10 business lessons to learn from parenting

The first skill that definitely comes from parenting is delegation. Transfer some of the responsibilities if you don’t want to drown in business. In the family, this is help in caring for children and the home. You can hire a nanny, cleaning service, driver, cook. In business, it is necessary to designate the area of ​​responsibility and select the heads of areas.

My children, sitting down at the table in the morning on the weekend, say: “Mom, what is our plan for the day?” For them it is the most convenient form of interaction: they know what awaits them, and among themselves all their actions will be agreed. Planning is an important tool and allows you to solve many problems in the family.

I applied the same to business. We have planned meetings (general and individual), we work on sprints in tasks. And everyone lives according to this schedule.

Probably, everyone is familiar with this: to sit, think, it is pointless to scroll through social networks, wait for inspiration, tune in to an important task. Forget! To have time to complete the maximum tasks while the 15-minute series of "Lyova-truck" is going on or during the afternoon nap - any mother is a master in this field.

Children are when you have everything under control and almost nothing at the same time. This is when you are going to the sea, and you go to traumatology. This is when life regularly asks: “Do you decide here?” And laughs in your face, presenting a new "pleasant" surprise.

Therefore, parenthood, of course, teaches you to plan, but to a greater extent it teaches you to be okay with the fact that things can go differently. At the same time, you are able to quickly change your priority strategies and the world does not collapse because of this. Flexibility and ease of decision-making are the main skills in business, in my opinion.

Perhaps the main principle that has migrated from parenthood to business is not to rush to conclusions. My children are of different ages: the eldest has already gone to the eighth grade, the youngest is in elementary school. No matter what happens, no matter what they tell me, I try not to label or give hasty answers. My children are just shaping their attitude towards life. And they are not me. Sometimes they questions confuse me and even force me to re-evaluate my views on life and behavior patterns.

Accepting this fact helps me in my work. Previously, I scolded myself for delaying the decision, I convinced myself that it was necessary to act quickly, that it was necessary to resolve conflicts actively and preferably here and now. Now I allow myself to ask for a pause and cool down, to think well. If during a business meeting the conversation comes to a standstill, I do not bend my line, but ask to continue the discussion on another day. In addition, it is very important for an entrepreneur to remain open to ideas, innovations, and trends. So the children really keep my mind in good shape and do not allow me to become a serious omniscient aunt.

Motherhood and business are multifunctional. Multitasking with a baby in your arms is pumped better than in any advertising agency. This is probably the most banal thing that can be said on the topic, but it is impossible not to mention it. With one hand to rock, the second to calm, and with the third to coordinate work issues.

When you become a leader, it’s like you find yourself with a newborn in your arms. You don't understand what to do. When you need to set a task for an employee, this is the same as explaining something to a child: write everything down in great detail in order to get the result.

Children do not know anything about the world - they need to be taught. The situation is similar with employees, because they do not understand your business. How do babies do first steps, fall, rise and go, and so do colleagues: they make mistakes, fall, get up, make mistakes. You need to work on yourself to become a good mother and leader, learn to support, guide.

You can give a specific example. So, my 12-year-old daughter Zlata wants to go to Dubai. And you explain to her what she needs to do to get there. I set the task of earning 30 thousand rubles, and then we will go. She walked neighbors' dogs, ran a social network for a customer, and in a month she collected the required amount, because she was motivated. The same with an employee who wanted a promotion - you explain to him how to reach the goal, what is required of him in terms of actions, and this helps.

With children, this has to be done several times a day, and they are most traumatized by double messages - contradictory instructions. Saying “no” to kids is clear, precise, and firm, and it works the same way in business. The ability to refuse is very important for an entrepreneur.

Mom has the right to rest. Without children. In a locked room and in silence. Then the mother can continue to love children. Business also needs rest. By locking him in the office and allowing himself to live with something else.

Working to the point of complete moral burnout, like “motherhood” without the right to an evening with friends, leads to an equally deplorable result in the psychotherapist’s office.

One of the business lessons I've learned from being a parent is to do what you really enjoy. The children brought me back to this feeling when you have a sincere interest in your occupation, whether it is drawing, folding a pyramid, clay modeling. Children are very open and sensitive: if something is not close to them, there are reasons for this and this is not always due to failure. It is important to keep in touch with your true desires. But when we become adults, we forget about it and more often do what we need, and not what we want.

This lesson allowed me to reconsider my attitude to work and to doing business. And among other things, he helped to build interaction in the team based on the strengths and preferences of employees.