Good moms can have great careers
Recently, I saw a very nice speech by Indra Nooyi, CEO Pepsico. Along with being a CEO of a big company she also essays several other roles which include that of a mother, daughter, and daughter in law and last but not the least a wife. In this speech she said, “I don’t think women can have it all. I just don’t think so. We pretend we have it all. We pretend we can have it all.”
At first I was taken aback that at how a woman at a high level could say this. Rather than opting out I listened to the whole speech and by the end I had no option but to agree with her.
Her speech laid a lot of emphasis on ‘Seamless Parenting’. This struck a chord which made me agree with her. We as women, working women, good moms with a great career need to keep everything aside once we reach home as then we transform into a mother, wife, daughter-in-law and a daughter. This exchange between a career oriented woman and a mother has to be dealt with very cleverly without a glitch.
The career clock and the biological clock totally conflict each other and at this point seamless parenting is important. Investing in a support system will fetch gains. Your husband should be your partner in crime and should help you, support you, guide you and mentor you. Not only your husband but include your parents, spouse’s parents and even staff to help you build a stronger support system to fall back on.
Dr Amy Baxter (CEO of MMJ Labs) also believes that a support system backed by family and balancing guilt and her calendar is the only way a woman can contribute to the society. Manjari Prabhu (TV Producer, Filmmaker and writer) owes her success to the support which she gets from her family. She says that strength is rock solid support which does not let you sway into weakness and self pity. She gets immense support and strength from her mother, husband and siblings who keep her emotionally secure and in turn she gets the energy to face the world. Another Mom Jen Lee Koss (Cofounder of BRIKA.com) her strength comes from her loved ones and the massive support system which helps her to keep her head above water all the time.
Also, good moms can have a great career by choosing flexible jobs where they get to enjoy best of both worlds. The flexibility to change the work hours as per the family needs works well over the years. Even working for a small company might offer flexibility in terms of coming in late or ducking out early or as a matter of fact working from home when children need you. Opting for careers like Virtual Assistants, Pre-Sales / Process work offer a great horizon. A good internet connection enables moms to work from any corner of the world. Something along the same lines is great as this is rewarding, and there is constant growth opportunity, learning, a pay cheque and fair amount of flexibility.
Good moms can have great careers as they tend to spend quality time with their children. After all it’s the quality time that matters and not quantity time. As per a research by Harvard daughters of working women tend to spend more years in education, accomplish at work and earn high incomes as compared to the daughters of non working mothers.
Raising children is a full time job, but this should not stop anyone from getting back to work. There might be several occasions when children might get disappointed, husband might sulk or even as a matter of fact colleagues might fret. This can create a lot of pressure but the beauty of this lies in the fact that women just grow stronger, overcome every obstacle and beautifully manage a healthy meal along with an organised house and a happy family.
There are people out there who don’t care about the time put in during work but care about the attitude and passion – while rest is all secondary. The key to success is to shed all the apprehension, highlight the strengths and conquer work life balance with confidence, rest all will follow.
Just chuck the guilt as great moms have great things lined for them...
By Shubhra Rastogi
