Not enough left in the tank?

I awoke to the news this morning that Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, had decided to quit, declaring that she simply no longer has ‘enough in the tank’. Whilst I was disappointed that such a sensible, person-focused leader – and probably one of the world’s most famous working mothers – was stepping back, my initial reaction was not one of outright surprise. In fact, my first text of the day to my best ‘mum-friend’, herself a parent of two and working full-time in banking, was ‘welcome to the bloody club Jacinda’.

What’s the answer to the problem? Well, really there isn’t a single solution. But I do think there is a path through it and ways that you can handle it. Every person who works in the bidding world accepts that there will be weeks and months that will be horribly busy – times when your ‘to-do’ list never gets shorter, when there’s no other option but to work every minute you have to get the job done. Usually resulting in your ‘tank’ feeling more than empty.

Being a parent definitely adds more to the to-do list and another dimension to the challenge. Accepting there will be the busy, hectic days, accepting there will be the unexpected things (both for bids and kids) and having a flexible, adaptable approach is key.

And this is where flexible working comes in – getting stuff done around the tasks and challenges of family life, rather than doing ‘the nine-to-five’. This means different things to different people – and I think it’s really about whatever works for the individual. For me, getting a train at 6am rather than 8am on some days, sitting with a laptop at gymnastics and judo on a Saturday morning, so that I can do school drop-off and pick-up, and even (when I’m on annual leave) sitting on a beach with my laptop for a couple of hours. For others it’s staying late and working in the evening. It’s whatever works for the individual, so they can get their job done well and be the person or parent they want to be.

At 50 Degrees, flexible working is central to our offer – both in terms of how we meet client needs and our own employee needs. A good proportion of us are working parents, many with young families, battling with the never-ending juggling of work (bids, projects, supporting our clients), trying to be a good mum or dad, and importantly, trying to carve out some time to do the things that you enjoy to maintain your own sanity. At least two of us this week have had children off school with the classic winter virus. It’s not been easy but it’s felt doable because of flexibility being the norm. Critically, the required work has all been completed, albeit around emergency GP appointments, watching Bluey and administering Calpol.

Also, it isn’t just about flexible hours, it’s about people’s attitudes to flexibility being a positive thing and a key way of getting the best out of people. I’m enormously grateful to my client this week who responded to my apologetic story of a response being a few hours late because of a poorly child with ‘aren’t working parents amazing with what they deal with!?’. Thank you. A bit of understanding and kind words go a long way in difficult times.

Finally, for Jacinda. Well done and thank you. You’ve done an amazing job in unprecedented times… and now for the next challenge.

Helen Holland
Managing Consultant