Day in the life: Practical parenting for Roche Diagnostics HR head

Kristen Pressner, a senior executive at Roche Diagnostics and a mother-of-four, attributes her success to her husband who gave up a career in chemical engineering to be a stay-at-home dad.

Kristen Pressner of Roche Diagnostics delivered a keynote address at the Women in Leadership conference in Abu Dhabi this month on female leadership and ‘having it all’. Christopher Pike / The NationalShow less

Kristen Pressner is the vice president, head of HR in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America for Roche Diagnostics, a diagnostic division of Hoffmann-La Roche. Hailing from Ohio, US, Ms Pressner, 45, has lived in Basel, Switzerland, for eight years with her stay-at-home husband and four children, ages 15, 13, 11 and nine. The senior executive delivered a keynote address at the Women in Leadership conference in Abu Dhabi this month on female leadership and “having it all”.

6am

I spend half my life travelling, so the time I get up depends when the flight is. My husband and I have the stereotypical gender roles of caregiver and employee flipped. I have a lot of the communal qualities that women are known for, in being caring and nurturing, while my husband has more of the male qualities – yet both of us have managed to be really successful in non-traditional roles.

6.30am

I do a lot of things at once, so I get ready, eat breakfast and help the children at the same time. Breakfast is always two eggs and a piece of toast. I’m hypoglycaemic so I have to manage my energy levels very specifically.

7am

My husband takes the kids to school. He is the default person with any matters involving the children. I love that our children – two boys and two girls – are exposed to non-traditional gender roles. Just as gender stereotypes aren’t always fair to women, they’re not always fair to men either. It wasn’t always easy for my husband to be in that role – he gave up a very successful career as a chemical engineer – but he made that choice because he saw the longer-term value.

7.30am

I take a walk. I wear a fitness tracker as I set a goal in 2014 that I would do 10,000 steps every day. I made 365 days in a row and I’ll never do that again. This year my goal is 70,000 steps in a week, which gives me day-to-day flexibility. Hitting the steps was a leap of faith in my mental health. I always told myself I didn’t have time. But when I get my fitness in, everything else happens more efficiently. Now when I don’t get my steps, I really feel it.

8am

My office is 90 minutes away in beautiful Rotkreuz in the mountains, so the days when I have meetings there, I get up earlier to make the drive. Otherwise, I have meetings in Basel at our corporate headquarters.

9am

I’ll meet business leaders, coaching managers or employees to discuss developing themselves, or being considered for a next possible opportunity. One of my biggest passions is unleashing untapped potential in people – seeing that there’s something in there that hasn’t yet come out and helping either the employee recognise it or in some cases having their management recognise it.

10am

I have a coaching discussion with an employee about what’s the right next step for them. There’s a saying that the enemy of the great is the good. One thing I can’t stand is when we move people into a good next step. I want them to be moved into a great next step that stretches them and delivers the most for the business.

11am

An employee returning from maternity leave was being offered a promotion, and was concerned she would be short-changing her child. A lot of women make a trade off in the short-term not to do everything they’re capable of because they fear the knock-on effect. I was almost paralysed by those fears many times. But because of the support of my husband, a dose of courage and good luck, I managed to do it. My kids have turned out really well and no one is worse off because I work.

12.30pm

I wolf down a sandwich and then go walking. As the nature of my job is advice-giving and mentoring, I say to people “if you want me to squeeze you in, I’m going to be walking” and they’re fine with it, so I can multi-task.

2pm

I have a phone call with a colleague regarding a leadership convention we’re arranging. We’ve got 60 business leaders from around the world and we’re on a four-year journey to transition their leadership into being leaders of the Vuca (volatile, uncertain, changing, ambiguous world). Twice a year we do a skill-building conference on how leadership is evolving.

6.45pm

I’m home to enjoy a family dinner, but it doesn’t always happen. After that I’m on the phone handling loose ends and preparing for the next day.

7.30pm

I go for a walk with my husband, while the children clear up dinner. The conversations we have inside the house are “who’s picking who up from football?” or “what’s for dinner?” When we take a walk, I share my day and the things that concern me. The unexpected side effect of getting 10,000 steps a day was that it brought me closer to him.

8pm

No matter how old the kids are, we have a rule that I don’t see them after 8pm because until 10pm is my time with my husband, when we watch TV or talk.

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