Are you struggling to balance career and family? Dan and Alison answer your questions with the help of career coach Daisy Dowling. They talk through what to do when you’re returning from maternity leave, planning to have kids early in your career, or debating whether to quit your job to care for your children.
From Alison and Dan’s reading list for this episode:
HBR: Balancing Parenting and Work Stress: A Guide by Daisy Wademan Dowling — “Invest significant time in training and mentoring a junior colleague so they can run the budget meetings without you. Make friends in the business development team so that you know about the big local client projects coming up and can volunteer for them early (no business travel!). Be as physically visible in the office as possible — taking the long way to the coffee machine — so colleagues consider you to be around and available, even when you’re at the pediatrician’s office again.”
HBR: How Stay-at-Home Parents Can Transition Back to Work by Dorie Clark — “If you want to return to the workforce, you have to manage and overcome the unspoken assumptions about who you are and what you’re capable of. By making it clear that your skills are current, networking assiduously, showing that you’re motivated, and demonstrating that your caregiving experience is actually a strength, you can go a long way in combatting pernicious stereotypes and re-entering professional life on your own terms.”
HBR: When You’re Leaving Your Job Because of Your Kids by Daisy Wademan Dowling — “Many of my working-parent coachees are shocked, upon resigning, to find out how much their organizations value them – and are suddenly willing to provide new roles, more flexibility, even sabbatical leaves in a desperate bid to keep them. As firm as your intention to leave is, remain open to new options that are offered. You may find an unexpected solution that’s actually better than the one you’ve committed to. At the very least, it’s worth a conversation.”
HBR: How to Prepare for Maternity Leave by Julie Moscow — “Prepare a list of your core responsibilities, dividing them into the tasks that can be assumed by others and those that aren’t so easy to delegate, such as client relationships, expertise-related functions, and mentorship of direct reports. Begin to think of whom among your subordinates, peers, and superiors might be best suited to each role and consider hiring someone to cover your leave if necessary.”