New senior job - worried as team is all mums

[Windandsun]

I've been offered a new job in a senior leadership team but I've got reservations. It's mainly because all bar one other in the team is a mum with pre school or primary aged dc. I went in to meet them yesterday and this all came up in the lunch chat.

This had made me worried as I'm going to be full time in the team and they all work four days or less. Does this mean that I'm going to have to do more of the leadership type work than I'm thinking at the moment would be my share? I'm also worried about things being dropped on my desk. Am I worrying about nothing do you think?

It's a smallish organisation and I get the impression that the leadership stuff is shared across the team rather that being one person's responsibility which makes me even more worried to be honest.

Do you think all women who are mothers are less capable and worse at their jobs? How misogynistic. I’m a mother who works part time and I’m amazing at what I do. How about actually getting to know them and their skill sets before assuming they are incapable?

I would be concerned. I think you need to ascertain from the outset how this type of sharing/allocation works at the outset rather than waiting to see how it pans out. And how to avoid you being the rubbish chute on whose desk work lands because you're full time and they're not. Easier to establish this at the beginning rather than try to claw back further down the line

Small orgs are always more all hands in than larger ones but to come on Mumsnet of all places and worry mums are going to make your corporate life harder is completely absurd positioning

Want something done, give it to a working mother. YABU

I think Mumsnet is quite a good place to ask - you just have to read any number of threads about posters with children having to prioritise their children over work and the knock on impact on colleagues. (Or the threads where women with children be,I've they should be prioritised for annual leave at Christmas). Nothing wrong with that but it's disingenuous at best to pretend it doesn't impact the rest of the workforce

The senior working mothers I know are all more productive and accountable than anyone else in the business.

Check your misogyny.

Maybe you need to reframe your worry as 'the rest of the team work part time hours and I am the only full timer' rather than be concerned because they are all mums. Cos that seems pretty sexist

Hold your horses - I'm a mum too but to much older dc. I've worked in teams before with mums with young dc and of course had young dc myself and the demands are very different. The difference being then I wasn't in an SLT, it wasn't the majority of the SLT dynamic and I wasn't faced with potentially taking on a new job where I proportionally have to carry more than my fair share of the load. I think it's a genuine concern to feel before you shoot me down. I dont have to take the job.

You’ll have to do more than people who are part time because you are there more, and are being paid for more time. That’s totally reasonable.

If it’s anywhere like where I work, you’d find that the senior leadership team are all keen to show how much they can do with the time available. You should all have plenty of responsibility and accountability and ownership- presumably you’ll all have your own areas and projects / activities you all manage, rather than all milling around after the same stuff? They’ll take on as much as they can do in the time they’re there, and so will you.

I raised two children (one disabled) while in senior leadership. I was the highest performing manager in my organisation. The mothers I managed were my best staff.

Stop being ridiculous.

I guarantee that you would not be saying this if the team were all fathers.

Absolutely agree with this.

Well no… because as we all know, anytime the kids are ill or have an inset day or have a doctors appointment or the dentist etc etc etc, it is 90% of the time going to be the mothers doing it!