Executive and Pregnant: Multitasking and Making It Work

By Robin Madell (San Francisco)

When it comes to pregnancy and running a company, multitasking may be an understatement. But according to corporate CEO Michelle Patterson, executive director of the California Women’s Conference, women have always had an inherent ability to multitask, in even the most demanding situations.

“Women alike, whether single mothers, entrepreneurs, CEOs, teachers, and/or athletes, are not shocked or taken aback by the fact that an executive is capable of running a corporation while she is expecting,” says Patterson.

That may be because many of them have already done just that. An informal poll by The Glass Hammer found a large number of executives who cited their experience managing pregnancy, maternity leave, and jobs—either with a slight pause or not.

“Whether a woman chooses to work through her maternity leave is a personal choice and shouldn’t set a precedent for other professionals,” adds Debby Carreau, CEO of Inspired HR. “If you choose to return emails in the delivery room that is your prerogative, as is taking time away from work and getting away from it all.”

Double Duty

Jamie Ladge, assistant professor of management and organizational development at Northeastern University’s College of Business, reports that some of her most productive months writing her dissertation in graduate school were in the months following the birth of her twins. “Admittedly, my role was nothing compared to that of running a major corporation, but the point is my brain was still working and I still had the drive and will to work hard,” says Ladge.

As to the issue of sleep deprivation when caring for an infant, Ladge ventures to guess that most CEOs may suffer from sleep deprivation anyway. “I believe this is all an individual choice, and we shouldn’t assume every woman needs extended time off—especially if one is so passionate about their work/career.”

Gretchen Duhaime was in law school when she gave birth to her first child, and was only allowed two weeks away from classes or would have to drop the semester. Therefore, she doubled-down: “I was in classes until the day before my C-section and was back less than two weeks later,” says Duhaime. “I was keeping up via email and phone in between.”

Executive search consultant Stacy Pursell echoes this point, referring to new Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. “I am a mother of five children and a business owner, and I have never taken more than two days of maternity leave,” says Pursell. “I worked during labor and in fact placed a candidate during labor while delivering my fifth child. It is about time a woman held the top job for a major corporation while expecting a baby. Old school is out.”

Comfort in the Blend

Rani Yadav-Ranjan found a way to blend her personal and professional lives after first facing some challenges. When she applied for venture funding for her tech start-up in 2000 and 2003, she was turned down. “The VC asked me, ‘What is your most important job today?’ and I answered, ‘Being a mom.’ The VC passed on my idea.”

Yet in 2009, working mother Yadav-Ranjan was voted “most influential business woman” by the San Jose Business Journal. Today, she is CEO of Gray Cloud Technology. “Maternity leave is a 20^th-century concept,” she says. “Women throughout history have worked. The key difference is not doing it alone. I know firsthand the help parents, family, and friends provide when you have a child.”

As a female CEO and mom, Yadav-Ranjan explains how she made pieces of the work-life puzzle fit together successfully while she launched her company. “For help with my family, my solution was to work from 7am–­8am clearing emails,” she says. “My husband made lunches while I made breakfast and then he drove them to school. My mom picked them up after school and helped with play dates. Put the kids to bed at 8:30–9pm and then back to work until midnight.”

Yadav-Ranjan adds that she and her spouse coached her kids’ sports teams since they had to be at the field anyway, and let go of date nights because both often had work-related dinner meetings. “Leaving for home at 5:30pm was not an option.”

Doubting the Double-Down

The ambition to do both work and family well does not always come without a price. Carreau says that as a female chief executive with two young children, she feels that she has been constantly judged on her ambition because of her gender.

“Throughout my career I have been questioned about this and why I do the things I do,” says Carreau. “Yes, I was a mother who was taking a newborn infant with a nanny in tow across the country to make it all work. But I truly believe my decision to continue working with a newborn made me a better mother, wife, and business leader.”

While many touted the ability to pull off the proverbial juggling act, some questioned the viability of doing it all based on their own experience. Roberta Chinsky Matuson, president of Human Resource Solutions and author of Suddenly In Charge: Managing Up, Managing Down, Succeeding All Around, says she “had to chuckle” when she read that Mayer plans to work through her maternity leave.

“I thought I could do the same thing after the birth of my first child,” says Matuson. “I guess as older parents, we believe anything is possible. The reality of trying to do so is quite different. Of course having the financial resources to hire several full-time nannies may very well make the impossible, possible.”