Lissa Warren (@lissawarren.bsky.social)

Parenthood Advantage: Stop Losing Your Best Talent 𝗛𝗥 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. Discover why 100% of parents report improved workplace skills, yet the motherhood penalty and manager assumptions are driving your best employees out the door. What if your biggest retention risk isn't compensation—it's how you handle working parents? Mason Donovan and Mark Kaplan join Kim Bohr with shocking research: every single parent they interviewed said becoming a parent made them a BETTER employee—more empathetic, resilient, organized, and adaptable. Yet women still face a 4% income penalty per child while men get a 6% bonus. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿-𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 "𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝗼𝗳" 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. 🎯 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻: ✅ The retention crisis hiding in your parent population—and why you're not seeing it ✅ The personal NICU story that sparked this research—and what it reveals about workplace support gaps ✅ Why the "motherhood penalty" persists despite parents developing skills companies desperately need ✅ The manager assumption trap that derails careers (even with good intentions) ✅ How to own your parental leave when 95% of companies won't adequately support you ✅ 3 organizational quick wins to stop the talent bleed: mentoring, ERGs, and coaching programs ✅ Why parenthood is a transition arc, not a "switch off/switch on" moment ✅ Practical scripts for the conversation with HR and your manager 📖 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥: Get 25% off The Parenthood Advantage with code COURAGE 👉 Link in description ⏱️ 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗦: 00:00 - Introduction: The retention crisis for working parents 01:47 - Mason's NICU story: Managing business + early parenthood 04:47 - Mark: "Parenthood changes people" - the transformation research 06:20 - The shocking stat: 100% said it made them better employees + motherhood penalty explained 22:09 - The "good intention trap" that drives talent away 23:43 - Mark's advice: Look at the arc of the whole transition 24:54 - First step: Go to HR with this question 27:14 - "Own your leave" - The 95% reality check 28:02 - Closing + special book discount offer 👥 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗦: 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗻 and 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗞𝗮𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 are Managing Partners of The Dagoba Group, advising Fortune 1000 companies on inclusive leadership and organizational culture. Authors of The Inclusion Dividend, SET for Inclusion, and The Golden Apple—featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Fast Company. 🔗 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 & 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸: [The Dagoba Group LinkedIn] 🔗 Get the book: The Parenthood Advantage (October 2025, DG Press) 📚 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗘𝗦: 📊 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 - Discover why 71% of organizations face disruption but only 36% emerge stronger: https://www.sparkeffect.com/trust-report 🎙️ 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 - More episodes on building trust-driven organizations: https://www.couragetoadvancepodcast.com 📘 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 - Tools and frameworks from this episode: https://www.couragetoadvancepodcast.com 💼 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 - Transform your organizational culture: https://www.sparkeffect.com 💡 𝗞𝗘𝗬 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗬: Your best employees aren't leaving because they became parents—they're leaving because you don't know how to support them. Parenthood develops exactly the skills modern organizations need: empathy, resilience, time management, crisis response. But you only capture this advantage if you build cultures that support parents through the transition with genuine partnership, not just policies or well-intentioned assumptions. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁. 🎧 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘: Hosted by Kim Bohr, President & COO of SparkEffect. We explore how leaders build organizations where humans thrive—featuring executives who refuse to accept that business has to be dehumanizing. Based on SparkEffect's Trust Performance Index research showing organizational resilience patterns. New episodes every Tuesday 🔔 Subscribe so you don't miss the next conversation. 🔗 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧: SparkEffect: https://sparkeffect.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sparkeffect/ Trust Report: https://www.sparkeffect.com/trust-report Podcast Website: https://www.couragetoadvancepodcast.com/ #ParenthoodAdvantage #TalentRetention #HRLeadership #WorkingParents #EmployeeEngagement #OrganizationalCulture #InclusiveLeadership Courage to Advance is produced by SparkEffect © 2025 https://bit.ly/4rgaYm0