The Roche Report

Today marks exactly one month back at work after my parental leave with Jack. I have started to write a blog post each week that I have been back - and I have to admit that I've had a hard time writing one. I generally work to have a positive message or something positive that I am working towards in my posts (and in my life!) and I have to admit that being back at work has been an adjustment. But, the intent of this blog is to write about the ups and downs of being a working mom and so here I am, writing about the ups and downs of the past month. I will start with the good - coming back to work has been mostly great. I was laughing with someone who I work with that late Friday afternoon the thought came into my head, "Wow, I'm pretty good at my job!" I say I was laughing, because it's almost funny that it felt like a revelation. While I looked forward to coming back, I think that there is always a bit of anxiety as well, especially after a long period away, of ...

I haven't written a blog post in a while; as I prepare to go on maternity leave, the frenzy of wrapping things up, transitioning, and still having time for my family has meant that I have less time to indulge in my passion projects like this blog. Another thing that I had let drop recently, which is one of my favorite things that I do with my team is my Team Roche Book Club - but as I transition more and more to my team, I was able to schedule TWO book club meetings before I go out on leave. This had dropped because I felt the need to refresh myself on some parenting-related reading, including the new release Crib Sheet ; while this book is not necessarily appropriate for the Team Roche Book Club, which focuses on more professional development / leadership development type books, it is on my must-read list for any prospective parent (for the record, so is Emily Oster's other book, Expecting Better ). Both books focus on a data-driven approach to analyzing the common issues that...

Last week, IBM published a study about advancing women in the workplace . One key finding was that in spite of the increased discussion about the importance of gender diversity in the workplace, most companies are not actively prioritizing it as a strategic initiative. Two stats that jumped out to me as I read the study were: "58 percent say fewer women than men want to take on leadership obligations."  "Mindset matters. We asked survey respondents how long it will take for their industries to exhibit an equal balance of women and men across all leadership levels. On average, they estimate 54 years—more than two generations into the future."  54 years!!! W.T.F!??! And do we really think that women don't WANT to take on leadership obligations? IBM's study is likely not new news; but I certainly appreciate that my employer is contributing to the discussion about how to drive gender diversity in the workforce - and this is a topic I am passionate about...

It's that time of year - the time for reflection on what went well last year, what didn't, and what you want to drive towards this year. Personally, this often comes in the form of New Year resolutions, resolutions to {finally} exercise, or totally change our diet, or dedicate more personal time to meditation or prayer or to family. Professionally, this is in the form of measurable targets, time-bound metrics, and always in the form of growth. I spent some time talking about building professional goals with my team today and one of the comments on the call was that it would be helpful if I shared my goals with the team so that they could work on goals that could ultimately roll up to mine - at least at an organization level. So, I thought I would write a blog about both the structure that I try to use for writing goals - as well as what some of my own goals are personally this year. First, the structure - IBM has a goals system called Checkpoint where we are asked to measur...

In the din of excitement in starting the year, one of my most personally exciting things is that my husband and I are expecting our second child in June. It’s a boy (!) which introduces a different lens on thinking that I’ve got this whole parenting thing figured out. We are so super excited for this- and can’t wait for the new love and joy that will come in to our lives in June. I can’t wait to see Charlie as a big sister; my in-laws gave Charlie a doll for Christmas that she kisses every morning and brings to us so we can kiss it too- so we are off to a great start! My second pregnancy has been a different experience than my first in many ways. In retrospect, my first almost feels as though I was tackling a research project to figure out the unknown - wanting to have as much data as I could about what it would be like. Also, in retrospect, I spent my entire first pregnancy filled with a sense of tremendous anxiety about how being a parent would change me and how (or whether?) it ...

I've been thinking about doing this post for a while as this was one of the things that gave me the most anxiety about going back to work. As with my other post about breastfeeding, I felt a bit awkward posting this; but since it was something I worried a lot about, I figured posting about my experiences might be helpful for others. As I shared in another post, I was never someone who had particular goals around breastfeeding; actually, I thought I would basically hate it ( more here ). However, I gave it a try, and found that it was something that worked well for me - especially during my maternity leave. In preparing to come back to work -- especially as someone who travels a lot for work or often works at client sites, I was very worried what it would be like breastfeeding and having to pump while traveling or at a client site. Would it be awful? Would I be able to do it? Would it be awkward? Where would I pump? How would I get out of meetings? To be honest, I basically thou...

Two weeks before I came back to work from my maternity leave, I received a text from my boss, Shannon, to check my email -- only to receive an email from Ginni, our CEO, congratulating me for being recognized as part of the 2018 class of Best of IBM. For those not familiar with this distinction, it is an award given annually to the top 1,000 IBMers that culminates in a trip for you and your spouse to a lovely tropical location with lots of cool perks (new sunglasses, Nick Jonas, getting to see Q - the Quantum computer, Nick Jonas, amazing dinners, Nick Jonas, etc.). I wanted to do a post on the weekend -- and my takeaways from it -- I also wanted to take a moment to reflect on this pinnacle achievement in my career. In front of the IBM Quantum Computer - "Q" Since learning that there was something called "Best of IBM" - it is a recognition to which I have aspired. While I believe some of our other business units have more distinct guidelines for how to ac...

I read a lot when I was pregnant. I read parenting books, parenting blogs, signed up for parenting email blasts. I read really good and really important things - like how to get my baby to  sleep through the night  (and this book works wonders - she was sleeping through the night at 9 weeks) and  how to calm my baby  - that have significantly improved my parenting experience.  One thing that I didn’t read much about (though I think it is out there and perhaps it just didn’t quite resonate with me until I was actually doing it) was pumping. Before I begin my thoughts on this: a little background. I was unsure about the whole breastfeeding thing and adopted an attitude of “we’ll see how it goes.” It actually probably ranked at the top of my parenting fears. I kind of wanted it to work; but frankly, I also kind of thought the whole thing was gross.  However, I gave it a go, and have actually had a pretty great experience with it, helped by the fact that IBM h...

With one week to go in my maternity leave, I have a trip that I have both anticipated and dreaded for the past 5 months. Anticipated for the fun of what it will be: wine tasting in Napa and Sonoma, celebrating the upcoming wedding of one of my dearest friends; dreading leaving my sweet, smiley baby at home. When she was born, I remember feeling like I would never be able to -- never would WANT -- to leave her side. And yet, life continued and I slowly ventured out into the world, but nothing so dramatic as leaving Charlie for 4 hours, let alone 4 days. Before leaving, I raced around the house trying to prepare and make my husband's life easier while he was home with her. I cried as I put Charlie to bed, explaining to her that Mom would wake her up on Monday morning. I read and read and read blogs about pumping while traveling; I fretted and planned and fretted and planned about what I would do and where I would pump and what it would be like. My worries about the travel kept me...