It’s not often or ever that you hear a CEO just up and quiting.
But what if the CEO had a wake-up call… from his 10-year-old daughter?
Seems like something that would happen in a movie, but in REAL LIFE we can say that Mohamed El-Erian [CEO of the investment fund Pimco] has dropped everything revolving around work to make sure he spends time with his little girl.
When Mohamed El-Erian left his job this past January, rumors circulated around that the company had internal conflict. But in an article he wrote for Worth magazine, Mohamed presented his reason for stepping down. And we’re so glad he did, because it’s super sweet!
The 56-year-old revealed that during a little back and forth with his 10-year-old daughter about a year ago, she presented a list of all the important events and activities that he had missed due to his work schedule.
“The list contained 22 items, from her first day at school and first soccer match of the season to a parent-teacher meeting and a Halloween parade. And the school year wasn’t over,” he wrote. “I felt awful and got defensive: I had a good excuse for each missed event! Travel, important meetings, an urgent phone call, sudden to-dos…But it dawned on me that I was missing an infinitely more important point.”
Seems like someone has a future lawyer on their hands! ANYWAY…
He stepped down from his high-powered position to take a job as chief economic adviser at Allianz, which has fewer work commitments and shorter hours.
“I now alternate with my wife in waking up our daughter every morning, preparing her breakfast and driving her to school,” he wrote. “I’m also around much more often to pick her up after school and take her to activities. She and I are doing a lot of wonderful talking and sharing. We’ve even planned a holiday together, just the two of us.”
“Unfortunately, not everyone has this luxury,” he said. “But hopefully, as companies give more attention to the importance of work-life balance, more and more people will be in a better position to decide and act more holistically on what’s important to them.”
And we thought these things only happened in movies…
Candice Nicole
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Source E! News
