Page 230 - Roy W. Rice - CEO Material How to Be a Leader in Any Organization-McGraw-Hill (2009)

You Have Your Personal Life in Check • 211

and others had a nonworking spouse. One woman who resigned her vice
president position to be a stay-at-home mom said, “Oh how I’d love to sit
in meetings all day in an air-conditioned office with smartly dressed
people instead of running around with the kids taking them to cheering
practice, T-ball, dances, the dentist, the doctor, birthday parties, guitar
lessons, the Spanish tutor, and the mall for shoes.”

You are not the CEO of the family; we are partners [spoken by
a CEO spouse].
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The respect I get at the office is in the same proportion to the disre-
spect I get at home.
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Get simpatico with your life partner, your boss, your culture, and
your subordinates.

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I met my wife in a bar on 25-cent draft night—but a nice college bar.
Together, we’ve balanced career and family by making her the CEO
of the house with, depending on the day of the week, me as either the
nonexecutive chair or a consultant. It’s a first marriage; I started off
with a “trophy” wife.
ƒ

My wife is a great wife. She has been a passionate supporter of my
career. If you attack me, she becomes a banshee. She is very protec-
tive. We have a division of labor in the family. I make small decisions
like my career. She makes big decisions like the names of our chil-
dren, the schools they attend, and the church we go to.
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We are very committed to a great relationship and to our young kids.
We’re at a time in our life when we’re stretched, but we just support
each other.