Jill has started blogging about her new life as head of her department. It's nice to have a female colleague in a near-by country facing some of the challenges that I have had. Sadly, I have come to realise, that even if the life as head of department is filled (sometimes) with drama and conflicts, you cant really blog about it, because of issues of confidentiality, strategics and personal considerations.

Oh, and I worked 11 hours monday and 9 yesterday. I've kinda given up keeping track, I'm just very happy when I get to do some research at all. In fact, starting the walgblog (Danish election campaign blogs) project has boosted my workday from the average 9-10 hours to some 10-12 hours, the days I do something about the blog research. But currently I see it as the price I have to pay if I want to do my job well. Trying to make sure that things run smoothly and that the now 18 people in my department are not too overloaded with work or worries requires this (though I'm not always sure that they sense that this is what Im trying to do...). And it's OK (also when people dont get what your work is about) because I voluntarily chose to go into this. Most days.

And it's OK because I haven't got my own family. Seeing the demands that being a head (not just at the ITU, but the job per se) sometimes puts on your mental and physically well-being (at least mine), I'd never gone into this if I had my own family and small children to take care of and be with as well. Now more than ever, I fully understand why many women give up pursuing a career as head/manager/leader.
# posted by Lisbeth at: 10:22