Women for Women: Why We Need to Lean in to Each Other

"You don't have to sell the brownies so hard. They sell themselves."

So said the eighth-grade mom to me as we worked concessions together before our children's band concert. She was a font of been-there advice for me, a first-timer for all things middle school.

While I certainly appreciated learning how not to get shut out from the sold-out band performances--who even knew that such things could happen?!--what really resonated for me was her impromptu offer to share two years of hard-won experience with me.

Women helping women--what could be better? In our "Women for Women" feature, on workingmother.com, we explore what leads women (including me sometimes) to lean in to judgment and criticism of one another, rather than kindness and support. We share tales of moms who have experienced that lack of support and goes on to examine what it will take for us to truly serve our sisterhood of working moms.

"I'm sorry to all the mothers I used to work with," said former Washington Post and Huffington Post editor Katharine Zaleski in a recent article on fortune.com. What opened her eyes? Her own working motherhood, of course. And while we applaud growth and awareness, let us not wait until life forces our eyes open before realizing the importance of supporting the women around us--whether at work, in the community or at school.

You can bet that as I put that mom's tips to work for me this school year,
I will also pay them forward to the next crop of stressed-out sixth-grade moms. We are all sisters, so please join me this month in taking a moment to lend a hand to a woman in your world.