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I was awakened by the sound of drums, [SOUND] and
a very happy voice over a microphone.
[FOREIGN] Rio De Janeiro.
So, I jumped out of bed, and I ran to the window, and
I saw a band playing music on top of a moving truck.
And people dancing [NOISE] on top of the truck,
and around the truck, all of this in front
of the most beautiful beach I had ever seen in my life.
This was the first day of a year, I had spent living and
working in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Not a bad place for a 25 year old's first international work assignment.
This year was the beginning of a love that I have for
Brazil, and for Brazilian people.
[LAUGH] And also a love that I have for
working internationally, and an interest in cross-cultural management.
This would be the first professional experience where I'd have to break
down cultural barriers with people that I worked with, and I'll come back to that.
So, when I got back to the US I was missing Brazil, and
I decided I have to go back there, so that's what I did.
It took seven years, but I got an offer to
start the Latin business for an American consulting company back in Brazil,
and when I got there, I was so happy.
I was still young and single, and this was the job opportunity of a lifetime.
And this time, I'd get to stay for three to five years,
and then it hit me.
Three to five years was actually a long time to be away
from my family, so my first nephew is just born,
my parents totally healthy, but aging, and I needed to think about that.
Like what, what might I miss?
Was there more to this decision I hadn't thought about?
This wa, this realization was an important moment for me in this journey,
I wanna share with you about my discovery of the importance of family
to me as an individual, and also as a manager.
This is Stanford and a lot of you are MBAs, and
you are smart, and talented, and young, and
single, and good looking.
[LAUGH] Spending more time with your parents
might not be the first thing on your mind right now.
[LAUGH] But that what's amazing to me about
my realization of the importance of family was that when I had it, I was you.
I was young, I was single, I was good looking.
[LAUGH] And now, here I was, like after seven years,
finally, back in Brazil, my dream country in this great job,
thinking I need to spend more time at home with my family.
And so I did, I spent a significant amount of time with my
family during those years, and managed my team remotely.
I put my family first, this was
a personal decision, but I had to ask myself, what about work?
Was I neglecting my responsibilities?
And I was working during those visits, but back in Rio I had
learned as the American manager of an international team,
the importance of being in the trenches with these people in order to break
down cultural barriers, and get them to trust me, so I could manage them.
And at this point in my new business, I had hired a country manager in Brazil,
Isabelle, another one in Mexico, Gabrielle, but how was I gonna break
these barriers down with them, if I wasn't right there next to them?
[BLANK_AUDIO]
So, Isabel, and Gabrielle, and the rest of the team,
they could have been really mad at me.
I had convinced them to leave their jobs, and
come work with me, but they weren't mad.
They said, Jarrett, we know how important your family is to you.
Go and be with them, and when you are back, you will be happy, and
focused, and ready.
And they were right, that's exactly what happened.
The business was just fine, and
I got to spend really important time with my family.
And I didn't have to feel bad about it, that meant a lot to me.
And you know, what happened, as a result?
Those cultural barriers I was worried about breaking down, they were gone
my team did that for me by making it okay for me, to prioritize my family.
So, I told you about my first realization of the importance of
family from my perspective as an individual.
Now, I was having a second realization,
this time from my perspective as a manager.
What would happen, if I were to apply this realization to my organization,
and encourage them to prioritize their families?
And so, I did, I made this my number one management platform.
Family first, work second, and what that meant was simple.
If you need to attend to your family, go do it,
and get back to work when you're done.
I don't even need to know.
Family is more important than work, and
you managers out there might be thinking, [LAUGH] good luck with that Jared,
[LAUGH] great idea, let me know how that goes for you.
[LAUGH] And you know, what,
I don't blame you, but, yeah, this could sound crazy.
I see it, but it worked for me.
In the first six or seven years that I was in that role,
I had a team of 35 people, none of them ever left.
So, in exploring this more recently, I asked Isabelle,
[INAUDIBLE] what did family first mean to you?
Did it affect you, or your work, or your productivity?
She said, absolutely.
She said, had there been a family situation that required my full attention,
but I had to be at work, or
even thinking about work, I wouldn't have been producing anyway.
I would have been completely distracted, it made more sense, for
me to resolve my family business, and then get back to work, focus.
And, she added, I turned down a lot of job offers during that time,
because I was afraid to lose the flexibility to prioritize my family.
And I had a similar sit, conversation with Gabrielle in Mexico,
I said you are a husband and a father, what did family first mean to you?
And said, Jarred,
it's not about being a husband or a father, or even a man or a woman.
We all need to provide for our families in some way.
And he added, family first changed the way that I saw work.
Whereas, I used to feel like I worked for a company, or
a boss, I felt like I worked for my family.
Gabrielle is an artist trapped in a businessman's body,
and this, and this conversation was in Spanish, so it was actually
poetic to hear him talk about this feeling that he worked for his family.
He said, [FOREIGN]
its like a different kind of commitment.
[FOREIGN] Like even deeper than just regular work responsibility.
This gave him purpose, so family first,
turned out to be important to me as a manager, but it was more than that.
It turned out to be important to me as an individual, and it made me
feel like more than just a manager to these people that I really cared about.
So, let me ask you.
Family first, would you want this for your organization?
Would you want this for your family?
So, people are different, and
we have different values, but no mater which culture, or
country you're from, there is one value that we all share in common.
It's something that makes us wanna be good people, it's something that makes us
try hard, it's something we carry with us in our heart everywhere we go,
even to work, family, valuing family.
If you can provide an environment where it's safe for people whose prioritize
their families, cultural barriers and differences will disappear.
And you will find yourself, as the member of a more loyal,
more trusting, and even more productive team.
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
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