Are You on the Right Track? Part 2

Her favorite example: John Donahoe. In 1997, he felt burned out by the daily demands of his job and was eager to spend more time with his two oldest sons, before they entered their teenage years. He began dropping hints that he might want to take three months off -- an outright sabbatical. Colleagues agreed to fill in for him. So in 1998, he spent those months first seeing Europe as a tourist, and then going on weeklong, separate trips with his wife and his four children.

"It was the right time for repotting, and a great chance to bring our family closer together," Donahoe says. It also turned out to be a savvy career move. When he returned to San Francisco, routine office management was humming along fine without him. There was time at last to think about where Bain's next big expansion effort should be. Before long, Donahoe was championing a proposal by several young partners to create what became Bain Labs, an offshoot of the consulting firm that's in unusually close contact with startups. That initiative helped raise his standing with partners around the globe.

In January 2000, Donahoe was picked to succeed Tierney as Bain's worldwide managing director. Now he focuses not just on Bain's opportunities and challenges in the United States but also in international offices ranging from London to Singapore. When he took that promotion, Donahoe worried that the new job would undercut his time at home. "But it hasn't been as big a change as I thought," his wife, Eileen, says. I don't pull him into all the day-to-day issues, but I keep him honest about being a good parent. These things we can't hand over to anyone else."

Besides, she adds, if priorities are ever in doubt, it just takes a moment to fish out his long-ago promise on the Shawmut Bank slip. "I still keep it inside my purse," she says. "And I've brought it out many times over the years."

George Anders (ganders@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior editor based in Silicon Valley. You can learn more about Dot Richardson (www.drshortstop.com) and Mike Baker (www.artprintsinc.com) on the Web. Contact Lisa Walsh (lisa.walsh@bain.com) or John Donahoe (john.donahoe@bain.com) by email.