Father's Role as a Manager of the Family

In my previous write-up on the subject matter I listed out the functions of a manager as an analogy to the father's role. Here, I expand on them:

Planning: Generally this is one of the hardest things to actually do because most times we feel it is somewhat futile since the ideal is hardly the same as reality. However, planning is fundamental to success and thus as a father you must plan consciously. If you want a good home you must make the effort to document where you are as a family and where you want to go (the vision).  Your plan will answer questions like how big a family do you want have; what are the values you want your family to be identified with;  etc. Personally I like to document in writing so that I have a 'working document' which enables me to measure how far I am going and make corrections in case I am starting to derail. 
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Organizing: Here is where you actually start implementing the plan. As a father it is your responsibility to consciously organize the family so that you are actually working towards the goals and objectives you have set for yourselves as a family unit and to ensure every member is working cohesively towards building a home. The way your days, weeks and months are organised and the content of the activities each member partakes in should all be in tandem with the vision of the family as a whole. To organise, you must know each member of the family (which includes yourself) intimately and 'consciously' make effort to learn and understand their strengths, weakness and be on the watch for opportunities and threats in the different circumstances that arise. Thus day by day you are continuously engaging in SWOT analysis! 

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Leading/Directing: As I said the father needs to take the initiative and not just sit back and relax...NO! He needs to take the bull by the horns! Leadership they say is most effective by example and therefore as the father your activities to a large extent determine the direction that your family takes. You can't expect to be lazy and have other members behave differently. Many times I drag myself out of bed early in order to ensure I have the 'mouth' to talk about punctuality to the kids!

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Monitoring & Evaluation: It is not enough to just say that you have directed that this and that should be done...you need to follow-up and personally ensure that those things are actually being done and periodically test/find out what efficacy the structures you put in place have. From the educational performance of the kids to your partner's psychological frame of mind you must become like Nurse who is monitoring the vital signs of a patient to ensure the 'medications' and regimen are being followed. This is where your documented plan will come into play. You can only measure against what has been documented. 

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In conclusion I would say, most of these things are what we already do. The only thing is whether we do it consciously and sustain it until it because habitual and part of our behaviour/personalities.
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Haidar Wali