Business Lessons From Mom

Mother’s Day approaches—the day that many of us buy flowers, send cards, and say, “Hey, mom! Thanks for not killing me all the times that you probably wanted to.” For many of us, our moms were our first teachers, showing us how to walk, talk, and not touch a hot stove. Moms have taught us so much about how to interact with the world around us, but their lessons don’t stop when we become adults. For this Mother’s Day, we’re sharing the biggest life lessons we’ve learned from our moms.

Emily – My mom is a super smart lady. She spent her career as a biologist researching treatment for HIV/AIDS and cancer, is listed as a contributor or co-author on more 54 NIH studies/publications, and is one of the most intentional, astute thinkers I know. Of course, she will readily downplay any of these accomplishments (she may even strongly object to me writing this), but one thing she never downplays is how important it is to invest in yourself. Jobs can come and go, markets fluctuate, fine possessions patina and break, but no one can ever take away what you invest in yourself. This advice goes beyond saving money for a college program (although, it certainly includes that); it has to do with believing in yourself—believing that you can, should, and deserve to ask questions and get answers. When I was struggling with one of my more math-heavy college classes, I remember my mom saying, “Make them teach you. They’re experts and you’re paying them. Don’t walk out of that room without understanding the material.” That story nicely encapsulates her philosophy on education—one of the greatest gifts she’s given me, other than, you know, life.
To sum it up: 1) You deserve to find and acquire knowledge. 2.) Education, formal or informal, is an investment that pays dividends. 3) Don’t let anyone intimidate you out of asking questions.

Andy – My mom has a great capacity for details. Some would phrase this as “an attention to detail, to a fault,” but I disagree. She places high value on learning about a topic or goal to the point that she can rest assured that no stone was left unturned. She took one bookkeeping course and was able to successfully run the accounting for my parent’s remodel construction and rental businesses. To do this after one class shows she’s got game when it comes to math. However, I suspect that her tenacity had even more to do with her gaining this skillset than a predisposition to numbers. When learning how to navigate the social support systems available to help my intellectually- and developmentally-disabled brother, she became a literal expert on the topic, to the point where she eventually became a board member and staff member for a local service nonprofit.

Her example taught me that investing the time and energy necessary to truly understand something yields major benefits. I can largely attribute my successes in school and work to this ethos. In a hyper specialized global economy, an eager-verging-on-manic quest to master the details of whatever you’ve decided to care about and spend time doing is a recipe for success. And I don’t think I would have appreciated that, had I not seen the fruits of my mom’s labor in my and my family’s life.

Susan – My mom quietly leads by example. She will be the first one to tell you that raising me was not without its challenging moments (pause for a collective gasp). I always had a deep curiosity for the world around me and questioned everything all the time (still do). I wanted to understand “the why.” As I am sure most parents will tell you, sometimes the answer has to be “because I said so.” But to a precocious kid, that is rarely good enough. Whether it was intentional or not, my mom taught me about leadership. While most kids were outside playing with friends during summer vacations, she had me start the day by completing workbooks, memorizing multiplication tables, learning verb/noun agreement, and using my imagination. Sure, I spent the afternoons riding my bike and playing with friends, but she taught me that learning never takes a break, and that achieving worthwhile goals takes hard work. Without requesting any input from me, my mom and dad decided that I needed siblings. Apparently, they already saw the pitfalls if I were to be an only child. She knew that I needed to learn to care about others and why it mattered. Every day, we must interact with other people. Some of us enjoy the prospect of meeting a stranger, especially if they eventually become a friend, but others would rather avoid other people altogether. Regardless of what we choose to pursue by way of a career, we all need to learn how to get along with other people and part of this role is taking time to learn about and understand them. Despite my initial misgivings over having siblings, my mom taught me that the privilege we have in leadership comes with the responsibility to care for other people. Ultimately, through a lot of patience and tears, she taught me accountability—for my actions, for how I treat others, and for the decisions I make. We are far from perfect people. We all make mistakes—some that people may never know about, while others end up as stories, distorted over time. We are all accountable to someone, but the most important person that my mom taught me to be accountable to was myself. As leaders, we have a choice in how we react, how we treat people, and how we engage in business—we should always choose to learn from our past because we owe it to ourselves to be a better version and because my mom said so.

To all the moms out there: thank you for your wisdom, silliness, and sacrifice. The world’s a better place for it.

P.S.A. For everyone else, we posted this blog early so you would remember to do something special for the individual who you gave the title of mom.