“When I sit at the meeting table at nine in the morning, I sometimes have the feeling that I have already flown around the world twice,” says Verena Amann.
“I dressed and changed the children several times and myself because I was spotty again.”
In 2019, Amann was not only the very first woman on the board of the listed Mannheim energy supplier MVV.
She also started this job pregnant.
She is one of the few board members who speaks openly about how she balances family and career.
Most top executives try to remain anonymous in the role.
“It also has to do with self-protection,” says Amann.
“But when you start a new job pregnant, you reveal a lot about yourself, whether you want to or not.” The manager now has two children, two and four years old, and her contract as human resources director has been extended by five years until 2027. Five tips and two settings that will make her everyday life easier.
1.
“
My family and I alone are my benchmark
,” says Amann.
For her, this is one of the most important learnings from four years as a mother and top executive: not to compare yourself with other mothers or board members without family obligations or to take on their expectations.
“This is my happiness, our happiness.
Our family model has to work for us.”
2. Plan before the child is born.
Amann advises young women to make an agreement with their employers, but especially with their partners, before the birth of a child and to talk very specifically about the division of tasks.
“It’s about as romantic as the prenuptial agreement that you negotiate before the wedding, but extremely important so that you don’t unconsciously slip into role expectations.”
3. Structure to reduce mental load.
“There is almost always a default parent, in almost every combination,” says Amann.
“This is the person who knows: If there is football on Saturday, the jersey has to be washed on Thursday and hung on Friday.” This parent carries the highest mental load.
Especially if planning is not consistent.
She advises: structure and plan, also in the knowledge that with children the plan can change permanently.
“My most important tool is the Apple calendar.”
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4.
Establish chain of care.
A tip that Amann got from other women managers was to organize not just one care provider, but a care chain - several people who know the children well and who can step in if someone is unavailable.
The in-laws are only the last resort.
To support her, she got a nanny to look after her children at home.
5. Have purchases delivered.
“As a Swabian, I had to learn to forget the delivery fee,” says Amann.
“But it makes such a difference when the shopping bags are left at the door in the evening.” By being relieved of such tasks, she can really spend her free time with her children.
When you work 60 or 70 hours a week, every hour of family time is valuable.
6. Not wanting to do everything.
“I haven’t made it to a parents’ evening yet,” says Amann.
“I can’t help set up and dismantle every kindergarten event.” It was important for her to make peace with herself in these moments and to be aware that she cannot be present everywhere.
“So I do other things and that’s okay.”
7. “Of course there is a more comfortable way
,” says Amann.
“And sometimes I ask myself: Why am I doing this to myself?” Doubts were part of it, just like happy moments in the family and in the company.
In her eyes, the core question is: “Do I have an effectiveness in both roles that gives me fulfillment?” This feeling carries her through stressful times.
You can hear how her colleagues on the board reacted to the news of her pregnancy and which beliefs about motherhood Verena Amann let go of in the podcast “Because of Good Leadership”.
In “Because of good leadership – the honest leadership podcast,” Antonia Götsch, editor-in-chief of Harvard Business Manager, speaks every two weeks with guests from business, science and sport about leadership, strategy and management. “Because of Good Leadership” appears fortnightly here as well as on Spotify and Apple in the podcast.