Nike's next CEO, John Donahoe, is a man with a past -- and this is a fine time to share it. Early in his career (1983!) he was a rising star at Bain & Company, dashing off to whatever city needed his expertise next. When his fiance challenged his choices, Donahoe later told me, he wrote a vow to her: "I will not live the life of a management consultant." Five years later, the two of them were the married parents of two small children. She wanted to take a prestigious legal clerkship with a 7:30 a.m. start. Careers and parenting were about to collide. So Donohoe (still at Bain) switched to part-time hours to make the household balancing act more equitable. As I wrote in this Fast Company profile, this meant Donohoe now "split his mornings between oatmeal and org charts." Guess what. The fast track was still waiting when Donohoe wanted it. Not only did he end up running Bain for a stretch; he later became eBay's CEO and is now the CEO of ServiceNow. (His Nike job will start early next year.) Bain insiders have told me that even in his part-time days, Donohoe spent a lot more time with org charts than oatmeal. But the gesture counts anyway. Sometimes, the fastest way to get ahead is to slow down for a moment. #worklifebalance #leadership #parenting
Kristin Zeigler
5 年
Great story, thank you for sharing!
Luke Crowther
5 年
Slowing down and enjoying life is something that is too often overlooked by workers. We shouldn't feel shame for prioritizing the things that are important in our life. This is such a beautiful example of finding that balance at the right time.?
I love your comment and it has a depth of meaning - "Sometimes, the fastest way to get ahead is to slow down for a moment" as I experienced personally. Good insights.
Andrew Thomas
5 年
Still clean fused how a company that had more than 5 execs exit the company for sexual harassment decides to hire another man to clean up a culture of misogyny.
Congratulations John Donahoe! Great example of a CEO who has successfully ran companies in completely different industries!
Let me guess u know vivian breedlove right and my ira 38 million to 8 billion that was speed across block Chan I’m ico not ceo means I’m the man the owner not the block chain Thef or any tripe of Thef that people try to say I am my rocks all the way to my stocks dam what’s next you tell me now that y’all yogis come on tell me so I can make money too
paul kelley
5 年
LeBrat James the high school dropout that nobody likes, hey punk move to China.
Innovative strategy, operations & finance leader | Consulting fractional COO | ex-Atlassian
5 年Perhaps an unpopular opinion but should we be busting out the cheerleading squad for a man doing what I would expect a partner in a relationship to do when the other partner also works? - being flexible when needed. By your own admission, sounds like his part-time hours was more simply working from home. Hopefully this is non-news within a few years time.