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‘He and his wife taught their children to be humble and treat everyone equally, regardless of their station in life. This is reflected in Atlassian’s laser focus on being the employer of choice, its charitable foundation and values of ‘no bullshit’ and ‘don’t f--- the customer’.’

Humility and gratitude are two qualities we should strive to pass onto our children. Being thankful for what we’ve been given in life is one way of staying grounded…irrespective of our financial success.

Treating everyone equally is a modern day version of ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’.

Saying it and doing it are two different things.

If you don’t walk the talk — by behaving in a superior manner to wait staff — then no prizes for guessing what lesson your children will learn.

If we say it, we must live it by being the best role model we can be.

Another father of a very successful son has written a book titled Showing Up for Life. The author’s name…Bill Gates Snr.

I’m sure you can guess who his son is.

On a side note, there might be some secret formula for success in naming your son after yourself.

According to Amazon (emphasis is mine):

‘In his book, ‘Showing Up for Life,’ Bill Gates Sr. shares values and principles from a lifetime of ‘showing up’ — lessons that he learned growing up in the Great Depression,lessons that he instilled in his children and continues to practiceon the world stage as the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. ’

Lessons learned. Lessons instilled. Lesson practiced daily.