Prevent Being Overworked In 2023

Working mothers often experience the motherhood penalty where an employer may pass them up assuming they won’t be able to juggle parenthood and high demands at work.  Their spouse may see them handling so much in life that they subconsciously sit back and assume “Mom will handle everything”.  

Ambitious career women are often visionaries, high energy, take control type of people so they may subconsciously create the burden of being overworked. They may not actually request help, accept help or let others in as they have big FOMO.  They often want to do it all, but what happens if we are involved in everything? We ultimately suffer the consequences of chronic stress and anxiety: burnout, relationship breakdown, and health breakdown such as autoimmune diseases, etc.   

So, how can working Moms ever get ahead of this penalty of the work overload that is often created in our lives either by our own omission, inequality within the home, at work, or in society in general? 

This is where Leading Motherhood comes into play.  When we are standing at our highest level of leadership we:

• We know our worth.  We realize the great value that we are bringing to our families, our relationships, our friendships, and to our career connections.    When we step into a place of really feeling like we belong to ourselves as a high-net-worth asset in our own lives, we respect our energy, our time, our mental state, and our physical health.  We start to set boundaries around daily activities, career decisions, and people that no longer align with our personal value system.  We value what we bring to the table of life that we become very intentional about how and who we spend our time with.  
• Operate with intention.  My friend, best-selling author, and CEO of Take The Lead, Gloria Feldt wrote the book, “Intentioning:  Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take The Lead for (Everyone's) Good” where she talks about 9 intentioning tools that will prepare, motivate, and propel women of all diversities and intersectionalities now so that by 2025, women will have attained their fair and equal share of leadership positions across all sectors of industry and society.  

When we operate with intention we are making a commitment to focus and channel our energy to create an experience with someone or create something impactful.  In every conversation, in every relationship, business goal, etc. we get to ask this question: “What is my intention behind this?”

• Give to others in gratitude and generosity.  Motherhood is such a gift as it requires us to immediately shift out of any inward focus and outwardly focus on raising another human being. 

This is true for both parents, but physically in motherhood, we share that bond with our children.  We have a choice to also bring this level of generosity into all aspects of our lives.  When we are operating in a place of gratitude and seeing the blessings that are given to us each and every day, our human nature shifts into a place of wanting to give back. 

When we make a choice to give to others without expecting anything in return we build deeper connections with others, grow stronger teams in the workplace, create more valuable business partnerships and attract others in our lives that live in the same set of values.  This is when life starts to become easier. When we surrender to faith over fear, we are generously unlocking our mindset to operate within our purpose, experience fulfillment, and create an impact in this life. 

When leaders operate in these key areas, a company’s culture shifts.  You start to Build Company Culture That Scales.  Instead of creating an incongruent company culture where it may look good from the outside but be experienced by employees much differently from the inside, you’re creating a consistent environment where both leaders and individual contributors feel a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging, and psychological safety.

Rocki Howard, Chief People & Diversity Officer at The Mom Project shared an article about “13 Transferrable Skills That Make Working Moms Great Colleagues and Leaders”.  In this article, she talks about enrolling others in your vision through your humanness, creating circles of trust, investing in others, and crafting collective experiences.  There are so many ways that the experience of motherhood gives us the opportunity to develop our leadership skills and while we are growing our families, we can use those skill sets to further our careers.  Just like Rocki mentioned, we can experience a 10/10 career and personal life together, without enduring a sacrifice.  

A record 32% of S&P board positions are being held by women (as reported in November 2022), which we know greatly increases revenue for companies.  You may or may not have the desire to lead a company but no matter what you choose, your skillsets as a mother are extremely valuable and we are living in a time where you can choose to achieve anything in your career and life.  It’s not always a linear or obstacle-free journey but when you are leading in every area of life, you have the strength to overcome challenges and look at them in gratitude, in blessings for growth vs. a victim mindset.   

As we approach 2023, what are you intentionally committing to creating in your life, in your career, and in your company culture? 

Share your vision in the comments below.

For more information about how your can support your personal development journey as a working parent or support working parents within your company visit www.amyleighlooper.com or book a call with Amy today.

Amy Looper is a former software sales leader turned working mother leadership performance coach, author, and speaker after her own experiences breaking through postpartum depression, chronic stress, and burnout.  She’s been voted in the Top 50 Women In Sales, Author of the upcoming book, “Leading Motherhood: Surrendering To Faith Over Fear From The Delivery Room To Board Room”, a maternal mental well-being expert and speaker on building a company culture that scales, eliminating working parent burnout and overcoming anxiety.