Jerry walked briskly into Matt's office. “Things need to change,” he demanded.

Matt recoiled in his chair. He hadn't heard his grandpa raise his voice in years.

Jerry waved his hand in Matt's face. “You can't keep living like this. You need to take some time off work so that you can focus on your family.”

Matt stiffened in his seat and shuffled some papers. “Why are you saying this? I'm having one of my best quarters and I'm just about to make a huge sale!”

Jerry shook his head. “You missed Nick's first game of the season after promising him you'd be there. Work is important, but not at the cost of your family. I didn't know how to explain to Kendra that you weren't there because you were working for my company! Your son needs you and your family needs you. You can't work 24/7.”

Matt bit into the back of a pen. People weren't usually this forthright with him, but his grandpa had no qualms telling him the truth.

“If you don't change,” Jerry continued, “you're done in this role.” He stared Matt down. “I can't sit back and watch my grandson put his work over his family at my own company. How will I sleep at night with that hanging over my head?”

Matt put his pen back on the desk. “Wait…are you threatening to fire me?”

Jerry took a deep breath. “No. I just want you to take a step back and some time off. You need to get back to what really matters. It will be better for you, your family, and our company. Take a week off. I'm sending you and your family to California.”

“I can't take that much time off during this busy season. Also, Nick can't miss a week during his baseball season… .”

Jerry cut him off. “I talked to Nick's coach and explained the situation. Nick will only miss one game and your marriage and family are worth it. So we're all good there. Listen, when I originally started this company, I worked long hours and expected my employees to work harder because I wanted to see the company succeed. I didn't have healthy boundaries and those actions took a toll on my personal life.” Matt nodded but wasn't convinced. Jerry continued, “You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age. I wanted so badly to succeed that I didn't create healthy boundaries in my work life. I don't want the same for you. As the founder of this company, I want my employees to have healthy lifestyles and boundaries around work. I especially want this for my own grandson.”

After a long pause, Matt tried to think of an excuse for why he had been so absent from his family, but he respected his grandpa too much to make excuses and ignore his own behavior. “Is it really that obvious?” Matt asked.

“Yes, it is. I want you to be successful in your job but not at the expense of your own family.” Jerry's eyebrows furrowed with concern. “I know you love your job and are good at it, but you need to scale back. There is more to life than making money and having success at work.”

“But I really …”

Jerry spoke over him again. “Listen. You need to take a break so you can have some time with Kendra and the kids. I've already had my assistant arrange travel so you don't have to worry about figuring out flights or hotels. I'll send an email to your VP to make sure he covers your clients so you don't come back to an overload of work.” Jerry took a step toward Matt and shook his finger in an I‐know‐best‐I'm‐your‐grandpa way. “I'm not asking you to do this; I'm telling you to do this. You need to be with your family. They need you right now.”

Matt's face relaxed and he took a deep breath. “Alright, I'll go. Kendra will be excited about this. We've been talking about a vacation for a long time. It's easy for me to have good intentions when it comes to balancing work and family and it just seems as if I can never get it right.”

“Great. Enjoy California.”

When Matt arrived home that evening, he told Kendra about the vacation. “Praise the Lord!” Kendra exclaimed. The next day, they started packing, and Matt anxiously thought of all the meetings he would miss. He hated the thought of missing work, but he didn't have a choice. Besides, his family needed him and the last thing he wanted was a divorce.