Becker's Hospital Review

20 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP Female execs share tips to balance motherhood, careers By Alia Paavola S everal female executives shared tips to successfully balance in- fluential careers and the daily demands of motherhood during the 44th annual Outstanding Mother Awards May 5. Below is a breakdown of the tips, as highlighted by Forbes. 1. Be present and ask what's important to your child. Nancy Berger, publishing director and chief revenue officer of Hearst Youth and Wellness Group, shared that while she oen missed things like family dinners, she made a promise to her two boys that she would never miss anything that they said was important to them. 2. Stop saying or thinking you are undeserving. Many men gra- ciously accept honors and willingly take credit, while women oen feel unworthy of the same honors, according to Bianna Golodryga, se- nior global affairs analyst and anchor at CNN. Ms. Golodryga instead recommends understanding your value and accepting wins by saying, "ank you — I'm honored!" 3. Be prepared for the three "Ds". Phyllis Newhouse, CEO of ShoulderUp Technology Acquisition and CEO of Xtreme Solutions, recommended being prepared for detours, distractions and disap- pointments. 4. Find an "A+" village to help support you and your children. Hav- ing a trustworthy village of people to help you care for your children is another way to help balance a career and motherhood, according to Priya Venkatesh, senior vice president of merchandising, skincare and hair at Sephora. Ms. Venkatesh says this village can include extended family or even colleagues. 5. Know you don't need to be perfect. e female executives said it is important to realize that you won't be perfect at being a mom and being a professional, but that is OK. Women are demanding bigger solutions, like paid family leave and sick pay and subsidized child care. n Women of color feel they have to 'self-edit' at work By Georgina Gonzalez W omen, and especially women of color, often feel they have to monitor themselves in work envi- ronments, constantly self-editing to ensure they don't leave a negative impression, writes Joan Williams, a professor at UC Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, in the Harvard Business Review. Women of color much prefer remote working than oth- er groups, with one study showing that only 3 percent of Black workers wanted to return to the office full time com- pared to 21 percent of white workers. This may be attribut- ed to women of color struggling with office dynamics in which they feel like the odd one out and alone. Women of color experience both sexism and racism at work, with 81 percent of them saying they experienced some form of racism at work and 90 percent saying the same for sexism. In response, women of color often feel they have to self-edit to seem less intimidating. "If you present yourself as too Latina or too Black in the workplace, that could be a turnoff for your white col- leagues, so you kind of have to monitor that," said one Latina woman interviewed by Ms. Williams. Others mentioned having to check their tone, not display emotions outwardly and felt like they were constantly monitoring their facial expressions and body language. n What 'Lean In' culture for women got wrong By Georgina Gonzalez W hile the advice given in the book Lean In helped push women to change their habits, research shows that more structural change is needed before the playing field between men and women is lev- eled, Bloomberg reported June 3. Sheryl Sandberg's book Lean In encouraged women to al- ter their behavior and empower themselves to get to the top of the working world. The message of the book res- onated with many women who realized that internalized sexism was holding them back, and were encouraged to speak up more and ask for what they want. However, some research has shown that advice ignores the real structural factors that hold women back. Leanin. org's own research showed that although women were asking for more raises than before, they were less likely to get them. They were also more likely to be told they were being bossy and aggressive. "I don't subscribe to the ethos that women simply need to work harder to be successful," said Natasha Lamb, a man- aging partner at activist investment firm, "There is structur- al sexism built into the system." Women are demanding bigger solutions, like paid family leave and sick pay and subsidized child care. n

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