Sometimes being able to get anything at work down quickly has its drawbacks. The people who know you can do that can also forget that you’ve got other responsibilities – and chances are something else needs your attention too.
That’s a lesson Robert Salaga, our Lead Dad of the Week from Ridgefield, Conn., said he struggles with. “Everyone knows I’m dialed in to making it the best experience for them – work, clients, my wife, our daughters, the P.T.A.,” he said. “What they don’t know is that one of my other plates is wobbling. It’s not easy to say I have really big P.T.A. stuff going on right now to a client who pays you a lot of money.”
Robert, a human capital consultant at Alight Solutions and before that Aon, relishes being a Lead Dad and has been able to construct a schedule that allows him to be fully engaged with his wife Heather, who works in real estate, and their two daughters. That period before and after school is for them; then he’s completely locked in to his clients from 8am to 4pm.
It’s worked so well that before Covid sent his children home from school, they didn’t think he worked. At times, they’re confused when he travels to be with a client in person.
One thing that’s been helpful as a parent is to take what he advises clients to do at work and implement it at home. “I’m really a strengths-based leadership consultant,” he said. “So, I tell clients, know your strengths and play to them. If we focused more on what we do well, we’d be better people than if we focus on what we don’t know.”
That means in their house he’s better at managing multiple different things at once, while his wife excels at blocking everything else out to be in that moment, whether it’s for work or family.
Robert also gives credit to the companies and clients he’s worked for. They’ve been results oriented and that’s mattered. “Since 2017, it’s always been just do your job well wherever you are,” he said. “So I worked hard to get everything done.”
The same held true for his family and volunteer opportunities. Welcome, Robert, to The Company of Dads.
