We are all experiencing a big shift in the way we work. Even prior to the pandemic, more people were working remotely than ever before. Now, 42 percent of the U.S. labor force is working from home full-time, according to new research from Stanford University. Most of the stigmas about working from home have eroded as we all adjust to this new reality. Although there are some who crave a return to office or want their teams to return to the office, I think leaders can and will play an important role in creating flexibility in where we work. I am hoping that in our post-COVID world, we will have a more flexible, work-from-home economy.
I work at a place where most of the staff have been on site at the bedside or in exam rooms caring for patients. But, we still have more than 5,000 people working from home. I also sit on boards that have held all of their meetings remotely for the past 8 months. I could never have imagined this kind of shift. So how do leaders play a role in ensuring that we learn from this new normal and develop new and sustainable work habits?
It starts with modeling the right behaviors and ensuring that you don’t tolerate what I call “AWA (alternative work arrangement) shaming”. I do a combination of AWA and working on site, so that I am visible to those that need to be physically there. I believe that visibility goes a long way towards showing that I value and support their work. At the same time, I am trying to ensure that our leaders get much more comfortable with the idea that oftentimes their teams are more productive at home.
I practice and get comfortable with my new normal. When I can, I take walks if I have a break during the day. Clearing my head is really important and gives me the opportunity to think and act more purposefully. Until recently, I would have never built that time into my day. I have also been trying to create some boundaries when I work at home. When you are working from home, it is easy to start working from the time you open your eyes until bedtime. I needed to stop that behavior by putting boundaries around my work time and I needed to express that to my leadership team.
Now that 90% of my closet — the part that comprises my business attire — has been dormant for many months, I have gotten more comfortable with “dressing down”. In the past, I was much more formal at work and hence created a more formal dress code atmosphere with the people around me. That will change now that I have gotten more comfortable with a relaxed business attire at home and in the office. Today I actually wore black jeans and a cardigan sweater to work. I would have never done that in the past but I am committed to creating a new, more comfortable trend.
I do miss being able to grab a tea with a colleague or go to a happy hour networking event after work. But, virtual happy hours and cooking demonstrations have become a new evening event for me. While it is not the same as in-person connections, it is a way to meet our deep need for human connection during this isolating time.
My husband and I often remark about how lucky we are that our kids are grown and we are not homeschooling them while working from home. I’m fortunate to have a living situation that allows me to work from home successfully, but I know a lot of people who don’t have that same luxury of privacy or a designated workspace at home. I have seen some of my colleagues get very creative. One works from his garage to give him space from his children who are attending school virtually. I do worry about the long-term effects caused by the disparity in home offices, and women are disproportionately affected due to child care responsibilities.
The separation between our work and personal lives can be hard to distinguish right now, so setting boundaries anyway we can is imperative to our success and wellbeing. I am committed to making sure that more flexible working arrangements are sustainable in the future. In the meantime, we are all learning as we go and doing our best to model an “it’s okay to work from home” mindset with our teams.
While I have seen and written about some positive aspects of working from home, I have also been thinking a lot about younger women who may be missing out on opportunities to advance their careers during this time. When working in an office setting, there is opportunity for incidental and informal contact – a way to be seen. It’s the networking and informal meetings that often lead to important “drive by” career discussions. These informal meetings are also helpful to me. I recently met a long tenured social worker at my organization in the cafeteria, she provided me with some very good insights on the topic of racism and social injustice. That quick cafeteria discussion gave me new information that helped me better understand what my employees were thinking and feeling.
With so many young women in this position, how do we build an infrastructure to ensure their career progression? I’d like to share some strategies for continuing to advance your career while you are working from home.
Investigate Digital Platforms for Career Advancement
I serve as a mentor for CSweetener, a digital platform that is designed to mentor women to lead in healthcare. With this platform, I am able to mentor women from other organizations and provide them guidance and most importantly, make connections for them. I am thinking about creating something similar in my own organization so that our pipeline development does not suffer.
Talk to Your Boss about Challenges Your Organization is Facing
By understanding the biggest needs and challenges your employer is facing, you can find opportunities to volunteer your services and expertise to help. Look for how to get involved in work outside of your day-to-day job so that you have the opportunity to get “in front of” more people – even if that’s just through your email signature. Letting your boss know you want to step up during challenging times will go a long way.
