How Do I Manage a Performance Review after Maternity Leave?

Dear Lean In,

I had a tricky half year with a new baby and an eight-year-old with complex health issues, which we’re gradually resolving. I didn’t drop the ball, but it wasn’t the most stellar six months of my career. How do I show up well in my performance review?

— Holding It Together

Dear Holding It Together,

You’re thinking about your career while managing a newborn and a seriously unwell child. That tenacity deserves recognition, so let’s make sure your review reflects it.

Give yourself credit. Write down every meaningful contribution from the past six months: projects delivered, problems solved, metrics moved. Then share a short, easy-to-read version with your boss. Research shows that working mothers tend to underestimate their own performance, so make sure you highlight all your achievements.

Describe your context, briefly and without apology. Left unexplained, a dip in output can feed assumptions about working mothers: that family comes first and commitment has wavered. A single sentence can get ahead of that: “It’s been an unusually demanding six months personally, and I’m proud of what I was still able to contribute.” Then pivot to your accomplishments.

Use the review to look ahead. Ask your manager what they’d want to see from you in the next six months. That question can reframe the conversation from a verdict on the last six months to a roadmap for the next.

Good luck and warm wishes,

— Dr. Mary Noble-Tolla, Director of Research and Content, LeanIn.Org