Last Friday, I listened to a very interesting video panel "Does Your Choice Of Husband Determine Your Career Success?" hosted by InPower Women. Panelists included Amye Lee Rheault, Conor Williams, Dana Theus, and Marcia Reynolds. I really appreciated that InPower Women brought attention to this important topic. I feel that not enough women's leadership development programs and organizations overtly discuss the issue of how your personal life decisions impact your professional career.
I feel that many ambitious young career women, including myself, put finding a partner as a goal to be crossed off of a checklist of our life plans. However, finding a partner does not necessarily equal success. As an individual you determine and define your own success.
It's OK to be a strong career oriented women and care about finding a partner. So often, we silo our professional identity from our personal identity, which often causes imbalances in both identities. A very successful, single young woman currently working in the White House once told me something along the lines of, "It's OK and we need to put as much energy into finding a partner and having a personal life as we dedicate to advancing our careers." I need not feel less of a feminist for wanting a partner and children as much as I want to climb the career ladder.
I gained much insight from InPower Women's diverse panel of speakers. Their advice included to think of an equal partnership as more than just splitting household and childcare tasks. One needs to think about a partnership also in terms of emotional support for each other. Both partners need to give and take as the dynamics of each person's lives evolve. Who is good at what tasks? Who prefers to do the different things? Above all, their advice is to find a partner that you will continually be able to openly communicate and negotiate with about work-life balance challenges.
I feel that many ambitious young career women, including myself, put finding a partner as a goal to be crossed off of a checklist of our life plans. However, finding a partner does not necessarily equal success. As an individual you determine and define your own success.
It's OK to be a strong career oriented women and care about finding a partner. So often, we silo our professional identity from our personal identity, which often causes imbalances in both identities. A very successful, single young woman currently working in the White House once told me something along the lines of, "It's OK and we need to put as much energy into finding a partner and having a personal life as we dedicate to advancing our careers." I need not feel less of a feminist for wanting a partner and children as much as I want to climb the career ladder.
I gained much insight from InPower Women's diverse panel of speakers. Their advice included to think of an equal partnership as more than just splitting household and childcare tasks. One needs to think about a partnership also in terms of emotional support for each other. Both partners need to give and take as the dynamics of each person's lives evolve. Who is good at what tasks? Who prefers to do the different things? Above all, their advice is to find a partner that you will continually be able to openly communicate and negotiate with about work-life balance challenges.
I'm sure you've read this article, but it gives a fascinating insigight into college women and their views of relationships: http://t.co/WzrYyY2DMf
ReplyDelete-Kathleen Hurley
Thanks Kathleen! Yes, an upcoming post will reflect on that interesting article. Thanks for sharing! You should write a guest post soon;)
ReplyDelete