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Motherhood is the New MBA

By Shari Storm,

Thomas Dunne Books,

192 pages, $30.50

By the time Shari Storm's children are waking up in the morning, the credit union executive has been up for at least two hours. She has showered, quaffed her coffee and planned her day. She is ready to meet that day - but the kids aren't. They are still groggy as she cheerily, and optimistically, calls out, "Let's go!"

If the kids were older and the power dynamics were different, they might respond, "Slow down. I need a moment to catch up with you." Instead, they pout or brood or ignore her impassioned pleas to hurry, delaying her every step of the way.

"Our employee situation is no different," the chief marketing officer for Verity Credit Union in Seattle writes in her new book, Motherhood is the New MBA.

"If you are the boss of other people, chances are, when a change happens, you have known about it for a longer period of time. You may have sat at the table where the decision to make the change was discussed and made. You have had time to adjust to the change. When you present the change to your staff, never forget they are several steps behind you in the understanding and acceptance journey. Give them time to catch up to you and be sympathetic to the fact that they, like your children, may not be able to articulate their need to have you slow down."

They also want some control of the situation. Ms. Storm's daughter, Rebekah, went through a phase of insisting on wearing two different types of shoes - a sneaker on one foot, say, and patent leather on another. Rather than battling over it, Ms. Storm acceded, and, she suggests, in times of change, look for ways to allow your employees such personal creativity and as much control of their environment as possible.

Her book brings together parallels between managing children and managing employees. While it may not cover some of the areas in a typical MBA program, it does offer some superb lessons for managers.

"The book is intended to help women take what they already know as mothers and frame it in a way that helps them grow as managers," she writes. She also hopes it will show women who do not yet have children that motherhood does not have to be a career liability. And, of course, many of the situations - and the lessons derived from them - will be familiar to men.

Special to The Globe and Mail

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Motherhood's lessons for managers

Be happy to see them

When Ms. Storm picks up her children at day care, she makes sure she focuses on them exclusively and is visibly happy to see them. That motherly attention helps her kids to feel valued, confident, and secure.

When she tested the same approach on some employees - being extra nice when encountering them while interacting normally with others on her staff - she found the relationship to that group and their loyalty to her strengthened significantly over the other group.

Don't be afraid to say,

"because I said so"

At the same time, sometimes with your children, and your employees, you have to fall back on your mommy-means-business voice, and, with authority, tell them to do something without getting into discussion.

Keep a memory book

Memories fade, so it helps to maintain a memory book with reminders of your child's progress through life. At the office, Ms. Storm suggests creating a computer file in which you jot down details of noteworthy incidents, when employees go the extra mile or fumble the ball.

It will be helpful when employee reviews need to be completed.

Don't put things

in your mouth

Parents will hector their children not to place objects in their mouth but then hold nails in their own mouths while hanging a picture, or try to open the Aspirin bottle with their mouth. As a parent, you are always on stage. It's the same with a boss: you must model the behaviour you are calling for from others.

Never say, "I told you so"

Telling your kids "I told you so" is likely to produce little more than an explosion of tears or rage. It's not any more effective with employees.

"The only thing 'I told you so' does is make you feel better and the other person feel worse," Ms. Storm stresses.

Make it fun so it will get done

Ms. Storm dismisses the adage "what gets measured gets done" and instead urges you to follow how you get your children to do things: by making participation fun. Not sure what your employees enjoy? Ask.

The book, as those samplings show, is fun. But it's also inspiring and memorable, providing insights about management that you won't forget because they are so real-to-life.

***

IN ADDITION

In Harvard Business School Confidential (John Wiley, 230 pages, $23.95), globe-trotting executive Emily Chan takes a more conventional approach to management education by sharing lessons from the esteemed MBA school she attended.

The book is pitched initially and at the end to younger people starting out on their careers, but the material she covers will be useful, if sometimes familiar, to business veterans. In easily accessible chapters, she covers negotiations, communications, marketing, finance and planning, offering thoughtful, practical advice. It's not structured with all the trappings of a course and, indeed, in reality extends beyond Harvard to other interesting material she has encountered, whether from books or colleagues.

But it is always intelligent, an eclectic business compilation that will offer some new ideas for most readers.

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