October 2020, I started a new job. Really great company, finally helping people and adding real value to the world. I dove in headfirst making commitments, setting goals, realigning resources. The typical 90-day objectives for any leader.
January 2021, surprise I’m 4 months pregnant. Very exciting in terms of life. In terms of work, plans had to change. New plan, I now gave myself 4months to meet all my goals or get them to a point where someone could take them over and be successful.
I wrote a runbook, well a few. One for myself, one for my replacement, one for new roles, one for if I ended up staying on leave longer than planned. Then executed. Strategy development is my strong suit, and this would be the biggest test of my strength. I planned for the worst and acted like the best was going to happen no matter what.
June 2021, the baby arrives. Plans kick into motion.
July 2021, I’m bored. I got lucky. My baby was calm and slept almost nonstop. Most importantly there was no breastfeeding. I have to say the entire experience would have changed if nature hadn’t decided that path wasn’t going to happen.
August 2021, I went back to work. Yes, I only took 8 weeks off. Pre-covid this would never have happened. But one good side effect of the pandemic has to be that remote work is now allowing parents the ability to manage both. When the baby slept work commenced. The hard part was timing calls with an ever-changing sleep cycle. But even so, a crying baby on a few calls no longer makes anyone uncomfortable. I had meetings on camera with the baby strapped to me in a carrier. The world has truly changed.
November 2021, 95% of the goals set and promises made were successfully closed. Thanks to my team mostly and family for helping with the baby.
Gone are the days when working mothers must choose between career and family. There are ways to do both. There are companies that support both. Cybersecurity is a field that never sleeps. These are the executives in companies that truly carry the weight of risk on their shoulders. It is demanding, stressful, and never ending. Kind of like motherhood. So doing both means having two full time jobs and I’m not going to pretend it’s easy. It’s hard, but it’s doable if you try.