During Bob Graziano’s 18 years with the Dodgers – the final six spent as club president and chief operating officer – it was easy to make time for his five sons: they always wanted to come visit him at the stadium. He left the organization 10 years ago and is now a market manager for JPMorgan Private Bank in Los Angeles. Now his effort to keep in touch with his kids is more deliberate. In his current role, Graziano, 56, oversees the private banking business for ultra-high net worth individuals and families, and drives overall strategy and growth for the market. He’s also chairman of the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission and the LA84 Foundation, which is endowed with the surplus from the 1984 Olympic Games. He serves as an advisory board member of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, the USC Leventhal School of Accounting and the USC Sports Business Institute. We spoke with Graziano about his team approach in matters related to both work and family.
Question: Describe your morning routine.
Answer: I am up early, usually between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., because I try to get my workout in during the quietest time of day. I’m usually in office at 7:30 a.m. or 8 a.m. because we have a national morning call where we discuss how current events will impact our clients. Then we go into the day, which is filled with client meetings, prospect meetings and internal meetings.
How do you achieve work/life balance?
One of the things I learned through my experience with the Dodgers is that most people who are really effective in work/life balance use more of a team approach. I have a great team both at home and at the office. There’s always going to be a time when a team member isn’t batting his weight, and another has to make up for that.
My wife and I always sit down on a Sunday and plan out our week and make sure that if there are any conflicts, one or the other covers it. If we have a meeting at the school, oftentimes we both try to go together, but if we can’t, we figure out who will. We keep separate schedules and we write down our own personal commitments as well as work and family commitments. Then we compare them to make sure we’re in sync.
How do you make time for your family?
I make sure I schedule it. I have my extended family and also my immediate family. My extended family includes my mother, who is in assisted living in Redondo Beach. I’ve got six siblings, and we map out who is going to be with my mother. When it’s my turn, when I schedule that commitment, nothing gets in the way of it. We use tech a lot of make sure that we’re in touch with our five boys, three on the east coast, two here. We try to respond to them as opposed to calling them, but they contact us either via text or phone or FaceTime, each of them, every day. It’s almost like a virtual family dinner table where, even though we’re not sitting around the table, all seven of us are on group text.
How has your work/life balance changed since you left the Dodgers?
My days are long now, but when I was running the Dodgers I was there every night, weekend and holiday. What I did was incorporate the kids into my work by bringing them to the ballpark. My kids don’t like coming to my office nearly as much now as they did then.
