Do you wonder how you’ll balance your career ambitions with having a family? Whether you’re already a parent or hoping to be a parent in the future, it’s likely that you’ve thought about how to juggle work with other aspects of your life. Research examining women in leadership shows that because the time at which we start progressing to leadership roles coincides with the biological time window for having children if we want to have children, this can be one of the barrier’s to women’s progression to senior leadership roles. If we want to live in a society that supports men and women to be parents and to be leaders, then we need to change culture and support parents. This week’s guest is Verena Hefti, CEO and founder of Leaders Plus, a social enterprise working with individuals during maternity leave, shared parental leave, and beyond to progress in their careers whilst enjoying their young families. Verena also hosts the podcast Big Careers, Small children and she was recently awarded an MBE for her work in supporting parents. Verena discusses what she has learnt about balancing parenthood and leadership through LeadersPlus and Big Careers Small Children.
Verena’s book recommendations:
The Authority Gap: Why Women are Still Taken Less Seriously Than Men, and what We Can Do about it by Mary Ann Sieghart
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff
To find out more about LeadersPlus:
https://www.leadersplus.org.uk/
@leaders_plus
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Back by popular request, you can find the reflective worksheet for this episode here.
For any enquires about the Medical Women's Federation, email admin@medicalwomensfederation.org.uk
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This podcast is produced on behalf of the Medical Women's Federation by Dr Nuthana Bhayankaram & Ms Jenna MacKenzie. Our music is composed and played by Miss Kethaki Bhayankaram. Our cover art and social media posters are designed by Ms Danielle Nwadinobi.