A new feature on LinkedIn (also a great place to network) allows you to explore over 16,000 free and paid courses.There are many that are extremely relevant to our current moment, as well as options to learn a new skill. A few highlights include:
“Digital Body Language”
“Starting a Memorable Conversation”
“Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging”
“Remote Work Foundations”
“Time Management When Working from Home”
“Data Analytics for Business Professionals”
“Inclusive Leadership”
Reach out to Your Contacts for a Zoom Date
Now is just as good a time as ever to reconnect and ask others what they’ve been doing to stay engaged. You’re armed with an instant topic of conversation since we’re all in the same boat. Are they participating in any groups you could join? Have they developed any practices or habits to help them through working from home? Of course, remember that some people are stretched incredibly thin right now, so be sure to be sensitive with any requests.
Join a Professional Facebook Group
Facebook groups can be an effective place to request or share information with like-minded people in your field. It’s best to find one that’s locally based, so that you’re connecting with people who you could possibly carry relationships into the real world with, but even national groups can help you bounce ideas off of other professionals and be of help to those that are looking for it. Ask around your network and see if your friends or colleagues have found any groups they enjoy.
Virtual or Outdoor Happy Hours
Remember to find ways to connect that don’t involve meetings, business goals or requests for help. Look for ways to have fun with colleagues. If you have Zoom fatigue, find an opportunity to connect outside (socially distanced and masked of course!). Have everyone bring a colleague from their department so you can meet new people.
Leaning into an Opportunity for Change
In a recent Harvard Business Review article, reporter Herminia Ibarra cites a poll asking participants to describe how they’re responding to the Coronavirus, “50% of the 2,000 people who responded reported that it has given them ‘opportunities to try new things or learn new skills.’” She says, “In some cases, these new skills are directly related to working remotely.” Now is a great time to reinvent yourself, follow a path you’ve been too afraid to go down, or use the time you’re not commuting and getting ready to plan your next move.
As someone who takes goal-setting seriously, I enjoy looking back on the year, assessing progress I’ve made and looking ahead to all that I still want to do. While long lists of New Year’s resolutions often set you up for failure, I prefer to focus on one professional and one personal goal for the next year. I’m sharing mine below, but I’d also love to hear from you. Reading your comments helps me learn what’s important to you, and to get new ideas for topics to cover on this blog.
My 2020 Goals:
Personal: Take a few minutes each day to meditate.
Professional: Double my efforts to make connections with and listen to front-line staff.
My Favorite Posts from 2019:
Knowing Your Bandwidth
I began thinking about this post a few weeks ago, on a typical Sunday evening. My husband Lou and I had been traveling and we’d just returned home. I intended to use the evening to get the kitchen ready for our remodel that was about to begin, pack up everything that needed to be moved, complete the rest of my New Years cards and get ready for the week ahead. As I began this work, he became frustrated; “Madeline, you have an endless supply of bandwidth, and you have to remember that I do not.” READ MORE
2. The Upside of Vulnerability
We live in a culture with an ever-increasing focus on perfection. Whether it’s at home or in the workplace, we put so much pressure on ourselves to do everything, and do it perfectly. At work, the idea of always being over-prepared, with no question you can’t answer and nothing you haven’t thought of is likely appealing. However, this masks one of our most powerful tools as a leader – vulnerability. READ MORE
3. Developing Our Successors, Millennial Women in the Workplace
I am passionate about sharing advice for young women looking to advance their careers, especially for those looking towards the C-Suite. I offer suggestions on everything from taking stretch assignments and negotiating raises, to adjusting bad speech habits and dressing like a leader. However, I sometimes wonder if we’re expecting younger generations to conform to our workplace norms at the expense of truly letting their unique priorities and values shine through? READ MORE
4. Unlearning the Lessons of Charm School
There is nothing more rejuvenating than spending an evening out with close female friends. The camaraderie, support and laughter that accompanies these types of friendships is, in my opinion, an essential part of mental health. I recently had dinner with my two closest friends; women I can share anything and everything with, and with whom I can truly be myself. We talk about our common experience of having our children get married and laugh about how men (and specifically, our husbands!) need to find “man friends” (why do women seem to be so much better at recognizing the essential nature of supportive friendships!?) READ
5. Developing Helping Relationships, Making the Most of Your Networks
With the growth of social media platforms such as LinkedIn and endless other networking groups, we’ve seen a significant increase in our personal and professional networks. Just think about your connections. Now, think about how many of those people you actually know. How many of them could you help you advance your career or make a meaningful business connections? How many of them could you truly ask for a favor or an introduction? Probably not many. I think it’s important to learn how to develop more “surface-level relationships” into more meaningful relationships that can help us meet our personal and professional goals. READ MORE
Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2020 – please leave me a comment below and tell me what you’d like to read on the blog on the next year.
