The Leadership Advantage of Motherhood: Why & How Organisations Should Support Executive Mums

Motherhood plays into one of the most persistent myths about women in senior roles. I still hear people describe executive mums as “risks” or “liabilities”. Comments like that remind me of how stubborn – and unfounded – these biases can be.

My own experience as a working mother at Hanover has been the complete opposite of that old narrative. I’ve gained more strength, more focus, and more capability than ever, because I’ve been fortunate enough to work in an environment that allows me to flourish. And when I look at the clients we partner with, I see just how much organisations gain when they recognise the leadership advantage of motherhood. 

Mothers are value accelerators

When I talk about the strategic edge mothers bring to leadership, I’m talking about the very real lift organisations see when they have mums in senior roles. Becoming a parent sharpens so many crucial leadership traits, like resilience, judgement, prioritisation, conflict resolution, the ability to stay calm and steady when everything around you becomes chaotic. 

All of that stabilises teams. Projects stay on track because someone is setting a clear pace. Conflicts de-escalate faster because mums tend to bring emotional intelligence into the room. Decisions become more thoughtful and human, which reduces friction and improves collaboration.

Organisations also benefit from the forward-planning that parenthood hardwires into you. Mums anticipate risk early and have an unrivalled instinct to map contingency plans. That foresight strengthens governance, operational resilience, and any environment where the margin for error is small.

The impact of this unique skillset is visible across performance and culture. That’s why I call working mums “value accelerators”, whose lived experiences as mothers directly enrich the organisation. 

How motherhood elevated my own performance

Before I had my first child, I considered myself organised. But after two maternity leaves and years of merging parenting with a busy workload, I’ve reached an entirely new level of discipline and focus.

I discovered I could juggle so many things at once without letting a single plate smash. I learnt to move through pressure with a steadiness I didn’t have before. I got on top of tasks faster, filtered distractions more easily, and didn’t waste a moment of the day.

Motherhood also lifted my emotional intelligence in ways that directly shaped how I partnered with clients. My patience grew, my instinct for reading people sharpened, my ability to handle difficult conversations changed. Parenthood gives you a new lens for understanding people’s needs. That lens is valuable inside any team, especially at the senior level.

How organisations can empower their executive mums

79% of women who return from maternity leave feel just as ambitious as they were before. The challenge is that many mums are still in environments where that ambition isn’t nurtured. 80% say they face serious barriers when they return from maternity leave, and 30% still receive no support at all. That can result in a serious brain drain from the company.

On the flip side, when companies invest in their mums, it transforms the leadership bench. Ambitious parents are more engaged, retention strengthens, and you’ll attract new, exceptional talent who value people-first workplaces. In that sense, becoming more family-friendly is crucial to sustaining talent pipelines. So here’s what you can do.

1. Offer flexible working, and champion it

Hanover supported me with flexible working through both my returns from maternity leave, and that support strengthened my performance tenfold. It meant I could do the school run, handle the morning chaos, shift my hours, and still deliver high-quality work, without worrying about eyes on the clock.

That environment builds loyalty, creates headspace, and ultimately increases productivity. You want to give more because you feel trusted.

Unfortunately, not all flexible working policies are like this, and in many cases, it still acts as an unwritten barrier. Senior women feel reluctant to request alternative hours because they think it signals reduced commitment. Even fathers avoid it because they worry about judgement from peers. In fact, 53% of fathers admit it feels more acceptable for women to work part-time than men, a perception that forces mums to carry all the weight.

Flexible working must evolve from theory to practice if it’s ever going to benefit working mums. That evolution starts with leaders who role-model balanced working patterns, and organisations that don’t just offer flexible working because it looks progressive on paper, but actively encourage their executives to use it, and trust them when they do.

2. Close the paternity gap

Empowering executive mums requires rewriting the rules for dads as much as for women. The UK currently has the least generous paternity leave in Europe (just two weeks statutory leave at a low pay rate), which means women still tend to bear the brunt of early childcare. 

To truly level the playing field for executive mums, companies must address the imbalance in fathers’ leave. Normalising longer paternity leave and encouraging men in leadership to take it (or at least take flexible working) can reduce the stigma around taking time off, foster empathy in male-dominated boardrooms, and ease the pressure on working mums to “do it all.”

3. Invest in their career development and support

When a mum returns from maternity leave, she’s coming back with a whole set of new skills. The question is whether the organisation gives her the structure to use them.

Clear development support enables returning mums to hit the ground running, instead of scrambling to catch up. That support can take many forms: refresh sessions on key projects or client portfolios, structured re-immersion plans that rebuild context quickly, or tailored skills development that sharpens the areas they want to grow into next.

Coaching plays a huge part, too, helping returning mums reconnect with their strengths and re-establish their presence at the senior table. When you pair that with ongoing development and flexible working, you create an environment where mums feel valued and visible. 

A stronger future powered by mums

I’ve watched so many organisations transform once they embraced the leadership advantage of motherhood. It allows you to hold onto leaders with resilience, empathy, focus and long-range thinking embedded into the way they work. These are the qualities that transform a business.

My own experience of becoming a mum has strengthened every part of my work, and I see the same story in so many of the women I meet.

It comes down to this: The companies that recognise the motherhood advantage are building a healthier, more capable bench of future leaders. The ones that don’t are losing out on truly extraordinary talent.