You don’t SEE me, for on most days you only see- through Me
what you don’t seem to do is RECOGNIZE me- the women in your team
To you I am the face of gender inclusion, a”Need-t0″ and not a “Must- Have”!
I am also a Mother, and you probably believe that my brain probably fell -off, with the placenta at the time of birthing
Why else would you de-value me? Act as if its a favor and a blessing that I still have a job
Oh yes! I do prioritize my child’s need;
No, I don’t de-prioritize my work to be a good mother
What I do instead is learn to re-prioritize my work and life
I do 8 hours worth of work in 6 hours or less because I won’t take those networking and gossipy tea breaks
I will not worry about who gets the next promotion or watch Youtube at work, just because I have to pretend that I am physically present at work
Yes, I might not be able to attend few of the midnight conference calls on some nights, but you know that I will start early the next day and deliver everything that you will need for your next meeting
When you appreciate my work by sending a simple Thank- you email, it makes my work week, but I don’t appreciate it when you don’t bother to let others know that the you had help from me on that critical deliverable
I appreciate feedback, in fact, that’s what makes me feel important because I realize then, that you have been paying attention to my work and that you’re invested in my progress at work
I appreciate it, even more, when that feedback is backed up by real facts, data, and figures and is not purely based on your perception of my situational constraints
I am not weak because I am a mother who also works
In fact, being a mother makes me stronger -intellectually, mentally and intuitively
I am better at managing my time and focussed on getting things done
I am also more committed to my work, work that I love on most days, because now I have greater responsibilities and mostly because I want to be a role model for my child
I don’t want your sympathy, I wasn’t hit by a meteor
What I need from you is acknowledgment, for both my potential and drawbacks
I need you to tell me How better I can contribute to the team, and then have faith in me that I will do my best because I have always held myself accountable to my work
I need you to believe that my brain did not get dislodged during the pregnancy,
It’s still at its right place and is now functioning I ways that almost makes me believe that I have super-powers
And this super-woman is happy to work for You, for the team, the organization and most importantly for herself
because you see this woman in your team is actually a closeted “Momma-holic”
girllostatwork 