Career or family? When the role is not the most important decision

Several times women have come to us with the dilemma of whether to accept a promotion or to have a child now instead. We always start from the same place: how much they truly want to start a family, and what their partner thinks about it. Having a child is a shared decision, not a project fitted to a career plan or the fulfilment of a social expectation.

Most often we arrive at the conclusion that if the desire for a family is strong, it is worth going for it. A promotion or a next position can often wait, whereas the opportunity to have a child does not always wait. Several people later told us that this helped them make a difficult decision, and that in hindsight they regretted nothing. Some realised after their child was born that, for a while, a leadership career was not the most important thing for them, while others later returned to their professional path just the same. On one thing, however, they all agreed: it is not worth giving up family for the sake of a career alone.