I’ve once again been featured in Forbes, this time on the critical issue of managing work and motherhood! The complete link to the profile can be foundhere.
Ok, folks: #ResistanceLive today at 9:30 am PT/12:30 pm ET. Unavoidable delay. Comments/questions below pls. And please do help us meet our subscriber goal on Patreon by supporting this broadcast. Such is the case for me, regarding Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin. I shared her #ResistanceLive broadcasts regularly, suggested people follow her and/or sponsor #RL. However, in light of credible allegations of marginalization by a prominent WOC activist, AND a decision to now. Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin was live. February 20, 2019.how we decide who to block on Twitter and elsewhere.McCabe's interview on Lawrence and takeaways.
Making Room for Baby: Discovering You’re Pregnant 3 Months After Launch
Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin
Professional Path: Lawyer turned Executive Coach
Children: 10 month old daughter, baby boy due in July
Location: New York City
Elizabeth runs ECM Executive Consulting, an executive coaching and consulting business focused on guiding high performing executives through major transitions and toward profound growth, professionally and personally. She works one-on-one with clients based all over the world, and also teaches seminars and workshops for corporations, law firms and organizations both within the United States and internationally.
The back story…
Elizabeth started her business in early 2011, after opting into a layoff from a major Wall Street law firm. Three months later she learned she was expecting. Pregnancy notwithstanding, however, the first year of business was an absolute whirlwind, and Elizabeth worked her tail off night and day to get her business off the ground. The time period right before her daughter’s birth was jam-packed with clients, networking and teaching workshops. She says, “It was a wonderful, inspired and slightly insane time.” Her impending (and short) maternity leave forced her not only to accelerate the growth of her business, but also required her to really plan ahead so she “could re-emerge quickly and hit the ground running.”
On preparation….
“I really had to wrap my head around my time management skills. I coach executives on time management routinely, so my ability to manage time was already pretty advanced, but I knew that one of my biggest challenges as a mom and entrepreneur was going to be the issue of how to get it all done and keep my business on a trajectory of growth.” Incidentally, the summer months of 2012 were Elizabeth’s best months of the year in terms of revenue, and her best month to date was January 2013.
“First, I automated all my social media marketing through Hootsuite. This allowed me to avoid Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for the full month after my daughter’s birth and still keep my marketing plan intact, which was priceless.”
“Second, I advised all my clients of how long I would be off, and gave them all extended coaching assignments for the weeks when I was on leave. I did make myself available for sporadic email coaching for clients in crisis over that time. By implementing these strategies, I was able to focus on my daughter entirely for the better part of a month, with only an hour or two a week of work to maintain my business and keep my clients moving forward in a positive direction.”
On the challenges…
“There is no question that the first few weeks of motherhood were hard for me. I had an unexpected cesarean birth and a very difficult physical recovery, and I experienced a short bout of moderate post-partum depression about three months in. However, these challenges were great learning experiences. They have made me much more attuned to depression in my clients than I ever was before. They have made me particularly sensitive to the needs of working moms for support in many forms, both inside and outside the home.”
What worked for her…
“In the months before giving birth, I advance-scheduled a number of workshops and seminars for corporations and groups beginning roughly two months after my due date. This ensured that my pipeline of business and potential clients was there waiting for me when I returned, and guaranteed my revenue stream would not suffer as a result of my maternity leave. It also gave me a certain date for being back at work full-time. This was the best thing I could have possibly done for my business because it ensured continuous growth, and I am doing it again in anticipation of the birth of our second child this July.”
“I also established a personal ground rule that I would never miss my daughter’s bedtime for two consecutive nights. This has forced me to be extremely efficient in my scheduling and networking over the past ten months, much to the benefit of everyone in my household. I am very, very selective now. Given that the trade-off is precious time with my daughter, learning to say no to events that might demand too much sacrifice from my family has been a critical choice that has kept me living in integrity with both my business and my family. “
What she wishes she knew…
“I wish I had given further consideration to the issue of childcare. I am fortunate to have a husband who is not only an extraordinary father but who also chose a profession that allows him great flexibility in scheduling—he is a private chef. He opted to stay home with our daughter full-time beginning when she was three months old, and is only now going back to work. While this has been an extraordinary benefit to our daughter, I wish I had considered hiring a nanny or babysitter for at least a few hours a week, both to give him a break and also to give us some time together as a couple. I’m sad to say that in the ten months since my daughter’s birth, we’ve only had three date nights!”
What she wishes you knew…
Keep reading here.
