You might think that “I am not a parent, and this doesn’t apply to me”. But really there is a lot you can learn from parents and parenthood. After working in the Marketing industry for 19 years, I had my share of moments where I wish I knew more about what to do here and also how to advance my corporate career. But overall I have learnt more than I have in becoming a parent and lessons I had to learn quickly to raise my kids with integrity and love.
Like most life experiences it is a transformative journey filled with challenges, joys, and countless life lessons. Realising all these lessons, I found there are so many things I have learnt from parenthood that I have applied to my career life. So I wanted to write this blog, is how the skills and insights gained through parenting can be directly applied to the world of business.
1. Time Management and Prioritisation
Parenting demands efficient time management and the ability to prioritise tasks. Juggling work, household responsibilities, and quality time with children requires careful planning and organisation. Children spell love as T.I.M.E. These skills are directly transferable to the business world, where effective time management and prioritisation are crucial for productivity and success.
2. You are going to need a lot of PATIENCE and RESILIENCE.
This one is a little laughable because parenting can and will test your patience and resilience in ways you never thought you would feel. Dealing with the ever-changing development of a two-year-old or the curiosity of a crawler, setbacks, and unexpected challenges teaches us to remain calm under pressure and bounce back from adversity. In business, similar challenges are bound to arise, and the ability to stay resilient and composed is invaluable. Guess what!! Your team and customers are going to test your patience too, and it means working out how you are going to handle it because we can’t send them to their room or ground them.
3. Say what????
How effective is your communication? This is extremely vital both at home and in business. As parents, we learn to adapt to our communication style to connect with our children effectively, sometimes we must use our nanny voice or a stern voice to make a point. This skill is directly applicable to business, where clear communication and active listening are essential for building strong relationships with colleagues, clients, and partners.
4. Children are unpredictable and so is life.
Children are unpredictable, and parenthood often requires us to adapt to changing circumstances on the fly. You are going to be on a call and your child runs in and says that they need food or that they want you to get them a drink, how would you react? This adaptability is a critical asset in business because guess what? “Shit” will happen and you need to be willing to adjust to your circumstances to fit the challenges and even change your strategies to make your business successful.
5. Empathy and Understanding
The hardest thing to teach is empathy and understanding. Some people are born with it, but most people need to learn it. Parenting fosters empathy and a deep understanding of others’ needs and emotions – because your child needs to come first. These qualities are essential in building strong workplace relationships, understanding customer perspectives, and providing exceptional service. Empathetic leaders tend to create more engaged and productive teams, and also attract the right people in their lives for the long-term. Another reason for this is empathy helps with what you need to tell people and what not to tell them. You wouldn’t say to your child “that you are stupid” or “you didn’t do it correctly”, you would find a way to say what you need to without hurting their feelings, and this also applies to business. How you direct the conversation regularly requires an amount of empathy.
6. Respecting Diversity
Parenting is a remarkable journey that introduces many personalities and temperaments within our own children. This unique experience serves as a valuable lesson, teaching us not only to love and nurture but also to appreciate and respect the distinctiveness that each child brings into our lives. This principle of respecting diversity extends far beyond the boundaries of our homes and has profound implications for our professional lives in the business world.
As parents, we quickly learn that our children are not mirror images of ourselves. They possess their own quirks, preferences, and ways of viewing the world. This exposure to such diversity within our families nurtures empathy and understanding, as we come to realise that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to parenting. Instead, we adapt our strategies and communication styles to suit the unique needs and personalities of our children.
Parenting is a crash course in vital life skills. It hones multitasking, resilience, clear communication, adaptability, empathy, and goal setting. So next time, you are around your children, nieces or nephews or your friends’ kids, embrace it, and see what you can learn from them to add to your everyday life.
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