I have
had a lot of time to read and think at the moment since I am at home with my
little girl. Several hours each night in a quiet house while feeding and
waiting for my girl to fall asleep. I enjoy reading blogs, news and following
debates on twitter, lately I've been reading a lot about women and politics at
work, sparked by the "cupcake is the end of feminism" discussion as
mentioned previously.
I have found lots of interesting articles in Forbes
women, Financial Times and The Economist. They all seem to agree that it is
important that women are given the opportunity to succeed professionally at the
same time as we can be mothers, the only way this has been successful has been
in the countries where some reforms have been put in place with quotas to get
women into boards as well as paid maternity and parental leave. Then we get
women who can work full time and also wants/are able to have children. It is
the society’s responsibility to make sure we can have the opportunity to have children;
we need to sustain the birthrate and keep on building a welfare state with
thriving businesses. I read in one of the articles that the best teams are made
up of different skills and backgrounds which bring spark and innovations to
organizations. So both making sure women are part of the decision making as
well as a diverse workforce when it comes to culture and background is key.
Female leaders tend to be good at communication,
empathy, vision, perspective and maturity and these are elements of how modern
leaders - both men and women should focus on.
One last thing that I noted as nice to remember as a
woman who wants to have a successful career are these key elements: one should
have a 'stretch assignment' to gain visibility and attract mentors, should get
international assignments, have people managing responsibilities, work in
different environments/functions, have operational experience, be an
innovator/introduce new products or services, turn around failing businesses,
be planning and driving change and finally take place at the decision making
table.
I have gone a bit away from design and photo/crafts
now but this falls under things that inspire me! :) I am glad I am not
completely uninterested in the world around me even if I am a fresh mom to be
honest, was afraid I would be in a fog for several months.
So now - what are my plans for the future? Last night
I was writing down a few things I want to do now, I have been a bit worrying
about becoming a boring housewife with no direction or purpose in my life. But
I am going to use this opportunity when I am home with my girl for at least a
year to develop myself. I might stay home 2 years it looks like now because my
husband has gotten an opportunity at work abroad and if I take unpaid leave for
one year after my maternity leave I can come back to my old job.
So my plan for the next 2 years is this:
Spring 2012:
- Start taking French lessons once a week (I had German
in school which I have hardly used, French would be so much more useful both at work and
in private life)
- Learn about Sociology (wanted to study
this but never got round to it, will buy books anyway and read on my own!)
- Focus on Art & Culture (be creative, write,
attend events etc)
Autumn 2012:
- Start on an MBA! (will do it online through a good
international University, will try to get work to sponsor part of the bill..)
- Attend mom and baby courses like swimming and yoga
etc
- Explore new home country in weekends and vacations;
get as much as possible from the experience.
So - now I have written my objectives down, they are
SMART I think? Let me check - Specific: yes, Measurable: yes, Achievable: yes,
Realistic: yes and Time bound: yes! And now that I have also made it sort of
public I have to follow through :)
Other than thinking about work and personal goals I
have actually managed get some progress on my projects at home today, I have
printed Ancestor chart/Family tree on transparent paper for my whole family -
including my little girl, amazing to see that now I am part of the chain of
marriage and children, doesn’t feel so long ago since I was a single girl on my
own in the world.
I have also copied pictures of myself and my husband
when we were small to put into the little ones 'First year' book. I will also try to start wrapping Christmas presents.
However our dog seems to disagree with staying inside all day and is really
ready for a walk! The weather is not good though, we have been having storms
and heavy rain, might hurry out for a short walk at least to get some air.