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For the first time in history, 40 percent of American families are now helmed by a primary breadwinner woman. More women than ever before are struggling to balance both financial and emotional responsibility for the wellbeing of their families.
Despite our successes, women continue to face cultural and career challenges as we rise through the corporate ranks. Equal pay remains an issue even at the highest tiers of the corporate ladder, with a recent study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research showing that female CEOs still earn just 80 percent of what their male counterparts earn.
The ongoing effects of unconscious gender bias in pay and promotion, as well as flextime and maternity leave considerations, continue to affect our career trajectories even as our numbers grow. Meanwhile, studies show we continue to do two-thirds of the housework to keep our homes running smoothly, and work/life balance is often non-existent.
The pressure on primary breadwinner women is unprecedented, and many of us feel routinely overwhelmed, exhausted and alone.
So how do we effectively rock the boardroom AND the house? In my work with primary breadwinner women worldwide, I’ve found that there are five primary strategies we need to adopt to not just survive, but thrive.
Find Community, and Cultivate It
Elizabeth C Mclaughlin
Virtually every breadwinner woman I’ve worked with expresses, “No one gets it.” We all need a place to be seen, heard, and understood.
Community exists in many forms. Whether it’s a group of like-minded women who gather a few times a month to support and strategize or an organization committed to advancing women in the workplace, communities give us a sense of belonging and meaning that many executive women say is lacking.
Download matlab 2018a with crack for mac. Find your tribe, and you’ll find your stresses will lessen as your sense of purpose and belonging grows.
Set Boundaries Around Technology
This is a critical strategy as we seek to meet the needs of our families and ourselves, while still staying connected and advancing up the corporate ladder. It can feel impossible to disconnect from work long enough to actually connect with the people who matter most.
For an hour a day, put your devices in a drawer and disconnect from online activity while connecting with loved ones. This might be the hour you spend at the family dinner table or the hour before bed you need to feel connected to your partner.
If you’re concerned about the impact this might have on your career, communicating with colleagues that you’re out of commission between 7 and 8 p.m. is often all it takes to make this new routine a reality. After a period of time, this time of disconnection will be respected by all involved.
Negotiate on Your Own Behalf at Work
Elizabeth Cronise Mclaughlin On Twitter
Men are nearly four times more likely than women to negotiate for what they want at work, according to Linda Babcock’s seminal book Women Don’t Ask. Many of us feel we don’t know how to ask for what we want or are afraid of career backlash. Curiously, however, we often have no problem going to bat for people on our team.
It’s critical to our financial and emotional wellbeing that we overcome this self-imposed barrier and become as good at negotiating for ourselves as we are for others.
According to the National Women’s Law Center, the equal pay gap currently amounts to a total of $30 trillion total for the 69 million working women nationwide over the course of their lifetimes. The individual impact of that amount on our families, the tax base, and the national economy as a whole is enormous. Negotiating for salary equality in particular paves the way for women coming up the ladder behind us to achieve equal pay and benefits the nation as a whole.
Outsource Whenever Possible
Meeting the demands of home and work can become impossible during the busiest times of year. There’s no shame in delegating holiday shopping, baking for our kids’ school events or household chores. I recently recommended to one executive that she hire a laundry service to free up time she’d rather spend with her kids.
We may be superwomen, but we can’t do it all. Delegation is a skill that we need to exercise for the sake of our sanity, our productivity and our family time.
Be Kind to Yourself
More than any other demographic, primary breadwinner women tend to put our own needs last. Career, children, partners and extended family all take top priority over our own needs. Many of us are suffering physically and emotionally on a routine basis, and our health is being compromised over the long haul.
Taking just five to ten minutes at the start of the day or the very end to reflect on what matters most, meditate, and/or take care of our bodies through exercise or yoga can make a world of difference in our wellbeing and our outlook.
As a primary breadwinner woman, you are already a tremendous success, breaking down barriers and achieving the impossible every day just by being you. Employing these five strategies will help to ease your stresses while still allowing you to rise to your highest potential at home, at work and in the world.
Guest Contribution by Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin
Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin is the CEO and Executive Director of 40 Percent and Rising, a new organization by and for primary breadwinner women worldwide. She is also an ex-Wall Street lawyer, Executive and Leadership Coach, and the primary breadwinner for a family of four with two children under the age of three. To learn more about Elizabeth and 40 Percent and Rising, go to their website, or connect with them on Facebook or Twitter.
Guest advice and opinions are not necessarily those of The Glass Hammer