Cambridge Business Association
Business Dad
Book

Business Dad

How Good Businessmen Can Make Great Fathers (and Vice Versa)

Tom Hirschfeld and Julie Hirschfeld
Little, Brown US, 1999
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Editorial Rating

7

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Recommendation

Many powerful, effective businessmen feel lost when it comes to raising their kids. As a result, some spend more time at the office, where they are confident and capable. To remedy this dilemma, Tom and Julie Hirschfeld, a husband-and-wife team, offer a class you won’t find in an M.B.A. program: Fatherhood 101. Presented as an executive briefing for a new assignment, Hirschfeld’s book teaches you to apply your business know-how to achieve parenting success. The concept is long overdue, though the book skims over the crucial topic of maintaining life-work balance and is prone to gender stereotypes. getAbstract recommends this handy guide to working fathers and fathers-to-be.

Summary

“Master of Fatherly Administration”

Today’s fathers must balance increasing work and home responsibilities. Business has grown more competitive since the 1960s. If you want to be successful, you have to work longer and harder than your competition. At the same time, the role fathers are expected to play in the family has also expanded. The social infrastructure – schools, educational TV programs, good neighborhoods – parents used to depend on to help them raise their children is eroding. Dads need to be more than just providers and disciplinarians.

Deciding to be a better father is a good first step, but you should prepare yourself to meet a few obstacles. Parenting challenges are different from those you face in your career:

  1. “No training” – You can get an M.B.A. from universities nationwide, but you’ll be pressed to find a school that offers a master of fatherly administration. Readying yourself for a product launch or merger is far easier than preparing for fatherhood.
  2. “No role models” – The professional world offers up numerous business titans to admire, including Bill Gates, Michael Eisner...

About the Authors

Tom Hirschfeld is a venture capitalist. He was previously the assistant to the mayor of New York. He has written two books about video games. Julie Hirschfeld, Ph.D, specializes in family therapy. They have two children.

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