You’re a grandfather now.
Congratulations.
Now tell me: when’s the last time you spent an afternoon with that baby—without checking your phone, without thinking about the case you should be working on, without cutting it short because “something came up”?
If you’re like most managing partners, the answer is uncomfortable.
The Pattern You Can’t See
Here’s what successful lawyers don’t realize they’re building:
Every smart decision—hiring good people, landing big clients, creating strong systems—can lock you deeper into a practice that requires your constant presence.
Twenty years later, you’ve built something valuable that demands you sacrifice everything to maintain it.
Including time with your grandchildren.
Why This Happens
Most managing partners I work with started their careers with good intentions:
“I’ll sacrifice now, build something secure, then I’ll have time for what matters.”
But there’s no finish line where the sacrifice stops.
There’s always one more case, one more partner who needs you, one more client emergency.
And while you’re waiting for things to settle down, your grandson learns to walk without you there to see it.
The Cost That Compounds
Missing one moment isn’t the problem.
It’s the pattern.
You missed your daughter’s school plays because you were in trial.
Now she’s raising her son the same way—work first, family when there’s time.
Is that the legacy you meant to build?
What Has To Change
You can’t “balance” your way out of this.
Work/life balance assumes work and life are in competition.
The real shift is learning to configure work around the life you actually want—work AND life, integrated.
That requires three things:
1. Honest assessment of what you built that requires your constant presence
2. Clear vision of what you actually want (specifically, not just “more time”)
3. Strategic plan to make your firm valuable without requiring your sacrifice
The Question
My first grandson was born this week. I had time to be there—in the hospital, when my son and his wife brought him home for the first time, and to witness my wife opening a whole new chapter of her life. Because I finally figured out how to configure my work around my life instead of the other way around
That’s what I help managing partners do—not “work less,” but build firms that don’t require them to miss what matters.
Here’s the question you need to answer:
What are you waiting for?
What has to happen before you get to have the life you’ve earned?
One more good year? One more case closed? One more partner trained?
Or are you waiting for permission to want something different?
You have it.
You’re allowed to want time with your grandchildren.
You’re allowed to build a firm that doesn’t need you to sacrifice yourself.
And if you need help figuring out how to actually make that shift, that’s exactly what I do.
Read the complete exploration: [Link to Substack: “The Moments You’ll Miss While You’re Working”]
Because next year, your grandson will be in kindergarten.
And you’ll have three different cases that feel just as urgent as this one.
The work never stops feeling urgent. The moments don’t wait.
