01/19/2021

How to Leaders Who Are Caregivers and More

A culture of care won't evolve automatically

Now that we’re nearly a year into a global pandemic, associations have become increasingly used to remote work. But that’s not the same thing as being increasingly comfortable with it, and that’s especially true for staffers who are working at home while raising children and handling other caregiving duties. Monitoring online schooling, keeping tabs on ill friends and family, and the other complications of working at home all challenge workers to do more balancing acts than they might at the office.

As I wrote last week, there’s some evidence that offices are becoming better at creating a culture where workers are more candid about the stresses they’re facing. But that culture doesn’t happen automatically. It’s cultivated by workers who spotlight their particular needs—and, just as important, the leaders who hear them out.

Jessica Strelitz, chief strategic partnerships officer at the Online News Association (ONA), was alert to that challenge well before COVID-19. When she joined the ONA staff seven years ago, she was the sole staffer who was also a parent, and she made a point of raising the matter. “I thought it was important to talk about that and what it meant for me as a professional,” she said.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.