Using maternity leave to advance your career: what skills can you develop whilst caring for your child?

Many women returning from maternity leave to their beloved jobs feel like they have lost their professional edge and need to relearn everything. If you are one of them, do not rush to panic! In my practice, I have more than once encountered talented and competent employees who, following the birth of a child and maternity leave, have become even more capable and in-demand professionals. In fact, during maternity leave, you can improve your skills just as effectively outside the office. Likewise, this time will also enable you to learn new skills, the significance of which you may not have even realised. Let’s discover how maternity leave can enhance your career and why you shouldn’t worry about losing your professional edge.

The birth of a child and maternity leave is a joyous time when you and your child can explore the world together. Additionally, parenting and having the experience of interacting with children will help you advance your career! How can this be possible? It is simple because caring for children contributes to developing a whole set of essential skills. Let’s take a look at each of them in greater detail:

• Time management

The period of caring for a child is the very time when a whole plethora of routine tasks accumulate. You are forced to solve various everyday issues simultaneously because you must manage everything, everywhere and instantly. At the same time, as a rule, your plans for the day change rapidly, as a child can suddenly become sick, throw a tantrum for an hour, or refuse to sleep. Therefore, motherhood is the best opportunity to learn about time management, quickly adapting to unforeseen circumstances and being exceptional at scheduling time for yourself and the whole family! Furthermore, you will also discover how to prioritise and competently delegate responsibilities. This is one of the essential skills that will benefit you in your professional endeavours and further advancement in your career.

• Emotional intelligence

This is the ability to accurately recognise and identify a person’s emotions and predict their mood, wants or needs. Who, if not mothers, knows best what their baby needs? Although it can be difficult to predict a child’s needs in advance. Therefore, we can safely say that young parents increase their emotional intelligence to a “master” level.

You may ask how this skill will help you in your work. The ability to manage, control, and regulate yours  and others’ emotions makes professionals, valuable workers, and true leaders capable of handling, inspiring, and motivating others. Likewise, a person with developed emotional intelligence can easily find a common language with colleagues or management, objectively perceive criticism, understand others, and provide constructive feedback.

• Cognitive flexibility

Cognitive flexibility or flexible thinking is the ability to rapidly adapt to new circumstances, discover novel ways to solve problems, and remain calm even during emergencies. I agree that these are the most vital skills for any professional in their field. And you can acquire them not just at work! When caring for a child, new parents rapidly develop cognitive flexibility because they are undertaking a new role and trying something completely different, forcing their brains to think differently and create neural connections. Involuntarily, mothers and fathers of growing children practice active listening techniques: they have to pay attention and consider their child’s opinion, they change their point of view, imagine themselves in the other’s place, and thereby develop empathy and awareness.

• Stress resistance

Mothers of small children are real iron ladies; they are not so easy to upset. Following the experiences and stress associated with raising a child, women effectively resist external stimuli, thoughtfully assess the situation, and do not give in to panic. Even in the most challenging situations, they can respond effectively, act in uncertain conditions, and recover from strong emotions independently. If they are not the worthiest of employees, then who is?

• Communication and negotiation skills

This powerful negotiation skill is also being quietly developed during motherhood. Believe me, it is much easier to convince a potential partner to invest in your project, a customer to buy your product, or an employee to work more competently than to force a child, for example, to eat and then clean up after themselves. Please note that such negotiations occur several times a day. Every time this happens, it could be for any reason — when to go to bed, what T-shirt to wear, what cartoon to watch. Young parents must constantly resort to ruses and tricks and not stop until they reach their aim. Would you not agree that this is an invaluable skill?

• Responsibility and great self-discipline

Young mothers are known as hyper-responsible for a reason. This is true. You will certainly find them to be a disciplined employee! Constant planning, anticipating different scenarios for events to unfold, and being several steps ahead when assessing situations help develop analytical thinking and management skills. Furthermore, women who have experienced motherhood can always bring things to the forefront and achieve their goals. They will not abandon what they started halfway to success because they are organised and have a heightened sense of responsibility.

• On-the-fly learning

Young mothers must learn everything right from the start when raising a child, especially their firstborn. Motherhood teaches you how to quickly and effectively absorb new information, apply the acquired knowledge and skills immediately, and cope with unexpected new tasks. This skill is particularly valuable in the modern and rapidly developing world, which strongly emphasises lifelong learning and constant self-improvement.

Of course, professional or hard skills will be difficult to improve during pregnancy and childcare. However, if you are a true professional in your field, the birth of a baby will not alter this. You will only grow into a more advanced, valued, and promising professional. Therefore, I advise employers to consider this — mothers are excellent job candidates, and their soft skills can only be envied!