Between Motherhood & Leadership
Motherhood is one of the biggest transitions in a woman’s life. The experience reshapes not only her personal life but also her sense of identity, her priorities, her way of working and her leadership approach.
Yet the business world often fails to see the skills that develop alongside motherhood, such as resilience, flexibility, empathy, prioritization and coping with uncertainty, as a source of leadership.
Between Motherhood & Leadership was designed so that women can recognize the strengths they gain through motherhood, reframe that experience as part of their professional identity and meet, in a safe space, other women who share similar experiences.
Many women who continue working after becoming mothers try to balance multiple identities and expectations. The change they go through is often treated as a matter of individual adjustment.
Yet what women need is not only to readjust. They need a space where they can make sense of the transformation they are going through, share their experiences, and make visible the skills motherhood adds to their leadership.
In the program, we explored these questions:
How has motherhood changed the way I lead?
Which of my strengths have I developed along the way?
How do I define my professional identity today?
How can I make room for myself among different roles?
How can I turn my experience from a limitation into a source of leadership?
Designed in partnership between Dilan Aydın and Azer Karabıyık under the Pivot/Luvu umbrella, the program was hosted by sahibinden.com and brought together 14 women.
Over a three-week development journey, participants explored their experiences of motherhood and leadership through individual exercises, group sharing and facilitated dialogues.
Throughout the program, space was opened for women to:
Explore how their identities have changed since becoming mothers
Recognize the skills they developed through motherhood
Connect those skills with their approach to leadership
Build solidarity with women who share similar experiences
Look at themselves and their careers from a stronger place.
Results
Beyond the numbers, the program helped women see that the transformation they are going through is not theirs alone. Participants said that being part of a community that shares similar feelings and experiences gave them strength and motivation.
14 women
Came together on a shared development journey.
3 weeks
We ran a program centered on experience, sharing and awareness.
95%
Participant satisfaction achieved.
100%
Said they would recommend the program to others.
In participants’ own words
“It brought back the motivation that was fading inside me.”
“It felt incredibly good to be in a community that shared my own feelings.”
“Thank you for all your effort. I’m so glad you touched my life.”
Turning the experience of motherhood into a visible source of leadership
Motherhood is not a break from professional identity; it is a powerful transition in which women rebuild their relationship with themselves, their priorities and their leadership.
Between Motherhood & Leadership helps organizations move beyond supporting mothers in the workforce only through the return-to-work process, creating a development space that recognizes the skills built through motherhood and strengthens women’s career journeys.
How do you make room for the experience of the mothers in your organization?
Let’s design a development journey tailored to your organization that supports the professional identities and leadership potential of mothers in the workforce.
