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Dear Leaders, We Must Show Up for Working Parents
A letter to leaders — as working parents face the (nearly impossible) task for managing return to school and career duties.
Like everyone, I fulfill many roles in my life — a mother, a leader of a global business, a partner, a friend, a sister, a daughter, a mentor, and an individual with passions and goals… The global pandemic and subsequent life-altering changes I have experienced over the past few months have shaken all of this up, and it feels like I have been living in the Upside Down for a while now.
Now, like most working parents, I am facing the uncertainty of Fall and my daughter returning to school — from home. Never have I ever wanted to be a home-school facilitator or a stay at home parent. It isn’t for me. Yet, here I am…
At work, I am not only juggling my own concerns and feeling the strain, but I am also in a position to hear the worry from working parents throughout my organization. An unsettling number of women have approached me and plainly asked me, “Should I resign now, or wait until I can’t hold it all together to quit my job?” This is coming as they look at the distance learning requirements for their kids and try to envision how they will continue to succeed at work, facilitate distance learning, and make…
