Balancing Leadership and Parenting: How to Thrive in Both Roles
Hi it’s Susie here, MoB member and founder of Hi Ho Coaching. This week I am talking about balancing leadership and parenting. As always, please feel free to leave feedback and thoughts in the comments box below! And if you have any questions or particular topics you’d like me to cover, please let me know.
As a leadership and return-to-work coach, I’ve predominantly worked with professional parents. Through my work I have observed a fascinating pattern: the skills that make someone an effective leader often mirror those that make them a thoughtful parent, and vice versa. After 20 years in corporate negotiation and leadership roles, and motherhood, I've experienced this powerful connection firsthand.
The Surprising Overlap Between Boardroom and Playroom
Many parents returning to work after maternity or paternity leave worry they've lost their edge, or that parenting has somehow diminished their professional capabilities. Nothing could be further from the truth.
"Being a parent has made me a better leader," shares Emma, a marketing director and mother of two who I recently coached. "I'm more efficient with my time, more empathetic with my team, and frankly, better at prioritising what truly matters."
Consider these transferable skills that flourish in both domains:
Emotional intelligence becomes heightened when you're attuned to a child's non-verbal cues. This same sensitivity helps leaders detect team dynamics that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Adaptability is essential when raising children – plans change, unexpected challenges arise, and flexibility becomes second nature. This same nimbleness allows leaders to pivot when market conditions shift.
Efficiency becomes non-negotiable for parents. The luxury of unlimited time disappears, forcing a laser focus on high-impact activities. This ruthless prioritisation is exactly what distinguishes exceptional leaders.
Bringing Parenting Wisdom to Work
Rather than compartmentalising your parent and professional identities, consider how to consciously integrate the wisdom from each role:
Lead with boundaries. Parents quickly learn the importance of clear, consistent boundaries. Apply this same clarity at work by defining when you're available and how you prefer to communicate. A team that understands your parameters will respect them.
Embrace the teaching mindset. Parents naturally break down complex concepts for children to understand. This same approach, simplifying without oversimplifying, helps leaders communicate vision and strategy effectively.
Practise patience with progress. Children develop in spurts and plateaus, teaching parents the value of long-term perspective. This same patience allows leaders to nurture talent through inevitable growth challenges.
Bringing Leadership Skills Home
The exchange works both ways. Your professional expertise can transform your parenting approach:
Strategic thinking helps you identify the values and outcomes that matter most for your family, allowing you to make deliberate choices rather than defaulting to autopilot.
Delegation becomes essential for family harmony. Just as a strong leader distributes responsibilities according to team members' strengths, effective parents involve children in age-appropriate household management.
Negotiation skills prove invaluable when navigating everything from bedtime stand-offs to screen time agreements. The same principles that close business deals, finding mutual interests and creative solutions, resolve family conflicts.
Creating Integration, Not Balance
The elusive concept of “work-life balance” suggests that leadership and parenting exist on opposite sides of a scale. A more realistic approach is integration, finding the synergies between these roles and allowing them to enhance each other.
"I stopped trying to be perfect in both areas simultaneously," explains Sarah, an HR executive I worked with last year. "Instead, I focus on quality engagement whether I'm with my team or my family. Being fully present in each context makes all the difference."
Small Shifts, Big Impact
You don't need a complete life overhaul to benefit from this integrated approach. Start with these manageable strategies:
Create transition rituals between work and home to help you shift mindsets
Share relevant lessons from each domain where appropriate
Acknowledge your whole self rather than presenting different personas in different contexts
Reflect regularly on how each role enriches the other
The Bigger Picture
When we recognise the complementary nature of leadership and parenting, something remarkable happens: both roles become sources of energy rather than competing demands. The skills development becomes synergistic, creating a positive cycle of growth.
For more in-depth strategies on thriving as both a leader and parent, explore Hi.Ho.Coaching’s resources on integrating professional and family life. My coaching programmes help parents leverage their full range of capabilities across all life domains.
Because you're not just balancing roles, you're building a rich, integrated life where leadership and parenting mutually strengthen each other.
Check-out the complete return to work blog series by Susie Powis, Below:, expert tips, career advice & confidence-boosting strategies to help you transition smoothly.
Using Your Annual Leave to Ease Back into Work After Maternity Leave
Returning to Work After Maternity Leave: What No One Tells You
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