It was the only qualification that had ever really mattered, and she had it in greater measure than anyone I had ever employed.

Chapter 19 — Breakfasts, Not Profit Margins

Six months later, my life looked entirely different, because I had made it look different, deliberately, at real cost, because I had finally understood what it was costing me not to.

I stepped down from my role as active chief executive of my firm, transitioning to Chairman of the Board.

For the first time since I had founded the company, I stopped measuring my days by profit margins, and acquisitions, and quarterly dividends.

I began, instead, to measure my life in breakfasts with my daughters, in school plays, in homework sessions at the kitchen table, in Friday-night movie marathons under a shared blanket.