#31 How the part-time trap became a visibility trap - with Antonella Mei-Pochtler

Antonella Mei-Pochtler has combined parenthood with an incredibly
successful career - a linear trajectory first, taking her to the
top management level at Boston Consulting Group - and then
branching out into advisory boards and politics, as well as
social engagement in the field of education.


"For me the question was always, how to live a rich life?” she
tells me in this podcast. For her, a big part of that was
managing expectations. "We always have to strike a balance of,
how do I deal with these expectations, and how do I do the life
in a way that I feel is most appropriate for what I feel
comfortable with?"


Women (and men!) returning from parental leave today have the
option of achieving that balance by working more flexibility than
ever before. But Antonella cautions that anyone returning
part-time and flexibly needs to ensure that not all of those
part-time hours are spent working remotely. 


“If you want to get to the really interesting jobs that motivate
you, that you are burning for, then you have to have a certain
interaction with other people - and particularly also with the
people who make career decisions,” she says.


Having said that, you’ll also be coming back from parental leave
with valuable skills. "Leadership demands have become
significantly more human- and team-centric,” she says. “To become
an excellent leader you have to have the capability of empathy
and understanding others. And this you definitely learn!” 


Speaker: Antonella Mei-Pochtler, Strategist, Supervisory Board
Member @TUM Venture Labs, iSi Automotive & Plenitude, Head of
@KofiAnnanAward for Innovation in Africa


Interviewer: Dr. Ricarda Engelmeier - Founder @MyCollective


Photo: Antonella Mei-Pochtler


#getinspired #podcast #inspiration #MyCollective #leadership
#femaleleadership #womeninpower #equality #flexiblework #newwork
#diversity #changemakers #equalpay #equalopportunities
#getinspiredpodcast #ImpulseSessions #parenthood #parentalleave
#elternzeit