It just made sense.
That’s how Larry Jacob described his decision to step away from being the vice president of public affairs and communication at the Kauffman Foundation to become a Lead Dad devoting nearly all of his time to his family.
Larry was a college classmate of mine. We didn’t know each other that well at Trinity College, but we had this in common: we were both non-rich Massachusetts kids for whom college was a springboard to opportunity.
Larry, our Lead Dad of the Week, and I reconnected last year when he was contemplating the change. His wife had sold her financial advisory firm to a larger organization and their kids were reaching ages where they would benefit from a parent helping them through the bumps of middle and high school.
“We were on spring break in Austin, Texas, and we had time to talk,” said Larry, who lives in Kansas City, Missouri. “We were able to just have that conversation and figure it out.”
Finances were one part but that’s just math. Emotional readiness was something else entirely.
“My identity was wrapped up in the Foundation but also in politics and the network I’d built,” Larry said. “I wanted to retain some of that.”
So, he took 30 years of experience making things happen and channeled it into two board seats at K.C.
People were baffled that Larry left the workforce to be a Lead Dad. “No one believes me,” he said. “They’re just waiting for me to make some announcements of what I’m going to do next. I’m not saying never, but this is what I’m doing now. It’s freed me up to do some other things I wanted to do.”
Not that the school administrators, doctors, dentists, and everyone else who reflexively calls moms for matters big and small just fell into line. “It took a year of retraining,” Larry joked.
Still, he gives his wife credit, downplaying his Lead Dad chops. “I measure this in weeks and ask are there more good days than bad days?” he said. “When you’re dealing with schools and people and complex issues it’s never going to be a straight line. There are just going to be setbacks. I ask, did I do a little bit better this week as a dad?”
We know you’ve got this, Larry. Welcome to The Company of Dads.
