6 Reasons Why Moms Make the Best Leaders
By Brooke Jean, MA, LPC
Becoming a mother has been the most transformative transition of my life to date, and it has put me face-to-face with aspects of myself that help me kick ass in business.
And as a therapist and coach supporting mostly working moms, I have a front-row-seat to their strengths and struggles and I am here to say — they kick ass too!
As mothers, I feel we have a duty to co-create the new normal we want to live, work, and thrive in. As employers, we have a duty to figure out how to offer flexible work schedules and conditions to accommodate what I believe are some of your best and most strategic hiring moves.
here’s why i believe moms make the best leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals.
We have an unfuckwithable source of strength buried deep inside of us that we get to meet and greet when becoming a mother. Whether it’s hearing “it’s time to push” after being in labor for 48 hours, or making it through another day of summer after not sleeping for three days, being constantly over-stimulated and not taking a moment to collect yourself, we tap into some animalistic strength that’ll surprise the living shit outta you. It certainly surprised the living shit outta me. Once we know we have that source of strength, we can harness it and use it for good and to make shit happen in other arenas.
We’re deeply intuitive and this, as our super power, deserves solid recognition as well as celebration. You know what I can do since becoming a mother? I can sense what’s not being said in a room, I can tell who’s had a rough morning, who fears the next roll out, who’s in conflict with each other and who’s thinking about quitting. All just by paying attention, being present, and trusting my intuition. Knowing what’s not being said and addressing it saves companies and teams time, trust, and straight productivity. Often the things holding a team back are outside the awareness of the folks involved, but moms — we sense that shit and will work through it. In addition to being intuitive, we’re energetically sensitive, compassionate and empathic. Having these gifts allows us to build authentic and long-lasting relationships which I believe is the vehicle to any forward movement, change or success.
We’re kick-ass relationship builders, amazing connectors, and therefore collaborators. Connection is the foundation to any business venture you have. Without it, not much will get done or remain impactful. Mothers go through brain reconstruction that allows them to attune like crazy to their babies. For example — we might lose some vocabulary temporarily, but we gain being able to hear our babies cry two miles away. This attunement to our kids can be transferrable to others. Attunement is key in making people feel seen and heard and creates safety amongst teams. This feeling of safety opens channels of communication sparking innovation, creativity, and creative collaboration. Attunement is key in nervous system regulation which enhances health and wellbeing and is something leaders need to be paying attention to these days. If you are not creating a safe culture, your people will not be bringing their best to work. We do this naturally.
Moms are the ones you want running the show, especially in a CRISIS. Why? Well, partly because we are already doing this in our day-to-day lives. Have you ever tried to get three kids out of the house and off to their things every morning? Next time you’re at a five year old’s birthday party, observe what mom is doing and then what dad is doing. Mom is clearly in charge, running the show and making sure everyone is having the time of their lives. Dad is drinking a beer and appears to be one of the party attendees, rather than a parent in charge! Moms go into business-handler mode without thinking and we consider all the people around us. We face the hard things, make challenging and scary decisions, and make shit happen. As leaders, we are not afraid to step up in a crisis. I’ve been that leader and seen those leaders in action.
We are time-management masters. What a mother can accomplish in four uninterrupted hours is the equivalent of what their counter-parts can do in eight hours. Why? Again, because we have experience juggling forty-seven balls all at one time and being the safety net should any ball fall. We tell others what they can take off our plate, because we are managing all the things. We also have perspective on life becoming a mom so we know what’s important and can leave the rest. We have a strong desire to get back to our kids so we have this fierce, intrinsic motivation to get shit done. We are mama bears wanting to provide for our cubs so we want to get it done right the first time while delighting our clients, teams, bosses, etc. We are living in a constant state of change - right now adjusting to the summer schedules so we become more comfortable with change and grow in adaptability, resilience, and resourcefulness.
This one is important because I believe one of the biggest blocks leaders have is their pain, their trauma, and the avoidance of their healing. This stuff becomes a hot wet blanket holding them back from seeing and believing in their potential but are often in denial. Mothers, because we want to be the best for our kids, are willing to do the inner work. We tend to lean toward “what can I do and how can I be better.” We tend to be more okay with vulnerability and reaching out to community for support. When we heal ourselves, not only do we remove energetic barriers for our success — we also become more authentic and relatable to others. We perpetuate compassion and empathy and deepen our relationships. We see and know our worth which fuels our self confidence.
When I think about what mothers doing their healing can do as leaders in this messy world, I get the goosebumps. I feel hope. I feel optimistic.
We have a real responsibility to make space for working mothers in the work force and in leadership roles. We don’t need eight hours a day, five days a week, Monday through Friday to create movements, lead teams, drive change, and come up with solutions to complex problems. What we need is to ditch and dismantle the outdated structures and systems that hold us back, limit our potential and expression, and make teams feel untrusted.
Out are the days where anyone needs to be micro-managed and that we force grit or discipline and action-plan the living daylights out of things. In are our innate feminine forces where we tap into our intuition and our ability to connect, conspire, and birth new ideas out into the world. Where we use energy and find flow to remember the true nature of who we are and humanity at large.
this is what the world needs right now.
I shared more on a recent episode of my podcast for working moms — The Unperfected Pod — where we normalize normal and find freedom through a life unperfected. Learn more here!
To follow more of my thoughts and real-life shenanigans, check out my Instagram!
