The Best Advice Our Moms Gave Us
Moms are always right. Aren’t they?!
In honor of the special guidance that so many of us have gotten from our mothers, we at Be Leaderly reflected on what, in particular, makes our own moms so great. We considered the useful, the profound, – even the ridiculous! And while we were all excited to participate, I don’t think any of us quite realized how emotional – and downright moving – answering some simple questions about our moms would be.
So sit back, read along, and then chime in yourself with the best advice you’ve gotten from your mom in the comments.
Here-here to the special mothers in all our lives!
Tanisha Sykes, Be Leaderly Content Editor
Mom: Ivy
Her Best advice: Work is only one part of who you are and what you do. Slow down and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
A Value You Learned From her: Family first! My Mom Ivy always has been there for my brother Eugene and I. Through every moment, both big and small, my Mom was right beside us. It makes me weep thinking about how much she has sacrificed for us. I will be forever grateful for her love, kindness, and genuine support of everything we do.
Her quirkiest quirk: She plays the Lottery! She’ll kill me for telling you this but she calls herself “The Wizard” (it’s hilarious!) because she studies the Lottery faithfully. I actually admire her tenacity. And you know what’s really funny? Sometimes, she wins.
A Signature Saying: “If you play with a puppy, he’ll lick you every time!”
Angie Klein, Be Leaderly Operations and Marketing Manager
Mom: Linda
Her Best advice: My mom, Linda, is a wizard with numbers (I am not!) Even though this was her comfort zone, that never stopped her from trying new things, occasionally. I try to follow in her footsteps to have an open-mind and try something new in my life. Some turn out great, others not so much. But, hey how will you know if you don’t try!
A Value You Learned From her: My mom always tries to be kind to everyone she encounters – “You never know what someone is going through, what they’re battling, so be kind.”
Her quirkiest quirk: My mom can’t have her food touch one another on her plate. She blames this on her self-diagnosed OCD. It cracks me up every time I see this, especially when there’s an unplanned “shift” on her plate. She even laughs at herself.
A Signature Saying: “Try harder every day.”
Selena Rezvani, Be Leaderly VP of Consulting and Research
Mom: Genevieve
Her Best advice: I’m awed by how my mom has saved countless people’s lives in her long career as a cardiac nurse; despite the life or death nature of that work, she has the most infectiously positive attitude. I can always hear her voice saying to me, “You can do this.” Through her, I’ve learned to try to jump in and make a difference, not sit on the sidelines and catastrophize.
A Value You Learned From her: Resilience, resilience, resilience. My mom is in her own words a “tough Ukrainian”(!) and she really owns every aspect of the word ‘tough’. I think about all that she’s been through in her life, and it’s impossible not to be inspired to carry on with whatever issue I may be dealing with.
Her quirkiest quirk: She has no less than 5 clocks in some rooms of the house! The funny thing is that each one shows a slightly different time. Maybe that’s why she’s so on top of schedules and planning?!
A Signature Saying: “First, make up your mind that you can do it.”
Our hats are off to all the moms who continue to try hard every day. Happy Mother’s Day, Leaderlies!
The Be Leaderly Team
The Be Leaderly team is made up of Jo Miller, Selena Rezvani and Angie Klein.
We are dedicated to helping emerging women leaders advance into management and leadership positions. With clients like Amazon, Bank of America, Boeing, eBay, GM, Homeland Security, MetLife, Microsoft, Siemens, Society of Women Engineers, Verizon, USDA—and more than 400 organizations in the commercial, academic, non-profit and government sectors, Be Leaderly works with organizations that want to develop a pipeline of qualified and engaged emerging women leaders. Our workshops, webinars and coaching programs help women employees gain clarity on how their talents can contribute to the organization’s success, encourage them to enter the leadership pipeline, and provide them with the tools necessary to take ownership of their career advancement. Our research focuses on elevating women’s voices at work, and our consulting framework enables organizations to assess and refine their approach to retaining, developing, and promoting women.
