Don’t Leave Before You Leave
Success Secret #3
An ambitious and successful woman heads down a challenging career path with the thought of having children in the back of her mind. At some point, this thought moves to the front of her mind, typically
once she finds a partner. The woman considers how hard she is working and reasons that to make room for a child she will have to scale back. The problem is that even if she were to get pregnant immediately, she still has nine months before she has to care for an actual child. By the time the baby arrives, the woman is likely to be in a drastically different place in her career than she would have been had she not leaned back. By not finding ways to stretch herself in the years leading up to motherhood, she has fallen behind. When she returns to her workplace after her child is born, she is likely to feel less fulfilled, underutilised or
The years leading up to having children are not the time to lean back but the critical time to lean in. Don’t enter the workforce already looking for an exist.
unappreciated. The time to scale back is when a break is needed or when a child arrives—not years in advance. The years leading up to having children are not the time to lean back, but the critical time to lean in. Anyone who’s lucky enough to have options should keep them open. Don’t enter the workforce already looking for the exit. Don’t put on the brakes. Accelerate. Keep a foot on the gas pedal until a decision must be made. That’s the only way to ensure that when that day comes, there will be a real decision to make.