Dirk Stealy is a remodeling contractor. He just landed a great contract, remodeling Bob Evans stores in Central Florida, but he was determined not to let this contract interfere with his role as his son’s football coach. After his son’s football practice each night Dirk would drive three hours to spend the night supervising his crew and return home the next morning. All across the country, men are juggling their schedules, taking e-mails on their Blackberries, and telling their bosses they are not available for “that” meeting in order to open up the time to coach their child in some form of sport.
The Lansing State Journal discussed how fathers multitask while connecting with their kids. Sports have always been a way for dads to “connect” with their kids, sons and daughters. Sports provide a unique opportunity to become a mentor as well as a parent. It’s not easy. After working a ten-hour day, Marc Goodman rushes to the basketball court, sometimes changing into his coaching shirt while entering the gym. It was not unusual for my own boss to see me leaving work at 3:00 because of a cross-country meet for my sons. He knew I would make up the time somewhere else.
Dads say that integrating their home life and work life takes some thought, good time management tools and diplomacy. Three-fourths of all fathers identified the ability to work flexible hours as the most appealing option. CareerBulder.com reports that more men are resisting travel and that these fathers include discussions on these issues during job negotiations.
What it all comes down to is good skills at identifying and determining priorities and managing one’s time. Fathers have to look at their life as one complete package with multiple facets, their work and their family.
Where are you in this dilema? Great Lakes Training & Consulting has two programs that may be of benefit to you. Balancing Multiple Priorities, Objectives, and Deadlines is a full day program that can be taught at your workplace. Achieving a Work/Life Balance is a one-hour webinar that you can take individually on your computer. See our Training Courses for more information.