“A lot of people have told me that I have to be different, or sometimes more calm, or less energetic, or that I’m not ready for a promotion now because I’ve got such a busy life. But I think the first one really is to be authentic to who you are and to know what you do not want.” – Wendy (Barbara) Morée

Women are dropping off the leadership ladder in a disproportionate manner. A study by Eurostat shows that a higher percentage of mothers are experiencing work-life conflicts than men with young children. This is especially true and was highlighted during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and the resultant phase of working from home.

To understand what it takes to advance into leadership as a working mother during this period, Ebere Akadiri had a conversation with Wendy (Barbara) Morée, Senior Manager – EMEA ISV GTM at Salesforce and President Salesforce Women’s Network, Netherlands. This conversation is part of the Leadership Conversation series and is now on Spotify and Apple podcast.

The leading cause of work-life conflicts for women, especially in the middle of a pandemic?

As a mother who is navigating creating work-life balance in her personal life in the middle of the pandemic, Wendy highlighted the pressure on women not to feel guilty about dedicating time to work rather than caring for the children or homeschooling them as an additional stressor. “Because of what happened last year with COVID and everybody came home and with children home, the study shows that everything for us mothers has to be reshuffled”, she added.

Getting a promotion during her maternity leave?

Wendy shared the story of how she was able to secure a promotion at work while she was on her maternity leave and the roles that implementing a piece of advice and asking for help played in making this happen.

Want to learn more about the topic, understand how to work through personal responsibilities, support the advancement of other women in organisations and create a culture of belonging and understand what it takes for women to juggle work and motherhood? Listen on your favourite podcast platform, and be sure to subscribe, so you don’t miss anything!

The post EP9: Motherhood & Leadership with Wendy Morée, Senior Manager – EMEA ISV GTM at Salesforce, appeared first in Rise and Lead Women Forum.

Rise to Leadership Podcast, which was launched on March 8, is a bi-monthly show (weekly in March) that explores topics that matter while sharing stories of inspiring leaders who are creating positive changes.

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