Becoming a mother can be a beautiful thing.  It can be a time of joy, stress, fear, and gratitude.  When you become a mother as a leader, though, it can complicate an already complex role.  

Don’t get me wrong; women have been kicking butts as working mothers for years. However, I think the dirty little secret no one likes to talk about is that it’s HARD to do.  While we may make it look good and not complain, the reality is far from perfect.  I can speak from personal experience.  I’m a wife and mother of two sweet children, a very active, curious two-year-old son, and a determined, lively eight-month-old daughter.  Before transitioning to leading my consulting practice, I led two corporate functions within an HR department at a Fortune 500 company. 

From my experience, it’s a grind riddled with decision-making and guilt.  I found myself continually choosing where to spend my time/energy since both roles were critically important.  The balance seemed virtually impossible, which as a Type A personality, felt like defeat –  and I would NOT concede to defeat. Instead, I sought answers and went directly to the source…other mothers!

So my informal research took place in the form of conversations.  I reached out to moms at my workplace, called friends who were working mothers, chatted on mom message boards, and even sent notes to Instagram influencers who I knew were working mothers.  While there were nuanced differences in the stories, the overarching sentiment was generally the same:  IT…IS…HARD.  Whether married or single, with one or multiple children, being a mother and a working professional is HARD.  When discussing this topic of balance with other working mothers, phrases like “pulled in multiple directions,” “team no sleep,” “never enough time” reverberated throughout the chats.  It was clear to me that I wasn’t the only mom experiencing the struggle, which, if I’m honest,  was a bit of a relief.  But now what?

Once I let that truth sink in, the next logical step was to figure out strategies to overcome the challenge that the dual roles presented.  No way was I going to let all of my hard work achieving each of these roles battle each other in a win/lose match.  Nope!  There had to be a win/win answer, and I was determined to find it.  

While I’m still on the journey of compiling these strategies, I thought I would share the insights and approaches I have learned through this specific blog series entitled Boss Mom.  I encourage you to share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section, so together, we can compile a library of strategies that will allow us all to win!  

For some reason, the song “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” just popped into my head.  Fitting huh…

Don’t forget to share this series with the “Boss Moms” in your life!