The Roche Report

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...

Among the many wonderful, wonderful things about my high school, its unofficial motto was "Function in Disaster, Finish in Style (Stay calm at the center of your being)." I often find myself repeating this phrase to myself in moments of craziness ... though, I have to admit I find the first two phrases easier than the third (staying calm in disaster takes a true zen that I often don't have but am working towards). And, for the past two weeks, these words have become a mantra for me: I have quickly ramped up at work with what feels like 100 balls in the air and Johnny had a two week work trip, leaving me as the lone ranger with Charlie. It's been good, it's been hard, it's been challenging. From a work perspective, I had two proposals due in these two weeks, on top of several client meetings, two work day trips, and working on several upcoming presentations. From a life perspective, I was on point for all things Charlie from daycare prep, laundry (all. the....

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...

As I think about feedback that I have gotten throughout my career, or throughout my life really, it is kind of funny because you realize that many things change but often the feedback about you and what you need to improve repeats itself a number of times throughout your life. For example, I vividly remember on my first report card with grades, the comments from the teacher were, "Caroline is very smart, but needs to slow down, take her time, and double check her work." Likewise, on the first business process design deliverable I did as a new analyst on my first project out of college, I was SO proud of my deliverable and thought I had knocked it out of the park... and it came back (thanks Megan!) with quite a bit more feedback than I had anticipated, with the comment that I needed to "pay more attention to detail." I often relay this story for new analysts because I have improved quite a bit in my attention to detail since then -- but have really, really focused ...

I came back from maternity leave two weeks ago and it has been a fun, anxious, and fulfilling two weeks back. When my maternity leave started, I actually really struggled with loneliness -- going from my job, which involves talking to and being around people all day to being with Charlie all day. She is the best baby ever; however, she is still not quite the best conversationalist. The challenge was figuring out how to fill my days while adjusting to my new life. At first, going to the grocery store felt like I had run a marathon physically (and while I'm at it, learning how to enter the world with a baby in tow is a whole new learning curve. My first time going to the grocery store, I though I could put her car seat in a cart and didn't bring my stroller with me... and as you can see below... that didn't work too well. Thankfully, my sister-in-law was with me and could carry our basket of groceries also since nothing else fit in the cart). At the end of the day, I wo...

Before I started my maternity leave, I had recently finished a training program that IBM has called Cornerstone, which is a training program for Associate Partners who are on the executive track at IBM. One of the key messages from the program was to think about who your “authentic self” was and being intentional about being that authentic self both as a leader and at home. Coming out of that training, I have spent a lot of time thinking about being intentional about just who that authentic self is and, really, if I boil it down, who and what I want to be. Some of it includes reflecting on the typical things you would expect to think about from a work perspective (what kind of leader am I, what kind of executive do I want to be, how do I want to be known at IBM, what do I want my team to think of me?). Much of it has also played out on a more personal level, as my husband and I had our first child in November, I have been reflecting a lot about who I want to be as a mom, as a ...