Advice to Fathers

Father/ Business Owner: My son doesn’t work as hard as I had to work to get this business to where it is today.

Me: Your son was raised in a different generation than you and me and has different ideas about work, life balance, hobbies, and the world in general.

Father/Business Owner: Yes, but how does he expect this business to continue to prosper without hard work? I’m worried that he is spoiled.

Me: I don’t think your son is spoiled as much as he may be “enabled” by you and your wife. Our generation wanted it better for our children than we had it, and our children are a result of that. Your son wants to work smarter, not necessarily harder.

Father/Business Owner: I tell my wife that she coddles my son too much and that is part of the problem. She can’t keep from “mothering” him.

Me: Wives are usually more nurturing than husbands. Women are usually more about wanting to keep the family together and men are usually more about trying to make men out of sons. Sometimes all this backfires.

Father/Business Owner: So what should I do? Am I to stand back and give in to all of my son’s whims and dreams?

Me: No, but you should mellow out a bit and relax. You may be right about a lot of things, but the question is whether you want to continue to insist that you are right or whether you want to be successful as a father and an owner. Pushing your son away won’t make either of you happy and it will drive a wedge into the relationship that will always be there. Be wise, Dad. Have a heartfelt talk with your son.

Here are a few Business & Life Tips to think about….

Business Tips:

• Hard work and smart work are not the same thing. Hard work makes you successful, while smart work makes life balanced.
• Advice is a lot easier to give than to receive. It’s even harder to act upon, but we must. Evaluate the advice you get; then do something.
• In my work coaching owners and leaders, I have noticed that their criticism of others says more about the critic than those criticized.

Life Tips:

• Care and credibility are keys to all meaningful relationships. Conveying these two essentials to people will build lasting relations.
• We tend to take ourselves and others far too seriously. Isn’t it time to back off a little, relax, and laugh more? You’ll have a lot more fun, and likely be more successful.
• If you’re an enabler, you can rob others of the ability to discover their own unique skills. Stop enabling and watch people grow on their own.

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