Priorities in life…

Last night, my eldest son was very angry. When prodded, he let out that I had been travelling so much this year that his friend’s first question was “is your dad in town?”. My reaction was simple. I cancelled a trip to the Solar Congress in Orlando. Besides, Randy and Tom, both senior level people in my team, are capable of handling it.
So why was I going in the first place? Well I didn’t sleep much last night until I came up with the answer. Having been defrauded by a previous group of managers who took everything from pictures to text files from our network to use for their competitive line, I was having a hard time empowering through trust.
Go figure! Here I have been professing about empowering a team while I was doing the complete opposite by overseeing even this trade show and other stuff that a CEO should really not be involved with. They say “out of the mouth of babes” come much truth. Like the little girl who asked her mom why she could not have the picture right away once taken, which led her father to develop the Polaroid camera.
We all need to remember that few fathers ever said on their death beds “I didn’t work enough days in my life”, but I bet there are more than a handful that wished they had spent more time with their kids. I guess I needed a sign to make sure I don’t end up with such regrets…
Sass
PS.Dear ET,
Thank you.It was a much needed wake-up call that helped me re-prioritize. You’ve said I should pursue those guys who stole from ICP to the end of the earth. All in time son. Good things come to those who have patience. We’ll certainly do that. But mostly we will focus on winning the hearts and minds of our customers. The truth will be our ally. Love you, Dad.