Gratitude Filled Leadership: Family Matters

Through the years of leadership challenges I have focused on opportunities these trials reveal to answer the call. Some challenges have been part of a normal career progression and others were elective based on an open window process.

In nearly every case I put my career ahead of my family. My assumption was that moving forward (sometimes moving overseas) was a good deal for them. In retrospect I now know those assumptions had flaws. But my family were troopers and rarely complained. Looking back, I can see that I could have fared just as well had I elected to remain in place.

My decisions weren’t necessarily selfish, yet they did favor me more than my family. Kids had to switch schools and leave friends. Many families thrive in relocations while others nearly disintegrate. Interestingly, I usually paid more attention in guiding my charge’s careers and the impact on their families than I did my own.

My myopic view of moving my family created problems that ultimately affected my performance as a leader.

Why this mea culpa now? I offer this as a caution to those of you who would leave the center point of your life out of your career decisions. These are highly personal, of course. To achieve the fullest measure of gratitude filled leadership I would recommend always including family in any career move. By not doing this you may develop a pattern that diminishes the enjoyment of life’s great journey. None of us have a crystal ball, however we often see others’ future problems more clearly than our own.

Taking on new challenges is what gets us to the top of the performance pyramid. While aggressively pursuing peak performance always remain vigilant to the impact on those you cherish. Gratitude Filled Leadership will be yours!