Founder in Eleven

For founders, finding an appropriate work-life harmony is one of the more difficult goals for founders, including myself.  I use the term work-life “harmony” (coined by Jeff Bezos) because it implies both your work life and personal life coexist, rather than work-life “balance,” which assumes one life takes away from another.  That being said, I have witnessed many of my fellow business group founders struggle with harmonizing the needs of their company alongside their own personal needs and responsibilities (sometimes, sacrifices were made).  This post will share a timeline of my experiences throughout my career and offer thoughts for founders who may be in similar situations.

20s – Andersen Consulting

In my 20s, I started my career out of college at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and worked at Andersen for nine years.  Initially, work-life harmony was simple since my work was such a major component of my life.  Whether with my start group or different Andersen projects, I was enjoying making friends through work even during long hours and travel.  At the time, Andersen fostered a culture of traveling to the client’s location every week, often out of town (we would leave Sunday night and return Thursday or Friday).  Many at Andersen also fell into martyrdom, bragging about how many hours they had billed and family events they had sacrificed. 

Later in my career, Andersen tried to address some of their employee’s work-life issues, sending managers through Covey’s “Seven Habits” Training.  While I loved the Covey training and still quote it to this day, I will always remember how choked-up many of the managers got when describing how they were out of town so much and missing their children, spouses, and important family events.

30s – The Start of TSG

In my late twenties, the “newness” of the long hours and travel faded when I got married at 26.  I found I was traveling more at 28 than I was at 23.  In my early thirties, shortly after the birth of my son, I left Andersen. I spent 6 months at a small local staff-augmentation firm and eventually founded Technology Services Group (TSG) at 32.  During that transition, I didn’t see a career for myself at Andersen and was pretty sure that the technology niche I specialized in, Document Management, was not an area that would serve well at such a company.  In making the decision to leave, some great advice from my Dad (with a 35-year career at Andersen himself) that I continue to share with others was, “It is very difficult to do something you don’t enjoy well over the long-term.”

My 20s experience illustrates a common issue I have seen with other founders.  Many of them are in their 30s or 40s, having built their work experience at an established firm in their 20s as I did.  With the excitement of starting a new company, founders often try to channel that 20-something version of themselves that was all about work, work, work and work life harmony was easy.  Unfortunately, life is different for a founder in their 30s and 40s, whether that be because of a spouse, children, extended family, or close friends. Simply put, the “newness” of one’s job/company/work fade from importance.

With a focus on my own goals, I founded TSG as a “lifestyle” company.  Based on my own goals alongside what I thought other employees were looking for in a company, I focused on reducing both travel and overtime through the sales process.  Back in the 90s, I think we were way ahead of the “remote work” Covid-19 curve since we handled most of the client work either locally or from our office, as well as staffing/selling projects that didn’t require extensive overtime in the first place (TSG would average 2% overtime most years).  As we were building the firm in the first four years, reduced work and overtime were huge selling points for recruits, particularly from Andersen.

40s and 50s – TSG and Thoughts on Work-Life Harmony

With a core focus on reducing overtime and travel, in my 40s and 50s I tried to get myself and my team away from some of the Andersen “martyr” culture.  Rather than imposing a work-is-life culture, I tried to set an example of how to live and work.  Some of my set practices included:

• Arriving on time to the office – TSG would have our daily huddle starting at 8:45.  I would work on the train and schedule to be in the office by the time the huddle started.  Starting work on the train, often at 6:50, I would get a jump on emails, proposals, blogs, and other work (no phone calls) that gave me and early jump on my work for the day.  With the Covid lockdown, one of the things I missed was my early time on the train as it was a quiet, non-interrupted time where I could really think and where I wrote my best blogs and get organized before getting into the office.
• Leaving the office – During my time at TSG, I also got involved coaching my son’s football team.  To get home in time to take him to practice, I needed to catch the 4:13 train, which required me to leave the office at 4:00 (I could work on the train on the way home as well if I needed to but, after a full day in the office, I usually used this time to unwind with a book or magazine).   I had no problem having everyone at TSG see me leaving at 4:00 knowing I was going to football practice (or soccer, basketball…).
• Selling Projects – I would sell projects with realistic goals that could be accomplished remotely rather than at the client location.  While overtime was often used to hit key dates, I refrained from scheduling or staffing projects so that overtime was required from Day 1.
• Available after hours – often after practice, or even after a workout, I would log on and catch-up for 30 minutes with work, emails, or other tasks.  I thought it was important to show that harmony required that both work and life could take priority at any given time.  I never saw those 30 minutes as work interrupting my personal life since it was easier for me to enjoy my personal time without worry, especially if someone at work was waiting on a decision from me.
• Available anytime via cell – I felt it was important to show that, if someone really needed me, I could be reached anytime via cell phone.  For example, if a consultant was upset about a discussion with a client, I would rather have them call me on the weekend and us talk it out rather than the consultant having to worry until Monday.  As a founder, I thought it was important to mentor and help our people through their own work/life decisions and ease that stress whenever possible.

I often see founders too caught up in a martyr culture, or an “I need to sacrifice something for the company” regimen, something all too common at Andersen.   The surprising result I found of taking the early train home was that my co-workers, when I wasn’t present in the office, often made decisions for themselves and, as it turned out, didn’t need me there 24/7.  Later in 2017, when life really got in the way with my prostate cancer diagnosis and surgery, I was able to take 2.5 months off with minimal disruption to the firm.

Summary Work-Life Harmony Thoughts

Finding a good work-life harmony is difficult, particularly for founders who live their company.  Establishing appropriate life goals (being a good spouse, parent, sibling, son/daughter, friend) and working to coordinate those with company goals doesn’t have to require one to sacrifice the other.  When looking back, I am proud of the 24 years of success at Andersen and TSG, but also of my coaching 13 soccer teams, 10 basketball teams, 4 football teams, attending 25 father/daughter campout weekends, taking anniversary trips, countless family vacations, and most importantly the daily family dinners and events that I did not give up for the greater good of TSG. 

As Mike Lavista from Caxy Consulting, my once business peer, said, “I really wanted to coach my son, but needed to take the early train.  I decided to do the “Dave” thing and just say “F*** it” and coach.  As it turned out, I didn’t need to be there until six every day and could both coach and see the firm grow.”