My interview with Penelope Trunk
On the Huffington Post. We talked about generation at work, hard choices, and women and work. Sample:
Q: What about the media story that women are scared to take maternity leave?
A: “Was there a time women weren’t scared to take maternity leave? Women should always be scared because it’s a door closing. You decide if you want to be on partner track, you decide if you want to be a stay at home mom. You decide your choices- it was always a door closer. It is not news. Being an adult is about making difficult choices, and we’re really lucky that we have a wider range of choices today. It’s not a recession issue that choices in work-life are difficult. I just think it’s the dumbest news story ever- if it weren’t hard to take maternity leave it would be ridiculous. Maternity leave should be a hard decision. You’re choosing not to work as hard as the people who are going to get the farthest in corporate life. You have to decide if that’s what you want. School does not teach us how to make those decisions. You have to teach yourself how to make decisions. It’s very scary, it’s very intimidating, and it’s what our job is as adults is, is to make decisions about what matters to us and what doesn’t. Adult life is about shutting doors- your whole childhood your parents say, ‘you can be anything, you can do anything.” And being an adult is about the whole process of learning that you can’t.”
“It’s self-knowledge, not resiliency. It’s testing yourself all the time and being honest. We don’t need to be limited by what people have done before us, only by what we can think of. Understanding that is really helpful in understanding yourself. Then you understand yourself in a more true way. You’re not limited by social tropes. I think it’s very scary to do things other people aren’t doing.
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About Me
Morra Aarons-Mele utilizes social media strategies to help employers, employees and communities connect. She also consults with leading organizations on how women can use the internet for professional and personal development. In her spare time, Morra enjoys blogging about women and politics. Read her full bio >>
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