FYI: Hot Flashes Happen at Work Too
“Barack was surrounded by women in his cabinet, many going through menopause. He didn’t fall apart... It was just sort of like, ‘Oh. Well, turn the air conditioner on.’”
Hey, if the former President of the United States can deal with menopause in the workplace, so should everyone else. If I worked in an office--post-Covid, of course--I hope I would be brave enough to tell people that I'm peri-menopausal and feeling anxious or overheated or depressed. We talk about the emotional and physical pitfalls of pregnancy around the water cooler, right? There's no reason to pretend that menopause isn't happening.
In fact, we lose out by not talking about it. Here's why: Women move into top management positions around the time--between ages 45 and 55--that their hormones go haywire. The Harvard Business Review reports that 60% of working U.K. menopausal women said the symptoms had a negative impact on their performance. British politicians are pushing for new policies in the workplace to protect women going through menopause. I bet we'll see similar initiatives here in the U.S. too--if we all start talking about it.