The CEO of the billion dollar software company MongoDB, Max Schireson, has announced that he is stepping down to spend more time with his family.
And for once this is not a euphemism.
In a brilliant blog titled ‘Why I am leaving the best job I ever had’, Max outlined the differences and hypocrisies in how working mums and dads are treated.
“Matt Lauer asked Mary Barra, the CEO of GM, whether she could balance the demands of being a mom and being a CEO. The Atlantic asked similar questions of PepsiCo’s female CEO Indra Nooyi."
"As a male CEO, I have been asked what kind of car I drive and what type of music I like, but never how I balance the demands of being both a dad and a CEO.”
Max’s wife also has a highly demanding job, working as a doctor and a professor at Stanford University. He points out his blog how her ability to juggle work and family are constantly questioned, but as a man, his never is.
“Friends and colleagues often ask my wife how she balances her job and motherhood. Somehow, the same people don’t ask me.”
Max hopes this move will draw attention to these issues.
“I hope that me telling this story in my position will help others feel more comfortable in making similar choices”, Max said in an interview. “And help people in senior leadership roles be more public about it.”
