Leading while caring – you can’t really have one without the other

By Princess Mills, Senior Press Officer, Transport for London

Writing this in March, Women’s History Month, we’re asked to particularly remember the way women have changed history – and I can’t help but notice many of those who changed history had to fight to work around the stereotypical caregiver roles in order to be respected in their fields.

I applaud those women for leading the way and making marks on societies across the world – helping to break those glass ceilings bit by bit to get us to where we are now. While we still have barriers to break today, like those before them, many women still have to wrestle with caring roles while leading in the workplace. This double life sometimes bringing what can be a somewhat strange balance – decision maker in the office, while caring at home.

According to Carers UK in 2022 women made up around 80 per cent of carers, caring for parents, children and more and the same survey found just 21 per cent of all carers in the UK are in full time employment. While a smaller number of these will be in leadership roles, I know those in senior positions are using the skills they’ve had to hone through caring to be better leaders.

Your average LinkedIn post will talk about leaders needing to motivate, inspire, push their team to do more – but you don’t often see a focus on caring for the very people you’re meant to be encouraging. In order to lead a team well, you need to care about the people and the work you’re doing. Many carers I’ve come across know the need for empathy in their personal life and how it has spilt over into how they empathise with those they lead. In my own experience, being a carer has helped me prioritise what I and my team need in that moment – not taking an eye off the main goal but helping to assess what we need to do now to get there and seeing what support is needed to make it work.

Caring for family can mean becoming an excellent problem solver – adapting plans, foreseeing challenges, and responding calmly when things shift unexpectedly. As a PR professional – these skills are essential in crisis comms! But these same skills translate directly into leadership – knowing when to adapt, seeing through the noise, possibly changing strategy and knowing how to influence your people to get the best for all.

Carers UK reports that many of those looking after loved ones suffer from fatigue and can struggle with stress, but carers across the board should recognise that the skills they use every day to make life easier for those they look after, can also make them great leaders. Balancing the two sides of life as a carer is not easy, but there’s a strength and wisdom that can come from managing the two – bringing leadership skills that can’t be taught in a classroom.

Princess Mills is part of The Xec. Class of ’26.