The other night, while putting my young son Ford to bed, I was begging him to calm down and get ready to go to sleep. He was ready to stay up and play and I simply told him, “Buddy, I’ve got a big meeting tomorrow. We need to go ahead and go to bed.” He looked at me with the weirdest face and said, “Dad, if you’re the boss, why do you have to go to meetings? And I laughed and said, “Someday, son, you’re going to understand all of this.”
The truth, and what I want Ford to understand, is that you may be at the top of the organizational chart, but you also have the responsibility that comes with that. It means the 12 hour days back to back. It means traveling late nights and weekends. It means all the meetings, all the stress, all the decisions that all have to be made in very short order.
Kids don’t understand it. And quite frankly, I’m kind of glad Ford doesn’t understand all that goes into my day to day role and responsibility. But it was funny to watch his face in amazement thinking that just because you’re the boss, you don’t have to really do anything. If you only knew the truth, which you will one day find out, it’s that the pressure and demands that come at the top really are what drive you to do better. I hope he’ll understand, and maybe one day he’ll read this note.