Model of excellence where father managed to maintain progress (7)
I believe the answer is:
paragon
'model of excellence' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'father managed to maintain progress' is the wordplay.
'father' becomes 'pa' (pa can mean dad or father).
'managed' becomes 'ran' (both can mean organised or was in charge of).
'to maintain' indicates putting letters inside (maintain can mean to keep or preserve).
'progress' becomes 'go' (I've seen this in other clues).
'ran' going around 'go' is 'ragon'.
'pa'+'ragon'='PARAGON'
'where' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for paragon that I've seen before include "Perfect example of a quality" , "Perfect type" , "Model of conduct" , "Exemplar" , "Model of excellence or perfection" .)