There are few things as challenging as successfully managing a law firm mat leave. In today’s increasingly competitive market, practising law itself is difficult. Women taking mat leaves face the added challenges of managing their departure and their eventual return and re-integration at work, as well as juggling their new family responsibilities.
While successfully managing a mat leave is challenging, it can be done, particularly with proper guidance and support. Here are a few suggestions for successfully managing a maternity leave.
Treat Leave as a Unique Personal and Professional Opportunity
Mat leave presents a one of a kind personal and professional opportunity. From a personal perspective, it provides a unique and invaluable opportunity to bond with your new baby and to enjoy the experience of being able to devote the majority of your time and energy to being a mother.
Mat leave can also provide the opportunity to think about and plan for the next stage in your personal and professional life. Because of the pressures of work, lawyers seldom get or take the time to think about what is important to them in life and work and to plan how they might accomplish their goals.
Mat leave can give you the opportunity to be more thoughtful about your home and work life and to develop a strategy to achieve your long term personal and professional goals. Maternity leave is a good time to think about what you want from your life and from your career (eg. partnership track, an alternative work arrangement, an in-house position, a career outside of law) and to develop a plan to get there.
Whatever path you decide on, life as a working mother is very different from life without children. It is therefore wise to take time, before and during your maternity leave, to think about how you will balance work and the new demands at home. It is an opportune time (and some say, a necessity) to become more focused and organized at work, to learn how better to multi-task and to delegate.
Have a Plan
With more to do on the home front, having a more focused and strategic career plan makes sense. So does being more organized at home. This includes things like:
- arranging for everyday child care that you are comfortable with and for reliable emergency child care in case your regular provider is not available when the need arises
- thinking what household jobs it makes sense for you to outsource (grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking) and what jobs you and your partner will split
- developing aids that will help organize and keep track of home and work activities (like a family calendar)
- establishing a home office that allows you to work seamlessly with the office
Home-related stress can be much more challenging than work stress. So, getting organized on the home front early (and well before your return to work) is key.
Get Help
Studies show that lawyers value autonomy and being self-sufficient. Generally, these attributes serve lawyers well. However they can be an impediment when they translate into a hesitation to ask for help. There is no shame in asking for support – indeed it can be really beneficial to lawyers before, during and after maternity leaves.
Support can take many forms – for example, help:
- planning for your departure
- re-establishing the flow of work or rebuilding a practice post leave
- improving time management and delegation skills
- thinking through and setting up alternative work arrangements post leave
- with work life balance
- learning the tricks of the trade of a working mother
There is also a wide variety of sources of help: formal or informal mentors at law firms, roles models who have successfully navigated a mat leave, mothers or neighbourhood groups, or internal or external coaches.
The process of taking a maternity leave and returning to work can feel chaotic at times and can be isolating – get the support you need to ensure that your leave is happy and successful.
Interested in learning more about mat leave coaching? Take advantage of a complimentary half hour coaching session from Potentia. Please contact me at hilary.clarke@potentiacoaching.ca.