ICEDRSpecialReport-TakingCharge_000

The Rise of the House Husband
“There is a bit of a myth that successful
women are those who are single with no
children and if they have got children, then
the kids are at boarding school or with fulltime
nannies. I don’t think that’s necessarily
the case,” says Melba Foggo, Managing
Partner, Business Consulting, UK at Logica
(now part of CGI). The family unit around
successful women can take many forms, one
of which includes a woman with a powerful
job, a stay at home spouse, and children.
Many women we interviewed sang the
praises of their house husbands. Melba has
two young daughters and her stay at home
husband keeps the home running smoothly.
“I swear my husband is one of the best house
people in the world. I think he would give a
lot of house wives a run for their money,”
Melba says. And, she’s not alone. According
to Melba, “If you go to the school gates or
the nursery doors now, especially in the UK,
there are just as many dads and granddads
picking the children up as there are mums
and nans.” Jennifer Cook, Senior Vice
President, Immunology and Ophthalmology
at Roche, who has two young sons, agrees.
Her husband, a former biophysicist, retired
several years ago to stay home with the
boys. She says, “My husband loves staying at
home. It’s what he wants. It’s what he chose.
He throws himself into his new role now with
the same intensity that he did with work. He
coaches every team. He volunteers at the
school. He teaches science to the second
graders. He shuttles the boys around. He
volunteers at field trips. He is extremely
engaged with his role as the stay at home
parent.”
Taking Charge
OWN
18
“My career is a three lane highway.
There are times when
I will want to be in the slow lane, times when
I want to go in the middle lane,
and times when
I want to go in the fast lane.
Just make sure
you put your turning signal on.
It is important to communicate which
lane you want
to be in.”
Catherine Langreney, Country CEO Tanzania, Lafarge
2. Articulate your ambitions
If you are a working mother, you will
likely face assumptions that you may
have to overcome: She has kids so can
she really be on the executive team?
Is she going to want to work those
extra hours? Does she really want
that complex project? Yet, if you are
a working mother, you may want a
big-time role. Our executives want to
decide what they can handle. They do
not want the choice made for them,
as one executive notes: “Working long
hours is for me to figure out and make
the choice. I do not want the choice to
be made for me. I want to be the one to
make the decision and work it out. So,
to assume that I cannot take on a senior
role and work beyond 5:00 PM, well,
I have a nanny, and, I can. I will decide
where I can and cannot be and how
to prioritize. If I were a man, nobody
would assume that I need to get home
and feed my children. You don’t need to
protect me on that front. I will work it
out. And, if I cannot do it, I will make
the choice that I cannot do it. Don’t
hold me back based on an assumption.”
It is important to recognize that
assumptions around working mothers
do exist, so you need to make your
ambitions, whatever they may be, clear.
Kristin Peck, Executive Vice President,
Worldwide Business Development
and Innovation at Pfizer explains
how she handles this: “Many people
assume working mothers don’t want
the assignment or they wouldn’t want
to take on the additional role. That is
hard to overcome. However, you do
so by delivering consistent excellent
performance, and by raising your
hand and saying: ‘That sounds great.
If there’s an opportunity for me to
work on that, I’d love it.’ It’s never
demanding things, but letting people
know you are interested.”