them, as soon as I find the right storage facility.
It’s a fun article to read before Father’s Day with a good message.