[nostrademons]

The challenge there is that the rest of the org will look to leadership to take cues for what is normalized, what is rewarded, what do the decision-makers value, etc. And if you, as a leader, are not willing and able to take 6 months off for paternity leave, the rest of the organization will take home the message that it is not acceptable for them to take 6 months off. It's the same reason that good leaders avoid sending e-mails or visibly working after hours: if they do it, the message to the org will be that everyone has to do it, and then you burn out your people.

In a well-functioning organization, you (as a leader) should be developing leaders underneath you in all the time that you are not on paternity leave. That way, when you do have a family commitment, they can step into your position and the organization is just fine. This is handy for a lot of reasons other than paternity leave: it increases your bus number, it generates a deep leadership bench in case the organization wants to take on additional initiatives, and it reinforces the idea that leadership is a role and not a person, such that many potential leaders could step into the role and do it well.