Lauren Howard

I’ve seen a fair number of posts indicating that return to office is the future.

That Millenials and Gen Z will have to adapt back.

I thought about it really hard. I weighed the merits of each side.

I came to this conclusion.






Nah, bro.

We good here.




I have no plans for a future that requires daily hard pants.

I’m not going to spend hundreds of dollars per month on gas, lose time with my kids, work without a dog on my feet or give up my 30 second commute.

I won’t miss out couch snuggles while catching an episode of Bluey or random dance parties with my girls.

I won't give up quick walks around the block to clear my head, being barefoot most of the time, and pelting my husband with toilet paper rolls while he's in meetings.

Long story, but it gives my joy. Don't judge.

Maybe someday I'll consider it if my name is on the outside of the building, but not likely before that.

I’m not more productive in an office. There is nothing that I do better in an office.

So, I’m here if you need me.

Literally here.

In this spot.

In my house.

In soft pants, likely with a toddler on my lap, messy bun piled on top of my head, and getting more done every day than would ever be possible if you made me spend several of those hours on the prep work of just working in an office.

At your service.

But over here.

In soft pants.

Stars and kittens,

—L2

I sent a 10 p.m. Slack to my leadership.

“I have to take the baby to the ER. I don’t know when I’ll be back. I will do my best to be here for the meeting first thing, but I’m just not sure.”

I didn’t wait for an answer.

We had a huge meeting with a potential massive client the next day, and I had designed the materials. It was a team effort, but I was supposed to present. I ran the departments who would be doing a fully custom implementation of what they wanted if we were picked.

There wasn’t any time to worry about that in that moment. I had more important things.

Thankfully, the baby was fine. It was a virus, and we were on our way home a few hours later.

We got in the car and the reality of the coming hours hit me. I had to be bright eyed and ready to present a potential multi-million dollar implementation very shortly. I sent another message letting them know I would be there.

I set my alarm for three hours later, checked on the baby and went to get as much sleep as I could before getting up to prep with the team.

I woke to messages that I must have missed in my exhaustion.

“No.”

“Don’t come in early.”

“We moved the meeting to tomorrow.”

“Family first.”

I collapsed back into bed with a heart full of gratefulness.

Those simple messages that were exactly what I needed to hear even though I fully intended to give it my all.

I keep this story with me to remind me what kind of leader I always want to be. I will always consider my people first, like they did. They knew I would push through to my detriment. They knew it didn’t occur to me to move the meeting as soon as I know it was possible to be there.

Possible was not enough. They needed all of me, and they couldn't have it (and didn't want it) when my kid needed to be my focus.

So my leadership did what was right for me over potential revenue for the company because my family was more important.

People first will always yield better results than revenue first. I would have done anything for them after that. And I did for many years that followed.

#elletwo #culture #leadership #gettingitdone #burnout #startup

I almost threw the remote at the tv this morning.

Yet another news story on the labor shortage and how hard it is to find employees.

And yet I have an entire inbox full of resumes from people who are more-than-capable, more-than-talented, more-than-valuable, and they can’t even get interviews.

There is no better people manager than a former teacher.

There is no better project manager than a former restaurant manager.

There is no better customer success manager than retail leadership.

And yet these resumes sit like they don’t even exist.

It’s infuriating.

The title doesn’t matter. It’s the skills that matter. Smart people can learn the rest.

Transferrable skills don’t get nearly enough consideration, and they will never be appropriately highlighted until the first resume review is not done by a computer.

And if you’re in one of the fields where people are leaving in droves and moving into other areas, maybe the labor shortage has more to do with a history of paying people barely enough to survive and expecting them to be grateful for it.

I said what I said.

We have to do better by humans. Smart people are struggling to get jobs in a world that wants us to believe that there aren’t employable candidates left.

You’re wearing sunglasses inside and complaining that you can’t see.

Wise up.

**Oh, and black women should not be four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women in the wealthiest country in the world. Let’s fix that, okay?

#elletwo #teamdifficult #hiring #employment #jobtransitions

I don’t care when you work.

If you work for me, I don’t care when you work.

Early morning? Fine.

Business hours? Fine

Overnight? Fine.

Turn something in at the last minute? Fine.

Take time out to be with your kids or family or self? Fine.

As long as you’re there when it’s important and getting the job I asked you to do done, I don’t care.

You’re an adult. You don’t need a babysitter, and I hire smart people. So do your job and the rest is whatever.

**Oh, and black women should not be four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women in the wealthiest country in the world. Let’s fix that, okay?


#elletwo #teamdifficult #leadership #culture #startups

I don’t care when you work.

If you work for me, I don’t care when you work.

Early morning? Fine.

Business hours? Fine

Overnight? Fine.

Turn something in at the last minute? Fine.

Take time out to be with your kids or family or self? Fine.

As long as you’re there when it’s important and getting the job I asked you to do done, I don’t care.

You’re an adult. You don’t need a babysitter, and I hire smart people. So do your job and the rest is whatever.

**This ain't your father's professionalism. We're redefining it for women at elletwo dot com. Sign up for the newsletter, check out our membership community or submit a content idea of your own. We'd be lucky to have you.

#elletwo #teamdifficult #leadership #culture #startups

A kidney taught me the difference between a manager who cares about employees and a manager who cares about people.

My mom had been on the kidney transplant list for years. I had talked about it some, but it was definitely a constant stress in my universe that I really hadn’t given the appropriate consideration to.

And we definitely didn’t consider what it would be like to get an organ transplant during a global pandemic.

It was… a lot.

