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Elizabeth Hutton

Mum Skills in the Boardroom: Employee to Working Mother (Part 3)

Elizabeth Hutton

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My Family Care asks Elizabeth: Employers sometimes talk about 'supporting' women through maternity leave, yet we know that it's also a time in which great personal development takes place. Are there things you think you do better since becoming a parent?

 

The list is long

I do all sorts of things better since becoming a parent, practical things like changing nappies and getting ready in under 5 minutes but also personal things like improved resilience, more patience and learning to take deep breaths every now and then.

Hands, feet, fingers, toes

Everyone knows women can multi task, we're famous for it, but until I became a mum I didn't realise quite how good I was at it.

Since my first daughter was born 5 years ago I don't think I've completed a single task in isolation, everything is done alongside at least 4 other tasks. I could breastfeed with one arm, do the online shopping with the other, pick up toys with my toes and use my mouth to bark orders at my husband.

Whenever I'd hear someone complain they had too much to do I'd think 'but you're only using two hands... What do you think your toes are for?!' If my eyelashes were stronger I would have had them working for me too.

In theory this should mean I get a lot done, but as parenthood brings infinitely more jobs with it the to do list is always out of control! If I did one task at a time I would probably have gotten around to weaning my daughter by the time she went to university... although I couldn't guarantee it.

Negotiations techniques

My negotiation skills have also improved since becoming a mother. When the Government is looking for hostage negotiators they should forget MI5 and the Ministry of Defence and head down to a nursery and recruit the mother of a toddler.

The skills required to convince a 2 year old that ice cream has to wait until after dinner easily trumps those needed to secure a multimillion pound deal in a Board Meeting. I've developed the art of compressing my argument into one succinct statement so it can be heard between screams, a skill that transfers to all forms of negotiations.

Bite your tongue

I also now know when to keep quiet. Raising a toddler and knowing that sometimes a tantrum just needs to run its course has changed the way I look at confrontational situations. I find I am likely to sit quietly and let someone else argue themselves out and strategically put forward my opinion when a decision will be made. Great at home and at work!

Creative genius

I think the greatest skill I've developed is my ability to make something out of nothing. Now some people will say I have always been able to do that, but I know its something that i do better now.

I can no longer go shopping for yogurt, instead I am shopping for what will eventually be the best rocket. Finding out i have no plasters? No problem, a bit of cotton wool and an address label is more than adequate.

I was once stuck on the M25 for 5 hours with two children in the back seat. Now if this had happened 5 years ago, and I was on my own, I would've been bored to tears. Yet using what I had within reach and eyesight, we found endless games to play, things to read, and things to distract us. It was almost disappointing when the road reopened.

In a way I feel like a suburban Bear Grylls, I can use whatever resources I have to hand and make everything I need!

Nothing stands in the way of the end goal

I also don't think there's an obstacle course I couldn't complete now that I'm a parent. Just a walk through my lounge involves having to jump over Thomas the Tank Engine, scurry around Angelina Ballerina, kick three footballs into a bucket, dive to save the toppling vase, duck under a flying Nemo while not standing on Hello Kitty's tiny family who are having a picnic on the doormat.

And people think the Krypton factor is difficult? Please!

My feet have been so toughened by the number of upturned cars and princess castles I've stood on, hot coals would be a walk in the park. Life seems easier to negotiate now as I can always take the short cut. It doesn't matter what is in the way - I will be able to get through it, round it, over it or under it!

All things considered being a parent has definitely made me more well rounded, more patient, more tolerant and more considerate... but also a force to be reckoned with in the Board Room!

Elizabeth Hutton, Working Mother, Count the Kicks

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