Moms are always right. Aren’t they?!
In honor of the special guidance that so many of us have gotten from our mothers, we at Be Leaderly reflected on what, in particular, makes our own moms so great. We considered the useful, the profound, – even the ridiculous! And while we were all excited to participate, I don’t think any of us quite realized how emotional – and downright moving – answering some simple questions about our moms would be.
So sit back, read along, and then chime in yourself with the best advice you’ve gotten from your mom in the comments.
Here-here to the special mothers in all our lives!
Tanisha Sykes, Be Leaderly Content Editor
Mom: Ivy
Her Best advice: Work is only one part of who you are and what you do. Slow down and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
A Value You Learned From her: Family first! My Mom Ivy always has been there for my brother Eugene and I. Through every moment, both big and small, my Mom was right beside us. It makes me weep thinking about how much she has sacrificed for us. I will be forever grateful for her love, kindness, and genuine support of everything we do.
Her quirkiest quirk: She plays the Lottery! She’ll kill me for telling you this but she calls herself “The Wizard” (it’s hilarious!) because she studies the Lottery faithfully. I actually admire her tenacity. And you know what’s really funny? Sometimes, she wins.
A Signature Saying: “If you play with a puppy, he’ll lick you every time!”
Angie Klein, Be Leaderly Operations and Marketing Manager
Mom: Linda
Her Best advice: My mom, Linda, is a wizard with numbers (I am not!) Even though this was her comfort zone, that never stopped her from trying new things, occasionally. I try to follow in her footsteps to have an open-mind and try something new in my life. Some turn out great, others not so much. But, hey how will you know if you don’t try!
A Value You Learned From her: My mom always tries to be kind to everyone she encounters – “You never know what someone is going through, what they’re battling, so be kind.”
Her quirkiest quirk: My mom can’t have her food touch one another on her plate. She blames this on her self-diagnosed OCD. It cracks me up every time I see this, especially when there’s an unplanned “shift” on her plate. She even laughs at herself.
A Signature Saying: “Try harder every day.”
Selena Rezvani, Be Leaderly VP of Consulting and Research
Mom: Genevieve
Her Best advice: I’m awed by how my mom has saved countless people’s lives in her long career as a cardiac nurse; despite the life or death nature of that work, she has the most infectiously positive attitude. I can always hear her voice saying to me, “You can do this.” Through her, I’ve learned to try to jump in and make a difference, not sit on the sidelines and catastrophize.
A Value You Learned From her: Resilience, resilience, resilience. My mom is in her own words a “tough Ukrainian”(!) and she really owns every aspect of the word ‘tough’. I think about all that she’s been through in her life, and it’s impossible not to be inspired to carry on with whatever issue I may be dealing with.
Her quirkiest quirk: She has no less than 5 clocks in some rooms of the house! The funny thing is that each one shows a slightly different time. Maybe that’s why she’s so on top of schedules and planning?!
A Signature Saying: “First, make up your mind that you can do it.”
Our hats are off to all the moms who continue to try hard every day. Happy Mother’s Day, Leaderlies!
The Be Leaderly Team
The Be Leaderly team is made up of Jo Miller, Selena Rezvani and Angie Klein.
We are dedicated to helping emerging women leaders advance into management and leadership positions. With clients like Amazon, Bank of America, Boeing, eBay, GM, Homeland Security, MetLife, Microsoft, Siemens, Society of Women Engineers, Verizon, USDA—and more than 400 organizations in the commercial, academic, non-profit and government sectors, Be Leaderly works with organizations that want to develop a pipeline of qualified and engaged emerging women leaders. Our workshops, webinars and coaching programs help women employees gain clarity on how their talents can contribute to the organization’s success, encourage them to enter the leadership pipeline, and provide them with the tools necessary to take ownership of their career advancement. Our research focuses on elevating women’s voices at work, and our consulting framework enables organizations to assess and refine their approach to retaining, developing, and promoting women.
