Your father probably had a significant impact on your outlook and perspective in life. They helped develop your work ethic, shape your values and mold you into the person and professional you are today. With Father’s Day this Sunday, we’re celebrating the dads of LaSalle by sharing insights from a few of them on fatherhood and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. Here are their heartfelt thoughts to help dads blend family and career and succeed in work and life:
Tom Gimbel
What advice would you give working dads?
Enjoy your life. Same as for non-working dads, working and non-working moms and childless adults. You go around this world once, be the best person you can be, teach your kids the value of a work ethic by making them work and by showing them how hard you work to provide. Those lessons stick with kids for a lifetime.
Alan Jagnandan
What is the best part of fatherhood?
It’s nearly impossible to put your finger on one thing, so I’m not going to do that. 🙂
With that said, some of the best things about being a father are watching your kids learn new things each day and seeing them go through various milestones. Watching them go from crawling, to walking to running is a powerful feeling, and nothing compares to the first time they start to smile and laugh.
Jason Siegel
What lessons from fatherhood have you applied to your career?
Patience! Every (kid) employee has a different learning style and customizing your approach is important to having a positive outcome.
Craig Johnson
What lessons from fatherhood have you applied to your career?
Time management and prioritization! When you have three kids on different schedules with different needs, you learn how to maximize your time in the day, which translates perfectly into the working world.
Byron Johnson
What lessons from fatherhood have you applied to your career?
Becoming a better listener. I’ve had to learn to listen more than I talk to understand what they are going through, what they need to grow and their motivations. They’ve made me a better leader for my team.
Lawrence Casas
What lessons from fatherhood have you applied to your career?
Patience. Seriously – I’ve learned so much about setting realistic expectations for people. When you’re a younger manager or leader, you’re not as patient, and you don’t have the same understanding. When you have kids, you realize that not everyone is the same – they think differently and need different things from you.
Russell Castaneda
What is the best part of fatherhood?
Seeing the impact you have on their lives. Knowing that what you do and how you act will mold them into the person they will become. And the smiles on their little faces and joy you can see when I get home from work.
Shane Baker
What lessons from fatherhood have you applied to your career?
Being prepared is so important, but being ready and able to respond to the unanticipated is just as crucial. Whether it’s baby proofing your home or role-playing a call or meeting before it happens, things are going to come up that were not planned for. It is vital to be able to respond to the new challenges quickly and with a general sense of calm.
