34, being a Dad and Leaving Loudly
Today marks my 34th trip around the sun. I must admit that no longer being able to claim early 30's does hurt a bit, but I am a firm believer that as males we only continue to get better looking with age which I will take a small amount of delusional comfort in.
Beyond being my birthday, today was also Cross Country day for my eldest - Will. My work calendar this morning looked pretty similar to most morning, with a relatively important meeting at 9:00am for one of my key Projects. I take huge ownership over my Projects and I like to be there every step of the way to ensure things go to plan - missing these kind of meetings makes me feel uncomfortable and like I am letting my team down.
Ultimately I knew that today however, cross country would win out. Will and I have been training now for a few weeks and I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to see him run. We are both pretty short, have stocky frames, short legs and big bums (think a Staffy) so athletics is not really our strong point, but this didn't deter his eagerness and I knew he had done enough to run the whole way and do himself proud.
Coming up to today I was unsure how to take the morning off. Do I call in sick? Do I simply not show up - no one would question me. A conflicting meeting would be an easy way out, even an appointment would sound fine.
Leaving Loudly
Ultimately I decided to let the team know exactly what I was doing. Staying home for a surf, breakfast with my wife and then off to cross country to watch my boy run. I will be in the office by midday, I have a capable team to run the meeting in my absence, and I had the greatest birthday present I could have asked for - the look of pride and determination on my Son's face as he rounded the corner and his dad cheered him on. Leaving Loudly is a term I heard first coined by Robbert Rietbroek, the chief executive of PepsiCo Australia and New Zealand and the message has resonated hugely with me since.
Heading into work I am now certain that I made the right decision. I really encourage all other parents out there, especially Dads, to Leave Loudly. I am extremely lucky to work for an organisation who I know will support me in this approach without me having to explicitly ask for permission - however I am sure most organisations would support this if Dad's would just be a bit more vulnerable and ask.
I feel refreshed and energised and ready to tackle the rest of my week with the comforting feeling that I was there to support Will through a really special moment for him.
Technical Director, Structures at Aurecon
5 年All spot on, the post and the comments so far
Host of The Netty Life, Contributor North Queensland Cowboys, Reporter Netball Scoop, Business Development Consultant at Farran Street Education
5 年Any workplace that puts road blocks in place against ‘Leaving Loudly’ are out of the loop. Every now and then that’s exactly what you need to do. Work should support people in this. No doubt you were more productive for the week, and it’s something your son will always remember. He may not have remembered you NOT being there, but you can be absolutely sure he’ll REMEMBER you being there.
Non Executive Director, Experienced Recruitment Leader - Defence/Aero/Space Specialist - STEM Diversity & Inclusion Advocate
5 年Love this. This is so important if we truely want diversity.
Enterprise Architect at DXC Technology
5 年Excellent - it’s all about priorities ??
Technical Director
5 年Nice share Stuart, well said!