Our 621st Dad in the Limelight is Author & Dad, Rich Bishop. I want to thank Rich Bishop for being a part of this series. It has been great getting connected with him and now sharing Rich Bishop with all of you.
1) Tell me about yourself, (as well as how you are in the limelight for my readers knowledge)
My name is Rich Bishop and when I’m not wearing my “Daddy” hat, I’m a leadership coach, writer, and speaker. I am passionate about helping others to get better at what they do. My mission is to people stop accepting mediocre from life and start living the lives that they were called to lead, and doing that with my family is my greatest responsibility as a father and husband. I write a blog called Advance Leadership, which focuses on helping leaders go further in their careers, faith, and relationships.
Over the time that I’ve been a dad, I’ve noticed a lot of leadership lessons that can be learned from the stages that our kids go through. They are determined to learn, don’t accept ‘no’ for an answer, and they are eager to help others – all the things that we need to be doing more of as adults. I’ve wrapped some of those lessons up in a self-published book called Child-Like Leadership.
2) Tell me about your family
I have an amazing wife named Carey and two beautiful daughters – Ava (7) and Alyssa (4).
Carey and I are a lot like yin and yang; we balance each other out so well. I couldn’t be the man that I am today without her constant love and support. Our girls are smart and they both love to dance. Our favorite things to do together are to read fun books and dance around the living room.
3) What has been the largest challenge you have had in being a father?
The toughest part of being a father is balancing my professional life with being a good father for my kids. There have been many times that I’ve chosen to step away from the office during a busy time in order to be there for our girls. At the end of the day, being a good father is the most important job that I will ever have. The pressures of the office can be hard to manage, but it’s always worth it.
4) What advice would you give to other fathers?
Plug in! Be involved in your children’s lives. Have fun and play with them – even if it means wearing a princess dress or a tiara. Life isn’t about us anymore from the moment our children are born. I’ve seen too many dads that remove themselves from their kids lives when they are little, only to find that they’re still on the outside when they’re teens. They can learn so much from us at every stage in their lives and we are robbing them of important life lessons if we don’t plug in.
5) How have you come to balance parenthood and outside life?
I try to include our girls in my ‘outside life’ as much as I can. They’re just now getting to an age when they can go to sporting events or to nice restaurants with us. It’s great being able to share those parts of my life with them. They get to see all of who I am and how I am in different situations. I think it helps them to be equipped to be in those situations as they get older.
There are times where I’ve brought them into the office with me for a little while and allowed them to sit in while I’ve had short meetings. They may not understand it all now, but they’re learning what I’m doing when I have to go to work for 9 hours a day… it’s not a mystery.
6) What have you learned from the fathers that you have interacted with?
The biggest thing that I’ve learned is that I’m not alone. Sometimes you can feel like you’re the only one that experiences the emotions that you feel or the things that your kids do. We’re not alone in those tough times because there are so many others that have been there before.
7) What else would you share regarding your experiences as a father thus far?
Being a father has helped me grow as a person in so many ways. You can’t truly learn to be patient until you’ve had a colic baby screaming for days on end. You can’t learn selflessness until your stomach is grumbling from hunger but you give your food to your child because she’s just as hungry as you are. You can’t learn unconditional love until your child royally messes up. I am a better man because of my children.
8) What have been the most memorable experiences that you have had thus far as a parent?
The most memorable experiences have been the ones when our girls have shown their character. We spend so much time trying to teach them the right way to live, yet they act a certain way toward us that makes us unsure if they get it or not. We’ll catch them every once in a while doing something that makes us go, “Wow, they really get it.” Those are the proud parent moments.
A few months ago, our oldest daughter, Ava, was at a dance competition. She had forgotten her costume at home and there was no way for us to get it in time. She was going to miss out on her dance and was devastated. One of her friends came up to her and offered to give Ava her costume because this was Ava’s only dance. Ava politely thanked her, but said, “No, I can’t do that to you because I made the mistake. Here, I will teach you my part so you can do it.” Both girls showed an unbelievable maturity. Those girls truly get what we’re trying to teach them. There’s no better feeling in the world as a parent.
If you have any questions for Rich Bishop, please leave a comment here and I will make sure that he gets them so that he may be able to respond!
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