About The Book
We work so hard to build our management and Leadership skills in our careers, but we often feel like blithering idiots when faced with a Child who won't cooperate, a Husband who doesn't pay attention and a Household that seems ready to collapse from the weight of our Anxiety about chores. Why can't I be as smart at home as I am at work? I have often found myself wondering. These words written by Carol Evans and excerpted from the Foreword of Mom-in-Chief sum up why leadership expert Jamie Woolf wrote this book. They reflect the sentiments of countless Professional Women who feel great about our accomplishments in the workplace but not so great about how we run our homes. In this one-of-a-kind book, Woolf sets out to help readers Bridge the gap between corner office and kitchen counter. Along the way she shares inspiring stories, practical strategies and interactive assessment tools to illustrate how the best workplace practices can bring more joy and success to Family life. Drawing from two decades of experience, she lays out her "best practices" to improve your communication, create a healthy family culture, discover your parent leadership style, manage crises, thrive during adolescence, and juggle work and family priorities. Readers will explore common leadership dilemmas, including: *When to step in and when to step back *How to maximize the learning opportunities that come from mistakes *How to stay connected with a pesky toddler or testy teenager *How to create rituals that strengthen the family's esprit de corps *When to push Kids and when to let them quit *How to feel less like a maid or short-order cook and more like a skilled leader capable of unleashing the potential of others. Mom-in-Chief addresses real quandaries and covers everything that smart career-oriented women need to know in order to fulfill their Parenting potential and navigate challenges with skill and grace. This book is a welcome reminder that leading a family doesn't mean churning out living masterpieces, or indulging Children with the perfect everything. It does mean inspiring without pushing your own agenda, nurturing without micromanaging, encouraging without aiming to win a best-of-show competition, and expecting the best without ignoring the joyful ordinariness of childhood.
Contents
Foreword by Carol Evans. Acknowledgments. Introduction. Leadership Strategy 1: Setting Big-Picture Goals. Leadership Strategy 2: Discovering Your Leadership Style. Leadership Strategy 3: Managing Conflict. Leadership Strategy 4: Creating a Family Culture. Leadership Strategy 5: Leading Through Crisis. Leadership Strategy 6: Managing the Growing Pains of Adolescence. Leadership Strategy 7: Balancing Priorities. Conclusion: Bringing It All Home. References. Recommended Reading. About the Author. Index.
Excerpts from Inner Flap (Front)
Praise for Mom-in-Chief "Being a mom means being a leader, and that is exactly what Jamie Woolf explores in her delightfully engaging, masterfully researched, and highly practical new book." —Jim Kouzes coauthor, The Leadership Challenge; the Dean's Executive Professor of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University "As a mom trying to juggle a family, a job, and a life, I saw myself on every page of this book." —Lian Dolan author, Satellite Sisters' Uncommon Senses and cofounder of Satellite Sisters "Jamie Woolf understands how workplace skills like leadership and team building can help families flourish. But she also has a deep understanding of the differences between how women and men operate both in the office and at home." —Michael Gurian author, Leadership and the Sexes: Using Gender Science to Create Success in Business "Mom-in-Chief is the best book I've read for the working woman who has it all together at the office but completely loses her cool when she comes home to find the baby in the kitty litter and the husband watching Celebrity Golf. Her tips and strategies are brilliant, her stories inspiring, and her book very smart, funny, and useful." —Michele Borba author, No More Misbehavin' and Building Moral Intelligence "Jamie Woolf makes a strong and compelling case that good parenting not only requires real leadership skills but also strengthens them." —Dee Dee Myers author, Why Women Should Rule the World and former White House press secretary
Excerpts from Inner Flap (Outer)
In this book popular Working Mother magazine columnist and executive consultant Jamie Woolf shows how the skills that working mothers learn at the office, such as leadership and team building, can work at home with their children and families. With the wisdom and rye humor of a working mom "who's been there and done that," Woolf shows how any woman can fulfill her parenting potential and navigate the daily challenges on the home front with skill and grace. Mom-in-Chief is filled with real-life stories, in-the-trenches strategies, and interactive assessment tools that clearly show how proven workplace techniques can increase your family's bottom line for happiness. Drawing from her two decades of experience, Jamie Woolf offers her "best practices" that will help you improve your communication, create a healthy family culture, discover your parent leadership style, manage crises, and thrive during your child's adolescence. Mom-in-Chief offers practical solutions to common leadership dilemmas, including *When to step in and when to step back * Why working with your spouse or partner is crucial to executive function and team happiness * How to maximize the learning opportunities that come from mistakes