I was interviewing someone with our leadership team when my mom called. I sent it to voicemail and intended to call her back, but she called again. I muted and hopped off camera.

“Mom, I’m in the middle of something? What?” Let’s be honest, it probably didn’t sound nice.

“A kidney! They got me a kidney!”

I remember nothing else except saying that I had to go, letting the leadership team know in Slack what was happening, and going into traffic cop mode.

-You! Get her to the hospital. Her bag is always in the car. You have 2 hours.

-You! Send me the updated contact list of everyone we need to call.

-You! Get me her nephrologist’s phone number.

My head was spinning. We had planned for this for a long time, but there was literally no way to actually plan for this.

My phone rang again. It was my boss. I assumed he didn’t see the message. I answered just to tell him that I would call him back.

“I need to be out of the office for a bit. My mom got a kidney. Can I…”

I started to cry. I am not a crier.

“I know. I saw your message. I wanted to call because one, this is incredible and two, I know you’re busy doing everything for everyone else right now, and I wanted you to take a breath.”

He had watched me direct traffic in difficult situations where stopping to think wasn’t an option, so he knew.

“Why am I crying right now?” was all I could muster.

“I know you don’t like to hear this, but you’re a human. And sometimes humans have feelings. Turn off everything and focus on this.”

I knew that was the leader I wanted to be. It’s still the leader that I try to be. It’s why I have amazing relationships with people who worked for me five jobs ago. I will never forget hearing that being a person was more important than an employee by the one who literally signed my paychecks. I keep it with me with all of my people every day.

#elletwo #culturematters #Culture

I knew they were going to fire me.

I was a part-time consultant, and I had done zero work in a month.

And they knew it.

My dad had just died, and I couldn’t get my brain together enough to send the emails or answer the phone calls or… any of it.

I just sat and stared a lot.

A lot, a lot.

It was so unlike me. I hardly took an hour off, much less days at a time because my brain was indefinitely in neutral.

I sheepishly reached out via email when my check arrived. I knew I had done absolutely nothing to earn it.

“Do you want me to just tear this check up or return it? I haven’t done any of the work that you asked. I can’t deposit it. I know I missed the mark this month, so I fully understand if the partnership ends here.”

I held my breath and waited for the response. They were right to be frustrated with me and to want to sever ties. I couldn’t do the work, and it was stupid to pay someone for work they didn’t do.

He emailed back a few minutes later.

“What? Why would we do that? You’ll catch up next month. The check has your name on it. It’s yours. It all comes out in the wash. ”

Those words stuck with me.

It all comes out in the wash.

When you do the right thing by people, it all comes out in the wash.

That literally drives everything that I do today, and I say it all the time. The interaction pushed me to accept the full-time role that I had declined with that company before because the integrity was on full display. I stayed there for many years after that conversation.

Give your time to people who could benefit from it without asking for anything in return. Why? Because it all comes out in the wash.

Support people who need a bump, even when there is nothing in it for you. Why? Because it all comes out in the wash.

Do the right thing by your customer, even if you make slightly less because of it. Why? Because it all comes out in the wash, and they will remember that you put them first.

That kind of integrity outshines the best product, the most genius ideas, the smartest people, all of it.

And it pays back unexpected dividends for years to come.

***This ain't your father's professionalism. We're redefining it at elletwo dot com.

#elletwo #teamdifficult #integrity #leadership #thewash #consulting #gettingthingsdone

I’m not feeling patriotic today.

No Stars and Stripes. No cookout.

Not buying the “greatest country in the world” diatribe either.

Land of the free? Yeah, not sure about that.

Home of the brave, though? Definitely. I’ve seen it.

The last week has felt like an assault on women. The weeks before, yet another assault on children.

Oh, and another young Black body needlessly riddled with bullets in the last few days.

I’m not in the mood for a party.

If you’re feeling similar today, here are a few actionable things that you can do:

Post a message on your page or a comment here letting people know you’re in their corner and fighting with them.

Send me a message that you don’t feel comfortable sharing publicly yet, and I’ll share anonymously in the comments. Allies are vital.

Join our group for women and allies who are looking for support and community. Link in comments.

Follow The New Jane Collective for a different perspective on how to fight back. Link in comments.

Follow Katie 🌱 McManus and the amazing work that she’s doing to organize from coast-to-coast.

Support organizations that are doing the work to create transportation and housing networks by buying angry stickers at ourhighrise(dot)com(slash)shop.

Men can use their autonomy and unrestricted credit cards to buy an overpriced sticker at stickerformenonly(dot)com.

I’m not focused on changing minds. I’m focused on letting people who need safe (digital and eventually physical) shelter know that we’re here and our numbers are growing. That’s what keeps me fighting.

We’re here. 

**Oh, and Black women should not be four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women in the wealthiest country in the world. Let’s fix that, okay?

#elletwo #teamdifficult #july4th

Interviewed someone for the first time on Saturday.

Hired her on Sunday.

She started Monday.

It really can be that easy.

The fifty interviews, personality tests, obstacles courses, etc.? They're just not necessary.

Smart people are smart in any industry. Hiring does not have to be Scorcese movie that ends three times and throws an unnecessary twist at you at the end.

It can just be going with your gut to hire the right person rather than searching form months the find the perfect person.

I have never had the perfect person actually turn out to be perfect, but I have been blown away by the right person every single time.

**Did you know that Black women are three to four times more likely to die in childbirth in the US regardless of socioeconomic status or education level? These disparities are abhorrent, and it’s my life’s mission to align with organizations that are working to fix it.

#elletwo #teamdifficult #hiring #yesitreallycanbethateasy