career path that makes sense for you and your priorities and helps level the playing field. Only when men are empowered to be equal caregivers will women experience equality in the workplace and men experience equality at home. The ultimate goal is for all new parents to be able to live to the fullest the joys and triumphs of both career and home.
Because our workplaces are largely inept at helping employees through parental leave, many new parents see it as a big, unmanageable process that must be discreet or even hidden for fear of jeopardizing career prospects. It does not have to be that way. A successful parental leave strategy can be broken down into touchpoints to be managed well for the benefit of all. I'll give you the tools and resources to handle anything and everything this transition throws at you. I can't promise it will always be easy. But it will be easier and more enjoyable when you know what to expect, what to watch out for, and how to make the most of what you have working for you.
* * *
Thankfully, times are changing in your favor. We are on the brink (fingers crossed) of a federal paid leave policy. There is far less stigma about the challenges of adoption, pregnancy, miscarriage, and parenting than ever before. One silver lining of the coronavirus pandemic is the growing recognition that working parents pull off amazing feats every single day and that it is time our society gave them more support (as evidenced by the aid for parents included in the nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in 2021, as well as Biden's American Families Plan, which he unveiled at his first congressional address in April 2021. That $1.8 trillion proposal was the first to include a plan for paid parental leave and recognized it as a critical component of any successful national caregiving infrastructure).
Still, there is much work to be done, and on an individual level, we all need more support. You are about to undergo exciting changes in all the roles you play in your life. Here is what our path together in this book will look like.
Understanding What You Face: Challenges Are Opportunities in Disguise
First, we will take a brief look at the current state of parental leave in this country. We'll touch on challenges faced by working families, the challenges unique to motherhood and fatherhood, respectively, and the issues that arise in workplaces when employees become parents. Feel free to skim any areas that feel like too much information. You do not need to become overwhelmed with every possibility, but you also do not want the “Why didn't anyone tell me?!” feeling so many new parents experience.
We will go over how you can shape your experience by implementing the actions outlined in this playbook and also what the future could look like for all of us, if we are willing to work toward it. Every parent, every manager, every CEO, every legislator, and every voter has a role to play in creating a future in which families are healthier and more prosperous—and true equity is realized.
Understanding the Framework
While I was finishing my doctorate after my son's birth over a decade ago, I set out to create a field of coaching dedicated to better navigating the transition to parenthood for working people. Drawing on seven academic research streams, I created a model that helps support new and expecting working parents to leverage the profound opportunities of this often overlooked and sometimes purposefully hidden life event. Although you don't need to know all the theoretical underpinnings of this model, called RETAIN (an acronym), a quick walkthrough in Chapter 1 will help you implement what you find in this playbook.
The Playbook in Three Phases
Most people think of parental leave as the time you are absent from work to bond with your new child. I want to encourage you to think more holistically than that. I have come to see parental leave as a transition period that is best broken into three phases: (1) preparing for leave, (2) during leave, and (3) returning from leave—whether you have an official paid parental leave or not. I will coach you on how to approach this transition from a position of thoughtfulness instead of being forced into reaction mode. If you let our culture steer your leave, you will likely have many difficult experiences (and that's me putting it nicely). This playbook walks you through the critical moments for each phase so you can lead your own leave and have a successful transition—however you define success.
In Phase 1, especially if this is your first child, you are naturally still very much work identified. Now is the time to take practical steps to prepare to be away from work to welcome your child. We will focus on your announcement and on identifying the supports you can draw on to overcome any bumps in the road. Then we will dig into action planning for your leave and find ways to soak in and celebrate as you put work on hold so you can embrace parenthood.
In Phase 2, you are on leave to welcome your child! Here you will focus on diving deep into being a new parent and the role expansion that requires. You will spend time bonding with your new child and family. This is a momentous time. You should have clear boundaries with work and as much support as possible from your friends, family, and community. I will help you to develop a communication plan with work (how/when to be in touch), prepare to advocate for yourself and your child with your support system and health care team, and when it is time, think about what arrangements you will put in place as your leave ends and you return to work.
In Phase 3, you will focus on returning to work and adjusting to your new normal as a working parent. For many, this is the trickiest part of parental leave, bringing up new and unexpected role conflicts. Echoing the preparations you made as you moved into leave, I will walk you through ways to acknowledge this big transition and adjust to your new roles. We will also work on ensuring you have access to ongoing career development opportunities so you can continue to build your career in the ways you want to.
We will wrap up the playbook by naming some of the additional human experiences and circumstances that can make the transition more challenging, such as perinatal mood disorders, single parenthood, and the way oppression and bias compound the difficulties for marginalized and underrepresented individuals, especially those in Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latinx, and other communities of color, as well as for LGBTQ+ parents. We will also look at how to carve out a better future as a working parent and help others do the same by your example.
Appendix 2 will link you to concrete tools and resources to plan and manage your leave, including a leave plan template, checklists, reflection prompts, a perinatal mental health screening tool, books I recommend, and more to help round out your understanding and preparedness.
I am so excited to put this book into your hands. You deserve to enjoy both your family and your career. With the right tools and support, you can do just that. This playbook, based on extensive research and experience with hundreds of parents and managers in organizations around the world, will help you see what's coming so you can navigate this major life and career transition competently and confidently—while having fun along the way!
Notes
1 1. M. J. Budig. (2014). The fatherhood bonus and the motherhood penalty: Parenthood and the gender gap in pay. Third Way. https://www.thirdway.org/report/the-fatherhood-bonus-and-the-motherhood-penalty-parenthood-and-the-gender-gap-in-pay
2 2. J. B. Bear & P. Glick. (2017). Breadwinner bonus and caregiver
