Welcome to part three of the Motherhood is Leadership Training Series. Disclaimer: I’m not suggesting that every woman needs to have a child in order to be a good leader. I’m saying that motherhood is, by default, leadership training. In parts one and two we discussed how motherhood trains women to build confidence and develop their coaching skills. This week let’s examine how it inherently produces crisis managers. Take the pandemic for example. Twice as many people died of COVID-19 in countries led by men than in countries led by women and at least three of these leaders are mothers: Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark, Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland, and Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel. Let’s examine five areas of crisis management that motherhood innately teaches: plan, prevent, practice, perform, and polish.
Plan
Moms learn to keep over-the-counter children’s pain reliever, band-aids, a thermometer, etc., on hand to address their child’s middle-of-the-night health emergencies. Moms apply this principle at work by learning to keep alternative workflows on hand to address their team’s middle-of-the-project emergencies.
Prevent
Moms learn the best way to deal with a crisis is to keep it from happening. For example, at home Mom may buy a few duplicates of her toddler’s favorite T-Shirt. This makes negotiating what clothes to wear easier. At work Mom may share feedback with the team regarding what the client liked about their last campaign. This makes achieving the tone of the next campaign easier.
Practice
Moms learn that practicing what to do in a crisis when there isn’t one allows people to fall back on their training. For example, Mom may hold monthly fire drills to teach her child how to get out of the house in case of a real fire. At work, Mom may occasionally ask a team member for a last minute report to train them what to do if the CEO asks for a similar report while Mom is on vacation.
Perform
Moms learn how to execute the crisis procedure effectively. Each child has a different asset. For example, maybe one child is an athlete, another is an artist, etc. This gives Mom clues as to how to motivate them and boost their self-confidence during a crisis. Each employee has a different asset. At work, Mom identifies each team member’s talent. For example, maybe one staff member is good at calming an upset customer, another is good at spotting accounting errors. Mom knows how to appropriately assign tasks to motivate them and boost their self-confidence in a crisis.
Polish
Moms learn from mistakes. They constantly ask themselves whether or not they are doing a good job. They question: What can I do to be better prepared next time? At work, Mom holds post-event reviews to allow the team to vent, but not complain. Then incorporates the feedback to be better prepared for the next crisis.
Some keys to crisis management? Be gracious and empathic. Listen more than talk. Work together to solve problems both at home and at work.
Do you agree with this sentence? Proper planning prevents poor performance. Please tell us why or why not in the comments.