In response to our February 11th Sheryl Sandberg “Lean In” post, one Account Director recounts how her father balanced work, family and personal interests:
My father was a Rheumatologist. He had his own practice for many years and he worked very hard. No matter how busy his day or how much he struggled with whether he loved medicine or not, he had two priorities:
1) to be a knowledgeable and educated practitioner who was empathetic to his patients and,
2) to always pick up the phone if it was one of his children, no matter what he was doing.
I think these principles have guided me in my career. Later in my father’s life his goal was to “Lean Back” a bit and he worked out a partnership with a fellow physician so he could be in the office 3 days a week. On the other days he was extremely busy with his own interests. And he taught me that as well — to always have other interests and not let career take over.
Over the past 9 years as I struggled to find work/life balance, I have been very lucky to have a supportive husband who has let me make the choices that would best serve our young family (and maybe not best serve our bank accounts). I think about my father’s choices and his priorities and I know that he would also be proud and supportive of my career.
