Confused.com CEO Louise O’Shea shares why new mums make great leaders

As a mother of two young children and the CEO of price comparison site, Confused.com, Louise O’Shea can more than relate to the struggles of new mothers who fear falling behind in their career progression with the arrival of a baby.

In an interview with BBC.com, O’Shea shares how she applied for the role of CEO while pregnant with her second daughter. While she succeeded at filling the role, she admits she has had doubts during her climb to the top.

But a chat with a male boss – who told her “I love it when women have babies. When they come back, they don’t take any nonsense because they don’t have time” – continues to remind her why female employees make great leaders.

O’Shea imparts three valuable points to her female employees, which all employed women with a desire for career progression can heed.

Being organised becomes ingrained

Following a new arrival, women will be super organised. “You’re on it,” she says, as getting everything ready for a day trip with babies is similar to a military operation.

If you can handle childbirth…

Quite rightly, she points out that, after experiencing childbirth, “nothing will ever scare you again”.

There’s no time for chit-chat

Lastly, mums will develop a great skill of cutting right to the chase. As O’Shea puts it, “you’re going to have this clock ticking in the back of your head, because you know you want to get home to feed the kids. So when you are in those meetings where people aren’t making a decision or procrastinating, you’re going to cut through the nonsense.”