Benno Legler
Head of Operations
Being a parent has shown me what it feels like to have daycare calling to pick up your sick child. This helps me both in my role as a manager and as a colleague.

Between care work and leadership: An interview on parental leave

Benno Legler was the first member of WifOR’s leadership team to take almost seven months of parental leave. Beyond the professional sphere, this also meant learning how to disconnect from the daily work and fighting some personal preconceptions. In this new edition of My WifOR Journey, Benno shares his experience and lessons learned.

Benno, what were your first thoughts related to work when you knew you were going to have a baby?

Benno: My first thoughts were that I need to tell Dennis, our CEO, that I will become a father. From the beginning, my wife and I knew that we were going to do the 50/50 approach. The two of us wanted to have half of the time that can be taken in Germany as parental leave to spend time with our son. For me, that meant being away from work for almost seven months.

It was not hard to tell Dennis about it, he was very happy for us. Afterwards, we talked on a very constructive level about planning ahead and organizing the tasks and topics I am responsible for.

All in all, it was easy to tell the news, and I felt responsible from the beginning to organize the work ahead the best that I could.

Did you have concerns or worries about taking parental leave? 

To be honest, I had two fears that changed with time. The first one was that, while I was away, my teammates would come to the realization that they don’t need me as everything runs smoothly while I am out of the office. The second one was that I might let people down if I am unable to organize all the tasks and all the things I do on a regular basis for others to take over.

Were you confronted with any gender stereotypes? 

I wasn’t confronted with stereotypes in my working environment, more so in my personal circle. There were some interesting situations in which I was asked: “Oh, so you’re doing seven months of parental leave?”. But at work, everybody was supportive and encouraging, from the CEO to my peers in the leadership team. And we as a family had no doubt that this was the path we wanted to take.

From the practical side, how did you organize the work for the time you would be on parental leave?

We have a task management tool, and I created a “parental leave board” in a specific area within the tool around six months before my leave. I put thought into the areas I am responsible for within my department, then I collected tasks and topics. These include current matters as well as things that could come up in the future. 

Step by step, I assigned different colleagues within my department these specific tasks. Then we began discussing what needed to be done. My idea was to give my teammates the best overview and heads-up possible. 

What were challenges or surprises you encountered during your parental leave?

Surprisingly, after I started my parental leave, I was far away from the daily business in my head. I started working 15 years ago after I finished my studies, and I had not stopped since. So, this kind of break from my regular schedule showed me there are other important aspects in life. In this case, it was the care work, and the time spent with my son.

I thought it would take much longer to achieve that distance from work topics or that I would check my work mobile on a regular basis. While I answered some messages, I did not do it in an excessive way, nor did I feel that the job was shifting my focus.

How was it to come back to work? 

The first week I felt melancholic, because I valued this time off and how precious it was to spend time with my son. Still, coming back I also felt more alive, because I also realized that doing care work only would not be a long-term model for me. Working at WifOR is inspiring and stimulating, so I am grateful that I can have this mix between the two worlds.

Has being away from work changed your mindset in any way?

I can now say that, when you are passionate about your job, being away helps you too. It helps you to zoom out of some situations or stay out of the nitty-gritty detail. Now I feel I have colleagues who are much better at taking care of such details. When you have a child, especially a baby, you need to learn to prioritize. And so, I think it helps to put the spotlight on the important things

What would you repeat and what would you do differently? 

I would again put a lot of trust in my colleagues and trust they take care of the daily business, because they did, so I wouldn’t change this.

But then, if a colleague said, “I am taking parental leave”, I would ask them questions to help them prepare for the handover. What are possible challenges that could arise? Who is a deputy person who is able to address these challenges? Did you do everything you could to prepare this person to handle these tasks?

Additionally, I would also strengthen the link between the leadership team and my operations team so that there is a clear representative when someone is absent. Naturally, in seven months a lot of unexpected things happen, so being ready for unplanned situations helps.

What is the main lesson you want to share? 

I think it is important to give a disclaimer before I answer the question. I am so lucky to have experienced that journey because my wife and I had the economic possibilities to do so. That is, being able to take care of our family when it comes to earnings, job security, and so on.

But then I would say that, if you have the chance to take parental leave, you should do it for as long as you can. This also applies if, for example, you feel stuck at work or you need a break. I would suggest taking a sabbatical or a pause for several months. From the work side, in my view, it makes you a better employee, because you gain new outlooks and learn to zoom out of situations. I believe it is a chance for everyone to widen their horizon and have a different perspective on their working life.

I am very grateful I could have this experience, because it was extremely enriching.

And if you had to summarize your journey in three words, what would these be?

Totally worth it!

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