Some CEOs say work-life balance is a myth. Others swear it’s a key to their success.
Glassdoor CEO Christian Sutherland-Wong is in the latter category. He worked his way up from vice president of product in 2015 to leading the jobs website in 2020. With more than 500 employees under his leadership, he says he tries to limit his work during off-hours — especially in front of his two young kids.
“With [my] children, I want to lead by not having digital products all around, or being distracted by my email and text messages all the time,” says Sutherland-Wong, 44. He works five days per week remotely, using that flexibility “to be there when my kids come home from school, to be able to get offline, spend quality time with them, put them to bed and then get back online.”
If something pressing comes up, Sutherland-Wong makes a point of going to his home office — usually easier, of course, than getting in a car and driving back to a company office location — and handling the matter there, rather than answering emails and calls while with his children. “I’ve done that before [and] the kids pick up on that,” he says, adding that he does his best to keep “space” between his roles as CEO and father.
Forty-six percent of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 say their parents get distracted by their phones during conversations with them, found a March 2024 Pew Research Center report. And there’s a correlation between parents glued to their phones and children feeling stressed or emotionally detached, according to communication research published in 2022.
Specifically, when parents are distracted with their devices, their faces turn “still” — emotionless, uninterested and un-phased by whatever’s happening around them, found researchers Robin L. Nabi and Lara N. Wolfers. Children could interpret those faces as a sign that their parent is unavailable, distressed or depressed, they added.
“We know how easy it is for parents to be absorbed in their own phones, which could limit the interaction and feedback they give to their children,” Nabi, a communications professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told the university’s website last year. “Kids respond to their parents. And no matter what type of content a parent may be viewing on their phone, the outward appearance to the child is a lack of responsiveness.”
Nabi makes sure all phones are put away during important family time, like at the dinner table, she said. You can do the same during homework time or at your kids’ sports games or recitals, opting to finish up work at a later time. It’ll make a huge difference in your kids’ lives, said Nabi.
“The takeaway is for parents to be more mindful of how often they are using their phones around their children,” Nabi said. “Where their eyes are sends a message to their children about what’s important.”
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