I know first-hand the demands that motherhood places on all women, and the unique challenges it presents to women who work outside the home. I returned to my career as a nurse just six weeks after the birth of my first child, but on a part-time basis. With my second child, I also returned to work with a reduced schedule and with my third, returned immediately to full time. In all instances, I felt rushed to jump back in before I was ready. Far too often women feel that they must choose between successful careers and motherhood, and either sacrifice time with their young children or drop out of the workforce entirely.
According to the Harvard Business Review, 43% of highly-qualified women with children are leaving careers or taking a career break. In another recent story by The New York Times,The Costs of Motherhood Are Rising, and Catching Women Off Guard, the author notes that despite earning more college degrees than men, entering jobs previously closed to them and delaying marriage and childbirth, women age 25 to 54 who work is about the same as it was in 1995. To me, this all points to an urgent need to make the balancing act more achievable as well as make sure we’re not penalizing women for stepping out for a time.
I recently sat down with CHOP’s AVP of Board Relations and my Chief of Staff, Ellen Dean, to discuss her experience of leaving the workforce, twice. Below is a summary of our conversation.
MB: What drove your decision to leave the workplace for a time? Did you intend on returning?
ED: When I first left the workforce, my children were three-and-a-half and one. My husband was traveling a lot for his job and I was feeling extremely overwhelmed trying to balance work and motherhood. There were very few female mentors for me at the firm where I worked after law school, and certainly none in leadership roles. And there was most definitely no option for part time or flexible work arrangements. So seeing all that made it very hard for me to understand how I could even begin to think about juggling that type of career and a family. Iknew in my heart that I had reached a juncture when I had to make a decision. The choice that was right for me at the time, for a variety of reasons, was to step away and focus on my family. I was very fortunate that my husband fully supported that decision and that he was willing to shoulder the burden of supporting us financially. I always intended to go back to work when the timing was right for everyone, which I eventually did when the kids were a bit older. When my kids were in high school I again started to feel the tug of not being able to adequately juggle everything. At that point I was in a very demanding and consuming full time + job that left me with little energy or time to really focus on my family. I was desperately afraid that I was going to blink and realize that I had missed important milestones in their lives and that I would regret not having been more present with them. I again made the decision to step away for a while – but I always intended to return to work when my youngest child left for college.
MB: What were some of your fears leading up to that decision? Was it clear-cut?
ED:I think my fears were the same ones that all women contemplating this type of decision feel. I worried about the impact of losing our second income, about not feeling fulfilled being at home, about not having enough stimulating adult interactions and a clear routine, about what my friends and family would think about my choice, and about not being able to get another job when I was ready to jump back in. In both instances my decisions were not clear-cut and took a lot of soul searching and mental back and forth before I could really articulate what I wanted to do and why.
MB: Did you find it difficult to re-enter the workplace?
ED: Despite all of my fear and anxiety about finding a way back in, re-entering not once, but twice, was much easier than I expected it to be. Having a large network of people to reach out to was extremely helpful in terms of identifying opportunities and opening doors for constructive conversations. However, when I told people that my intention was to go back to work as soon as my youngest left for college, many of them laughed and said “good luck making that happen” or “things don’t always work like that you know.” I started networking and talking to people about nine months before my daughter was going to leave for college and I went into my job search with the benefit of having had time to clearly define what I was looking for and enough self-confidence to know that I could bring value to an organization and that I wasn’t going to settle for something that didn’t really excite me. I got my offer from CHOP and started my job two months before she left for school!
MB: How does it feel to be back in the workplace? What did you learn?
ED: I am thrilled to be back at work and I am extremely grateful that I didn’t just get any job – I truly got my dream job. As an employee I always gave 100% to whatever I was doing, but it feels very different to me now that I am not trying to juggle different priorities. I think the most important thing I learned is that there isn’t one path for everyone. We all have to make decisions that work best for us and, as women, we need to be supportive of each other. While Sheryl Sandberg encourages everyone to Lean In, we also need to understand and accept that Leaning Out is an equally acceptable option for many of us. I also learned that it is possible to lean back in once you’ve leaned out for a while.
MB: What would be your advice to women who are mid-career, but are feeling the pressures of work-life balance and might be interested in taking a pause to prioritize other things?
