Values-Forward Leadership: Filling the Gaps

Leading with Courage-Real Stories

Here’s another inspiring example of what I’m seeing from young mothers.

At a planning session I ran for leaders returning from maternity leave, a young woman told me she had already been at work equipping her workplace for working mothers. This was well before her first pregnancy. She had advocated for a dedicated space for breastfeeding and chestfeeding parents.

She built a system before she needed it. she did it because she saw an unmet need that could make the workplace better for her co-workers. And in doing so, she modeled inclusive leadership for everyone around her.

This is what values-forward leadership looks like in practice: not waiting until something affects you personally to decide it matters. Not assuming the people in charge will eventually get around to it. Seeing a gap, knowing it needs filling, and doing something about it now.

I'll be speaking this fall about inclusive policy and expansive workplace culture for working mothers and all caregivers and sharing stories of what is possible. The leadership is already out there. I'm passionate about lifting it up!