A young woman, Sarah, wrote us the following e-mail: "My dad is the most important person in the world to me, even though he doesn't have much time to spend with me. That affected me negatively in the teen years. If you want me to cry at the drop of the hat, just get me to thinking about him someday dying, and leaving me without him. I can be doing anything and when that thought floats by, I'm reduced to sobbing. I wish my dad knew how much he could heal in my family if he would just make us feel more important than work."
Why are workaholics more likely to fail at both their job and their family?
A new look at an old study sheds some light on the classic dilemma for dads: How do you balance career and family?
I'm sure you've faced the question: do I put more time in at work - to insure I keep my job, pursue career advancement, or expand my business? Or, do I drop whatever I'm doing and head home in order to be with the family? It's a never-ending tension: how much time do I spend where?
You'll be glad to hear about some new research, which found that the very challenge - the tension - that results from trying to give our best to both worlds may be actually helping us men - in both areas.
John Snarey of Emory University has done a unique study in which he's been able to examine the effect of fathers on their children.
The study is based on interviews conducted soon after World War II, and then periodically with the same men and their children over the next four decades. Based on the interviews, he ranked the fathers as "not involved," "somewhat involved," or "involved" fathers.
Overall, Snarey found that involved fathers "may have delayed writing a paper or put off some other project, but in the long run [the involved] fathers went just as far in their work as comparable men did who were less involved with their kids." In fact, fathers who were involved in two particular ways - in their children's mental development and their adolescents' social development - went further on average in their careers than dads who weren't.
As I consider this tension between time at work and our time at home, I like to picture a tent. The tent is held up by tension - one rope pulls one way to a stake in the ground, while another pulls the other way. If one rope isn't tight, the tent sags. And if one rope is pulled too tight, it also collapses. Without just the right amount of tension, the roof of the tent can't do its job.
Now - thanks to John Snarey - we have evidence that that very tension may be good for us.
Huddle up and ask your kids tonight: If I worked one hour less each week, what would you like to do?
Why are workaholics more likely to fail at both their job and their family?
A new look at an old study sheds some light on the classic dilemma for dads: How do you balance career and family?
I'm sure you've faced the question: do I put more time in at work - to insure I keep my job, pursue career advancement, or expand my business? Or, do I drop whatever I'm doing and head home in order to be with the family? It's a never-ending tension: how much time do I spend where?
You'll be glad to hear about some new research, which found that the very challenge - the tension - that results from trying to give our best to both worlds may be actually helping us men - in both areas.
John Snarey of Emory University has done a unique study in which he's been able to examine the effect of fathers on their children.
The study is based on interviews conducted soon after World War II, and then periodically with the same men and their children over the next four decades. Based on the interviews, he ranked the fathers as "not involved," "somewhat involved," or "involved" fathers.
Overall, Snarey found that involved fathers "may have delayed writing a paper or put off some other project, but in the long run [the involved] fathers went just as far in their work as comparable men did who were less involved with their kids." In fact, fathers who were involved in two particular ways - in their children's mental development and their adolescents' social development - went further on average in their careers than dads who weren't.
As I consider this tension between time at work and our time at home, I like to picture a tent. The tent is held up by tension - one rope pulls one way to a stake in the ground, while another pulls the other way. If one rope isn't tight, the tent sags. And if one rope is pulled too tight, it also collapses. Without just the right amount of tension, the roof of the tent can't do its job.
Now - thanks to John Snarey - we have evidence that that very tension may be good for us.
Huddle up and ask your kids tonight: If I worked one hour less each week, what would you like to do?
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