My earliest memories of my Dad are of him returning home from business travel. My brother, sister, and I would catch an early tired glance through the living room window. Then we’d find him recharged just by walking through the front door, energized enough to smile -- these are images and feelings I'll never forget, my first examples of a work ethic I hold on to for the Faradineh name brand. A work ethic I hope to embody and instill in my children as well.
For over 30 years, my dad has worked as a business leader in a variety of sectors, management levels, and organization sizes. But he didn’t start at the top. He truly rose from blue-collar beginnings. He did his time, and he earned the experience to shape his CEO role, covering a wide range of industries: Restaurants to Automotive Repair to Salons to now being a partner with a successful Business Brokerage Firm in the Dallas metroplex. With each role, Dad has refined his business acumen and more importantly been able to touch hundreds of lives.
On Time Management
Dad makes 40 hour work weeks look exactly like what they are, the bare minimum, and he sets the standard at going above and beyond as the client's expectation. Even on early days, I still remember Dad sorting paperwork across the Persian carpet of our living room, prepping for the next day, often with the Mavericks game in the background and a few calculators punching out bottom lines--my brother and I nearby doing our own punching with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Action Figures.
My dad taught me my first lessons on the value of Business Time Management and these still count for me today in Business, and even more so in my everyday life.
3 Lessons: Show up. Do the Homework. Continue to Grow.
1) Show Up
Make time to Show up... for work and for family. Isn't being there a lot of what it's about? If it's important, you find time to be there, or you have an important reason why you can't. Very simple advice, though not so easy to execute, can really go a long way and pay uncapped relationship dividends. Without getting too carried away with Stephen Covey's themes from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People— consider Covey's concept of an emotional bank account and how we should make regular relationship investments, especially so as to not overdraw. Showing up isn't entirely everything, but there’s no denying that it’s a major investment.
2. Do the Homework
Take the time to do your homework. You won’t get what you don’t work for. If there’s a meeting on your calendar, how much prep have you honestly done ahead of time? Growing up dad drilled us on a study regiment of reading ahead, before class. I may have missed an extra hour after school playtime as a kid, and been called a nerd, but I was all the more ready when the bell rang and more popular because of it-- a cool nerd. Honestly, it took me a long time to appreciate the value of preparedness, especially since I was skillful at “winging things” and sometimes even better at faking it. Today, I don't go into a call, a meeting, or a classroom without doing some homework.
3. Continue to Grow
Whether it’s professional development, adding technical skills, or learning new industries—the learning never stops. At 65 years old, my dad just completed real estate school. His desire for learning matches his thirst for opportunity; he’s always pursuing growth. A few examples of how I've taken dad's advice: completing grad school and then at 27 years old deciding to lose 50 pounds in order to enlist in the Army National Guard. But I didn’t stop there, I pursued Officer School and had the opportunity to learn Infantry, Logistics, and Acquisition tactical and technical skills. Today, I am lucky to have the chance to continue this growth-- learning Space Operations as a warfighter and Space Business Development in my civilian role.
As we are about to celebrate Father’s Day soon, I invite you to reflect on lessons and share about the great father figures in your life.
Cheers,
Neal
