The Perks of Being a Good Parent in Business

Constantly re-organizing your priorities is your most important skill-set as a parent. Parlay your good parenting abilities into an innovative method of equally achieving success at work. You have the ability to achieve at being both a good parent and successful in your business world.

Cut yourself some slack — you are not a superhero

Be more realistic about the demands of your dual roles as a parent and as a provider. The demands of your time for parenting, your work, and your social life may not be realistic. Don’t set yourself up for failure by not wanting to let people’s expectations of you down.

You have permission to excuse yourself from that late meeting and not feel guilty about doing so in order to meet your responsibility for evening parenting duty. Also, you are not obligated to attend every soccer meet and softball game.

When you are working on a high priority project, understand that you cannot do everything and that tradeoffs are now a part of your life in striking balance between your roles as parent and worker. Striving to give 100 percent of your time and devoted attention to both your children and your business, begins with:

Establishing a common sense daily routine

Maintaining a regular schedule for your children at home is paramount — meal times, play times, and bedtimes. After you have established a daily routine at home that is predictable, your children will develop expectations from you and they will let you know when you are deviating.

The same is true for your work schedule. Your employees and co-workers will develop a radar for knowing what to expect from you and when. If you are off schedule because of an unexpected situation, they will pick up the pace to help you and the business get back on track.

Reflecting on your decision to have a family

Quality time with your children is not just important to them. The social skills you are developing from interaction with your children will spill over to the working relationships you form in your business environment. Being loyal to your children and available to perform your role as a parent is negated if you are constantly prioritizing your work over your family life. Remember why you choose to start a family in the first place — to raise your children and take part in their development as a person — to be there for them.

Trusting your team at work

Your role as a good parent may not always be conducive to your role as a leader at work. Make sure to cross-train your employees and co-workers in order to ensure that more than one person can make critical decisions and perform multiple tasks when you are absent due to parenting commitments.

Use incentives to avoid burnout at home and at work

Using incentives at home with your children in order to encourage good behavior from them works like that of implementing performance goals for employees at work. Incentives promote energy and interest from your children just like these tool do in the business environment.

Rewards for performance are always a winning idea and, if used steadfastly, will prevent you from over exerting yourself both at home and at work. Incentives help everyone shoulder day-to-day responsibility and develops self-confidence in both children as well as adults.

To identify and time your duties between kids and work you have to recognize when one role takes priority over the other at the most opportune times. You must recognize when you can’t do it all and make sacrifices without hesitation or guilt.

Jonah Engler is a successful entrepreneur, investor, franchise owner and coffee lover who hails from New York City.