How refreshing to have leaders with family priorities. And even more so, a woman. It is unheard of for a female CEO to stand up and declare her familial priorities. She knows it is risking her job and she knows it opens the door for thoughts and comments about "allowing" a female with children to be CEO. But Shelly Lazarus, CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, stuck to her guns. As a result, she sets a phenomenal example for us all to follow.
Here, (quoted from Reader's Digest) Shelly discusses an experience she had as account leader on the American Express account:
Two weeks after Lazarus landed the American Express account, the client announced an all-day meeting to discuss a five-year strategy for its ad campaigns. American Express was the largest account at the Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide ad agency, and it was unthinkable that Lazarus, as the account leader, would not attend. But she had other priorities.
"I said to the client, 'Next Friday is field day at my son's school and I have to be there,' " she recalls, years later. "The way I look at it is, there will be 25 people at your meeting, and two weeks later no one is really going to remember who was there and who wasn't there. But if I don't go to my son's school field day, he will never forget."
How easy it is for us to fool ourselves by saying, "I really have to attend this meeting, they're counting on me. There will be another game".
Our priorities get reversed so easily because adults hold us much more accountable (at least externally) than children do. A child will smile and say "that's okay" when we fail them. In attempt to compensate (in reality to relieve our own guilt), we take them for ice cream or buy them a new video game. We know that a boss or coworker's currency is not toys or ice cream and we believe that they will be much less forgiving. That is, unless we set it straight with them.
The saying is true, we teach people how to treat us. If we are consistent and firm about our priorities, we teach our bosses and coworkers what's important to us and they will ultimately learn to accept it.
And that works both ways. If we consistently stay late and blow off family priorities, we teach our employers that work is our priority and that family comes second. Of course, it's no secret that bosses love this attitude. But then again your boss doesn't need to feel your support and hear your cheers at his soccer game.
Take a minute to reflect at the message you're sending out about your priorities. How are you teaching people to treat you?
Our priorities get reversed so easily because adults hold us much more accountable (at least externally) than children do. A child will smile and say "that's okay" when we fail them. In attempt to compensate (in reality to relieve our own guilt), we take them for ice cream or buy them a new video game. We know that a boss or coworker's currency is not toys or ice cream and we believe that they will be much less forgiving. That is, unless we set it straight with them.
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