Leadership Lessons from the Tooth Fairy

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LeaderMom

By Maria Casey

Twitter: mhcasey

Like you, I am a working mom. On my best days, I like to consider myself a leader of work, home, and family.

LeaderMom was born from the idea that developing oneself as a leader at home/work and in your family is the most important job (and legacy) that there is. That being said, how do we as intelligent-multitasking-stressed-passionate-committed moms do it? It's a noble goal to build this brilliant leadership structure for work, home, and family, but where is the How-To manual?

It's here.

LeaderMoms know that many of the techniques we use to lead in the workplace can be tweaked for home and family, and vice versa. Here at LeaderMom we will explore those techniques and how they work to help us be effective leaders in the most important areas of our lives.

So, if you are a busy mom (working outside the home, in the home, or both) and are looking for ideas, inspiration, and just-add-water strategies for making work/home/family life a little bit easier, this is the place for you.

Leadership Lessons from the Tooth Fairy

Posted on August 05, 2013

related tags: Balance Family, Family Fun, Career, Mom at Work

It's been a teeth-themed week at Casa Casey...

Last weekend, my sister needed all her wisdom teeth taken out and this week Courtney lost both of her front teeth. In between all the blood, tears, and laughs there were some interesting leadership lessons inspired by the tooth fairy.

Lesson 1 - Values and priorities
My sister's surgery was unscheduled (until it had to be) and once again, life reorganizes to take care of family first. The knowledge of clear priorities and the ability to be flexible in scheduling work and life to focus on what is most important at the moment was highlighted once again this week. This LeaderMom made space in life and in my house (where little existed) for what mattered most because it mattered the most.

Lesson 2 - Listen
Discussions of the tooth fairy and her logistical machinations were intense this past week. Interestingly, these conversations lead to other conversations about dying, heaven, Santa Claus, and growing up. Yet another example of this LeaderMom needing to listen, be present, and be ready to go where the conversation went.

Lesson 3 - Exhale
Once teeth were wiggled/removed/pulled it was time for the simple things - ice cream, homemade macaroni and cheese, and smoothies. There was something refreshing about the only goal for the day being the need to slow down and focus on care and feeding. After juggling many priorities and a total of six teeth, the act of making comfort food and watching movies was the medicine we all needed.

It's funny how these leadership lessons creep into everyday life...just like how the tooth fairy magically creeps in and does her work! My toothless girlies!