Don’t Put Your Job Ahead of Your Family: A Leadership Wake-Up Call

Caught up in business challenges, do you often find yourself slipping into the trap of putting your personal life on the back burner instead of focusing on family first, job second?

It’s a common problem in business today, where leaders are asked to do more with less to get the job done.

The fundamental resource you have for gaining control over your own life is yourself.

Set a goal to become a time management expert by a specific date and support this goal through relevant resources, including books and workshops. Achieve that critical life-work balance, and then transcend into a stronger, happier, more productive person.

When Work Starts Replacing Relationships

Are you more invested in your job than your personal relationships?

It’s understandable. You’re likely passionate about your organization and its people, and deeply committed to driving success.

But if you don’t put family first in life, you’re more likely to eventually face serious personal problems, possibly costing you not only heartache, but even your company or career.

Ironically, one main reason so many of us work 12-hour days, six days a week, is to support our families, whom we sadly, rarely see.

This is wrong and twisted.

Committing this leadership sin sends a message to others that work is more important than family, friends, or relationships.

It’s simply not at least for most of us.

How Can You Transform Your Time Management to Put Family First?

Here are practical ways to reclaim balance and lead more intentionally:

Be Proactive About Personal Planning

Take your calendar and proactively mark what’s happening at home or in your personal life first.

Block out the time you truly need, whether it’s your son’s baseball games, a best friend’s performance, or your spouse’s birthday weekend.

Then plan work obligations around those personal commitments, so what’s truly important remains a priority.

Delegate More

One of MAP’s most successful clients, Dennis Bishop of WPX Delivery Solutions, was a true perfectionist when he first hired MAP.

He still wants things done right but he’s since perfected his accountability leadership so he can step away from the office for a day, knowing everything will run just fine.

Even better, after putting MAP practices in place, he took more vacations in the past three years than he did in the ten years prior to coaching.

Delegation and letting go of control helped him achieve the freedom he had long been missing.

Unplug From Work

Turn off the computer when it’s family time.
Stop obsessing over your smartphone on date night.
Disconnect from work so you can reconnect with those you cherish.

No excuses. No “buts.”

Just do it, and sin no more.

Final Question

Are you guilty of putting work before family?