Review
" Mom-in-Chief is the best book I ve read for the working woman who has it all together at the office but completely loses her cool when she comes home to find the baby in the kitty litter, and the husband watching Celebrity Golf. Her tips and strategies are brilliant, her stories inspiring, and her book very smart, funny and useful." Michele Borba, author of No More Misbehavin and Building Moral Intelligence "Jamie Woolf, 20 year veteran in leadership training, has taken her corporate coaching skills into the kitchen and finally taught us that it s not about child development, it s about mom development. Not a bunch of theories, just clear cut leadership skills that you take out of your tool box when needed - bedside reading for every conscientious mother or father." Alexia Nye Jackson, Founder and CEO of MOTHER: THE JOB "I was VERY impressed by the whole premise of Mom-in-Chief . That's a good sign, since I am the least corporate person on the planet and all leadership jargon gives me the hives. But Jamie Woolf makes it sound reasonable, rational and very helpful. I feel like I'll be a better mom already." Regan McMahon, author, Revolution in the Bleachers: How Parents Can Take Back Family Life in a World Gone Crazy Over Youth Sports "Jamie Woolf understands how workplace skills like leadership and team building can help families flourish. But she also has a deep understanding of the differences between how women and men operate both in the office and at home. That s why her book is original and exceptionally valuable to all mothers who work. Her specific tips and techniques are useful, insightful, and useful to all of us." Michael Gurian, author, The Wonder of Boys, The Wonder of Girls, The Minds of Boys, and Leadership and the Sexes: Using Gender Science to Create Success in Business "Jamie Woolf utterly dispels the notion that motherhood is a leadership detour. Instead, she makes a strong and compelling case that good parenting not only requires real leadership skills, but strengthens them. The more women come to believe that the skills they learn before their children are born will make them better parents -- and the leadership skills they hone as parents will make them better at everything else -- the more forcefully they will demand more flexible workplaces and take their place there as leaders and decision-makers." Dee Dee Myers, author, Why Women Should Rule the World ; former White House press secretary " Mom-in Chief is lively, readable, and right on with great advice for working mothers. Finally, an author makes a real connection between the workplace and the home that resonates and illuminates. Jamie Woolf writes with authority, compassion, and common sense. As a mom trying to juggle a family, a job, and a life, I saw myself on every page of this book. Sometimes, I was the "do", sometimes I was the "don't!" But now I have Woolf's real life examples and principles to use a guide in my everyday parenting. I am going to put "Mom-in-Chief" on my business card. Lian Dolan, author, Satellite Sisters' Uncommon Senses; co-founder of Satellite Sisters "I love that parents can translate their leadership skills to parenting WITHOUT making their homes look more like their workplaces. Mom-in-Chief clearly shows parents that they already have the skills they need to parent in a way that is more fun, more effective, and more rewarding. Say good-bye to exhausting end-of-the-day meltdowns and frustrating battles with food and homework: being a mom doesn't have to be so hard." Christine Carter, Ph.D. , Executive Director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley; author of the blog Half Full: Science for Raising Happy Kids and Raising Happiness "Being a mom means being a leader, and that is exactly what Jamie Woolf explores in her delightfully engaging, masterfully researched, and highly practical new book, Mom-In-Chief. It's chock full of real life, down-to-earth, at-home leadership stories that every mom can relate to. Woolf provides quizzes to assess leadership approaches and activities to help strengthen leadership abilities. If our society is going to develop more exemplary leaders who will guide us into the future, our moms are going to be playing a vital role in that critical endeavor. Moms, there is no better way I can think of to begin preparing yourself for that job than by reading Mom-in-Chief. And Dads, don't let the title put you off. This book is also for you." Jim Kouzes, Award-winning and bestselling coauthor of The Leadership Challenge; The Dean s Executive Professor of Leadership Leavey School of Business Santa Clara University