If you’re a parent, you know all too well the challenges of parenting: Sleepless nights, constant worry, and the impossibility of ever getting your schedule exactly right. Parenting is the ultimate balancing act, and none of us are perfect at it. Now add a few complicating factors – a travel-heavy consulting job and sole custody of a 14-year-old girl – and you have my situation.
Balancing consulting and fatherhood is challenging work, but with a little patience and discipline, it can be one of the most rewarding combinations of your life. I wanted to take a moment this Father’s Day to share some advice for new parents in the consulting industry.
First, and most importantly, both jobs require endless patience – and balancing the two requires even more. If you’re a parent, you know that patience is probably the most important characteristic in raising a child. The results you’re looking for won’t necessarily come for two, four, 18, or even 30 years; it’s about putting in the work every day and hoping your best effort is setting your children up to be successful, healthy adults.
The same is true of many consulting projects. Sometimes you’ll see results immediately, but more often, the gains the health system will experience will come months or years down the line. You’re not a superhero, coming in to fix everything in one fell swoop, but rather a builder whose careful, strategic work will drive long-term results.
Most of all, it requires patience to balance a consulting job with parenthood. When you first have a child and go back to work, you will probably want to fall back into your old routines right away. You’re used to being successful and high-performing, and you’ll crave the same ease of performance that you used to experience before you had a child.
My advice: Be patient. You’ll find your groove, but it takes more time than you’d probably like, and you will have to make sacrifices along the way. That may mean turning down a contract because it’s more than 50 percent travel or missing a school event because you have to be on go-live.
I’ve also learned the power of discipline and time management – not just at work, but at home. I travel Monday through Thursday every other week, so when I’m home, I need to take all the time I can get with my daughter. When I’m at work, I’m completely focused on my deliverables so that when I get home, I can put my time toward her needs and not have to make a call or check my email during dinner.
If you continue consulting as a parent, I think you’ll also learn a lot about how to help your clients from your relationship with your children. One of the most important things I’ve learned is how to approach a problem from a different angle. As the parent of a 14-year-old, I’m often challenged to look at something from her perspective.
Maybe it’s a problem that I don’t see as that big of a deal, or something she wants to do that I’m unsure about. I have to remember that just because I grew up a certain way doesn’t mean she has to live my life. I have to recognize her as an individual and respect that she has her own point of view, her own challenges, and her own definition of success.
The same is true of solving problems at a health system. Everyone comes to a problem with a different history and perspective, and part of the challenge is stepping outside your own experience to understand theirs. I think parenting sets you up to succeed at this, and I’m grateful every day to my daughter for teaching me to be more open-minded.
My final piece of advice to new parents would be to look for a consulting company that takes your priorities seriously and understands that parenthood is, at the end of the day, your most important job. I work closely work Nordic to identify projects that are less than 50 percent travel, because my practice manager understands the responsibility I bear for my daughter.
I love consulting work, and I truly believe that I can continue to be a fantastic consultant and a great father, but I can’t do it alone. Nordic’s support means everything in helping me succeed in the ultimate balancing act and provide the best possible service to my daughter and my clients.
If you're interested in reading more about Nordic's culture of inclusion, we encourage you to check out our blogs on motherhood and consulting, racial diversity in the workplace, and female empowerment.
