Advice for Working Dads (HBR Working Parents Series)

INTRODUCTION

Starting a New Conversation

by Daisy Dowling

We’re about to change the rules of the working-dad game. To get started—and given that you picked up this book in the first place—I’m going to make a few guesses about who you are and what you’re grappling with.

First, you’re a smart, hardworking man who wants to get ahead. You spend a good percentage of your waking time either actually working or thinking about how to do well on the job. And you’re ambitious: With all the sweat equity you’re putting into your career, you want it to amount to something.

Second, you love your child—or children, or future children—completely and want nothing but the best for them. That means staying connected and close to them and remaining a central figure, ...