How do I develop professionally while on maternity leave?

This week’s problem

I am a chief executive of a medium-sized UK business. I am pregnant and plan to take 10 months of maternity leave from mid-March. During my time away I want to find ways to develop professionally so I am in a stronger position when I return in 2022, either to resume my current role or begin looking for another leadership opportunity. What ideas do you have? Female, 30s

Jonathan’s answer

Congratulations on the forthcoming birth of your baby, a positive and life-affirming event. If this is your first child, then it is somewhat of a step into the unknown for you, in terms of just how the birth and parenthood will affect you. Your energy levels, interest in, and ability to focus on professional activities are unlikely to be the same as now.

Many people have to take time off work, sometimes as a positive choice such as maternity leave, but also unexpectedly due to redundancy, illness, or to care for a relative. Keeping up professionally is challenging during such periods of absence, and especially so if there are stressful pressures elsewhere.

The ambition to keep up professionally while on leave is felt acutely in careers that use output to measure success; in academia and research, each person’s publication record is critical to progression, as it is seen to measure contribution to their field. You too may feel it is difficult to stay on the same career track as those who have not taken time out. Perhaps you will wish to change tack to a role that more easily combines work and family life.

As a chief executive, what professional developments do you feel you need? If you are also considering looking for another opportunity, what skills do such roles specify they are looking for applicants to demonstrate? Identify which of these skills you might be missing and concentrate on those.

Assuming it is likely to be in the managerial and leadership areas, and if you are feeling ambitious, you could work for a formal qualification: a Level 6 or 7 from the Institute of Leadership and Management could be ideal, giving some external structure and a tangible professional achievement at the end of your leave.

If that sounds too much, then books by successful leaders or management theorists could be interesting. Given your likely disrupted timetable, you may find audiobooks and podcasts to be more accessible, especially if you have your hands full, literally.

There’s also no need to cut yourself off from your colleagues or industry for 10 months; once you feel on top of things at home, you might want to connect back in with work, follow industry news, talk to mentors or industry commentators. Might there be ways to practise your sought-after skills in these connections? However, this theory might well be modified in practice once the real baby arrives.

Readers’ advice

How about subscribing to Women on Boards or a similar organisation and taking up a non-executive director role at a charity or NGO? I’ve had friends who did that on mat leave and it worked well for them. Verity

Make sure you keep flexibility as you will be much less in control of your time (and of your physical/emotional state). But also, maternity will actually add a depth of experience that you will be able to take back to your work afterwards. H

The mistake I made returning to work after my first child was not being prepared mentally about what all the juggling would entail. So, if you have a partner, I would make sure you are upfront with him/her and plan in detail for how you are going to cope with the change upon your return to work. HBB

Jonathan Black is director of the Careers Service at the University of Oxford. Every fortnight he answers your questions on personal and career development, and working life. Do you have a question for him? Email dear.jonathan@ft.com