Clay Daugherty’s Post

Pat Leave, taking all of it? I have now been at Salesforce for 9 years, we have a kind parental leave policy. The catch is you have to feel comfortable taking it, often we (Dads in my case) feel like we should be back in a few days, few weeks, maybe a month. I have often asked those who took the time to take note of their learnings and share. I suppose this is taking my own advice, and appreciate the shoulders I am standing on. My partner Allison McCoy and I had a wonderful bundle of joy in Jan '24 and due to her work situation I was the primary caregiver and able to take six months leave to care for her, our daughter, and myself as we transition into a world we candidly didn't know we would ever be in. 1) I did it my way, meaning I was out for a few weeks, then back, then out again...off an on. My goal was to keep my client and my team happy along the way attending to the family, in hindsight I don't know if trying to do both was wise...as they say its hard to be "half pregnant." My brain hurt more than a few times trying to balance things. 2) Leadership matters, I can't be more grateful for Lori Megown and Andrew Grillo for trusting me along the way to "do it my way" and still do what was needed for the business. Likewise Tyler Vickers Stephen Bova Ryan Nakahara Melissa Neumeister Ashley (Bombard) DeCarbo Miku Konsolas, CISSP Patrick M. and many others at for understanding and playing peekaboo with my daughter while on Zoom calls. 3) There absolutly is a stigma, and often that stigma comes from people that are also parents that either didn't have this policy available to them or their leadership didn't make them feel comfortable in choosing to priotize their family. This is incredibly hard to navigate. 4) I have become a far more empathetic person in my personal and professional life. I think this is a function of having a kid in the first place but also getting to enjoy breakfast with her many mornings and finding a few blowouts along the way. As all parents know, kids are no respector of meeting times or executive connects. Having more daiper changes and being part of all these developemental moments has been great for my ego(death.) 5) The term "everybody does it their way" has become ever more present in my lexicon. I am so amazed that parents can make so much happen and raise families...for that I honor you all. 6) To the non-parents, not taking away anything from your path, it's just a different path. I was there, I thought I would stay there, but I am here now...hence the post. Much Love! So please take a moment to hug your kid, or give grace to a parent who is running to school to get a sick kid, or a parent that has responded to an email at 9PM because they just got their kid down and they really care enough about you to give that energy when they may be running on fumes. AND Advocate for more parental leave at your company (or at least for the leave you get to be fully utilized.) Our kids deserve it and so do we.