This continues a series of guest columns from practitioners and bloggers I respect. The category - The Real Deal describes them well.
Joe Vales does the mirror opposite of what I do. I help buying organizations through the sourcing process. Joe helps outsourcing vendors strategize on how best to win such business.
He and his team are frequently brought in at the last second to shape the service provider's winning solution and proposal. Some consider him the Marketing Guru of the BPO market ... others describe him as the Red Adair, fire fighter supreme of the industry. We share a common heritage - PwC. And mutual respect. Magnified on my side by what you read below.
He writes below about his joy of having his daughter work with him at his firm. This column is longer than other guest columns...but a proud father does not deserve to be edited.
"I remember when my daughter Kerry Ann was 12 years old, I took her to work with me for “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” and within minutes of setting down her Barbie bag she was already offering her suggestions for how to spice up my latest project. She insisted that I listen to her very wise "12 yrs of life experience" in pointing out what I could improve upon. (I should note that increasing the amount of trips to the toy store was also high up on her list of improvements that I should make as well) Kerry Ann has never been shy about offering her opinion, but I was intrigued by her real desire to take my project to the next level. In the end it may have been my own years of experience in the industry that got us through the project, but that moment was the very first sign that maybe one day we would make a good team.
When Kerry Ann grew into an adult I watched her take that same passion for improving things into writing. Long before I asked her to get involved in any project with me she was writing and editing white papers, articles, essays, resumes and anything she could get her hands on. In addition, she was producing pieces for various media outlets and succeeding in complex projects due to her attention to detail and keen writing ability. When one of my writers was unavailable to work on a due-diligence project for an investment bank, I seized the opportunity to bring Kerry Ann into my team. At the time her schedule was a little tight but she agreed to try it with me. She participated in all the interviews and incorporated the key findings into our final report. The project couldn't have turned out better and I quickly began to move more and more projects her way never ceasing to be surprised by the results.
Now she is an official member of my team and I couldn't be happier with the way it has turned out. There are hard days with long hours, projects that increase in complexity and surprises at almost every turn, but she maintains that same passion for improvement that she exhibited as a 12 year old and it gives me the extra boost I need sometimes to power through. We have had to learn how to better define where the line between family time and work time is but it is worth it.
There were little things that we had to nail down in the beginning like communication. I got caught up in the professionalism of even the smallest of communications with her. Do I sign my memos to her as "Dad" or as "Joe Vales?" Should she refer to me as "Dad" in meetings or as "Joe?" Do I introduce her to clients as my daughter or as a regular team member? How do I get away with boasting about her proudly without receiving a heavy eye roll from her? We have had to cover all of these bases to find a solution that works best for us. I never wanted to make her feel uncomfortable being around a proud dad all the time and at the same time she wanted to earn an equal place at the table. So we had a clear understanding of the need to draw boundaries of how to deal with those issues. There are days where nothing is going right and as a boss you have to line up all your employees and make sure they know they can't walk away from anything until it's done right. Fortunately we both went into this situation with an acute awareness of how the work day in any other place of employment would be. Kerry Ann knew enough to say at the start that she wanted to clock in and clock out and for that time she would be nothing more than a dedicated employee and would operate as such. That clear line has not always been easy to abide by, but it has definitely been our saving grace a lot of days and we are both thankful for it.
The bonus as a father is I get to watch her continually grow and challenge herself with each project we take on. I can’t help but admit too that I love that she gets to see me do what I love every day. I realize that most fathers never get the opportunity to share what they do with their children, so I truly value each day that we have together. Whether it be in the boardroom or the family room it's never easy, but I treasure the experience. "
Joe can be reached at Valesconsulting AT aol.com - for BPO or parenting tips
He writes below about his joy of having his daughter work with him at his firm. This column is longer than other guest columns...but a proud father does not deserve to be edited.
"I remember when my daughter Kerry Ann was 12 years old, I took her to work with me for “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” and within minutes of setting down her Barbie bag she was already offering her suggestions for how to spice up my latest project. She insisted that I listen to her very wise "12 yrs of life experience" in pointing out what I could improve upon. (I should note that increasing the amount of trips to the toy store was also high up on her list of improvements that I should make as well) Kerry Ann has never been shy about offering her opinion, but I was intrigued by her real desire to take my project to the next level. In the end it may have been my own years of experience in the industry that got us through the project, but that moment was the very first sign that maybe one day we would make a good team.
When Kerry Ann grew into an adult I watched her take that same passion for improving things into writing. Long before I asked her to get involved in any project with me she was writing and editing white papers, articles, essays, resumes and anything she could get her hands on. In addition, she was producing pieces for various media outlets and succeeding in complex projects due to her attention to detail and keen writing ability. When one of my writers was unavailable to work on a due-diligence project for an investment bank, I seized the opportunity to bring Kerry Ann into my team. At the time her schedule was a little tight but she agreed to try it with me. She participated in all the interviews and incorporated the key findings into our final report. The project couldn't have turned out better and I quickly began to move more and more projects her way never ceasing to be surprised by the results.
Now she is an official member of my team and I couldn't be happier with the way it has turned out. There are hard days with long hours, projects that increase in complexity and surprises at almost every turn, but she maintains that same passion for improvement that she exhibited as a 12 year old and it gives me the extra boost I need sometimes to power through. We have had to learn how to better define where the line between family time and work time is but it is worth it.
There were little things that we had to nail down in the beginning like communication. I got caught up in the professionalism of even the smallest of communications with her. Do I sign my memos to her as "Dad" or as "Joe Vales?" Should she refer to me as "Dad" in meetings or as "Joe?" Do I introduce her to clients as my daughter or as a regular team member? How do I get away with boasting about her proudly without receiving a heavy eye roll from her? We have had to cover all of these bases to find a solution that works best for us. I never wanted to make her feel uncomfortable being around a proud dad all the time and at the same time she wanted to earn an equal place at the table. So we had a clear understanding of the need to draw boundaries of how to deal with those issues. There are days where nothing is going right and as a boss you have to line up all your employees and make sure they know they can't walk away from anything until it's done right. Fortunately we both went into this situation with an acute awareness of how the work day in any other place of employment would be. Kerry Ann knew enough to say at the start that she wanted to clock in and clock out and for that time she would be nothing more than a dedicated employee and would operate as such. That clear line has not always been easy to abide by, but it has definitely been our saving grace a lot of days and we are both thankful for it.
The bonus as a father is I get to watch her continually grow and challenge herself with each project we take on. I can’t help but admit too that I love that she gets to see me do what I love every day. I realize that most fathers never get the opportunity to share what they do with their children, so I truly value each day that we have together. Whether it be in the boardroom or the family room it's never easy, but I treasure the experience. "
Joe can be reached at Valesconsulting AT aol.com - for BPO or parenting tips