ED: The first thing I would suggest is that they speak with their employer to see if any options exist for alternative work arrangements that might provide more flexibility. While I know that this won’t always be possible, I think that there are a lot more employers who are open to these arrangements than there were even 10 or 15 years ago. If a flexible schedule isn’t an option, or if someone is committed to taking a pause like I did, then I would encourage them to find ways to continue developing their skill sets while they are out of the workforce – through volunteering, working on projects, or consulting. And, lastly, I would highly recommend that they keep in touch with their co-workers, bosses, mentors and other professional connections so that they have a network of people to reach out to when they are ready to go back to work.
Thank you to Ellen for taking the time to share her story. How do you think we can better support women so that taking a break isn’t a career death sentence? How should we advise women to be strategic in how they take that time off, so that returning isn’t impossible and that they’re not unemployable? One thing is for certain – having more women in leadership positions will go a long way in pushing this conversation forward.
I am passionate about sharing advice for young women looking to advance their careers, especially for those looking towards the C-Suite. I offer suggestions on everything from taking stretch assignments and negotiating raises, to adjusting bad speech habits and dressing like a leader. However, I sometimes wonder if we’re expecting younger generations to conform to our workplace norms at the expense of truly letting their unique priorities and values shine through?
We can see this tension in our politics through the contrast between Alexandria Oscasio Cortez and Nancy Pelosi – an interesting balance of respecting the knowledge and expertise of the generations before you, while working to incorporate the values of a new cohort, anxious to disrupt the status quo. It’s a conversation that’s popping up in industries everywhere as our workforce become more multigenerational – how can we all work together in a productive way? Stereotypes and negative assumptions about the generation that now makes up 40% of the workforce (60% here at CHOP), run rampant. However, Millennial women in particular, are the most educated cohort in our history and have incredible potential to be a new type of leader. I believe we need to embrace the different values and needs of Millennials and incorporate them into our workplaces, rather than pushing them to conform to the cultures of previous generations.
Twice a year, I hold an employee town hall meeting — an opportunity for leadership to hear directly from our employees and to understand the things that are important to them. In our most recent town hall, I was struck by the new types of questions that were coming from the audience; what is CHOP doing to promote wellness and work-life balance? What are we doing to ensure we’re operating with sustainability in mind? It reminded me that as our workforce changes, we need to be sure that we’re not simply developing our employees to fit a mold, but that we’re truly incorporating their strongest assets into our culture. We need to be speaking more clearly to them about things like our EcoCHOP initiatives and allow them to feel heard – that we take their concerns seriously and act on them. As illustrated in a recent articles in Forbes entitiled Let Them Lead: Millenial Women Are Ready to Blaze a New Trail, these women care deeply about issues like bias, discrimination and inequality, transparency around compensation, work/life balance and self-care. Instead of making assumptions about the motivations behind these values (you’ve probably heard them – Millennials need too much validation, they want promotions without working for them, they want too much time off, etc.) I challenge leaders from older generations to see the immense opportunity embracing these values could bring to your organization. These women are eager to lead, and it’s our responsibility to offer guidance and mentorship without expecting them to simply conform to the leadership norms we’ve established. These are our successors, and we should be working very closely with them to establish the next evolution of workplace culture.
During my years at CHOP, I have received wonderful advice from managers and colleagues that has helped me advance my career in ways I never imagined possible when I was starting out as a young nurse. I strongly believe the most important part of my job is to develop future leaders. While many of these posts tackle specific challenges or topics, there are a few key lessons I’ve learned that stand out in my years of experience. Here are my top three pieces of advice no matter where you are in your career.
Don’t take a job for the title. Many people think that a certain title will give them credibility. In fact, your influencing skills – that is, your ability to gain support and “followership” from the people who will be affected by a decision – are far more important than your title. Your influencing skills, not necessarily a title, will help you get things done. Start practicing this no matter what your current title is.
Work for a place that you believe in. To be successful in your career, it’s important to work for a place that reflects your own values. One of CHOP’s biggest strengths is that we have a workforce that is inspired by our mission and values. Having a team made up of employees who share a sense of mission and purpose makes us much more effective as a team. Ask yourself some tough questions, and if you don’t truly believe in the mission, leaders, or goals of your company or organization, start looking for what might be a better fit.
Take on “stretch” assignments. Ask to take on a project you don’t feel entirely prepared for – even if the idea scares you. You will find your biggest opportunities for growth when you step outside your comfort zone. Pay close attention in meetings – is there an issue that keeps coming up that no one seems to be tackling? Suggest to your boss that you work on solving it. Even if you don’t have an idea for a certain project, let your boss know that you’re looking for an extra challenge (just make sure you are doing A+ work in all of your current responsibilities!)
If you’ve received a particularly helpful piece of career advice from a friend, colleague or mentor, I would love to hear it!
