When Dr. Parkinson retired in 2007, I stepped into the role of medical director, clipboard in hand, bright-eyed and 36 years old. I had a team of about 25, mostly women, and a solid handful of them were older than me. Some would work with cold rags wrapped around their necks in surgery. Some were short-tempered. And some could go from cool and composed to a full-blown emotional hurricane if someone forgot to put tabs on the catheter tape.<\/p>\n
The thermostat became so controversial that I had to duct-tape it closed as if it were a nuclear launch button. One minute in our hospital felt like the Arctic tundra, and the next was like Daytona Beach. Nobody could agree on the season we were in.<\/p>\n
At the time, I chalked it up to personality quirks or plain old workplace stress. Maybe they were tired. Maybe they had a rough morning with their teenagers. Maybe they hated the new lunch break schedule I rolled out.<\/p>\n
What didn\u2019t cross my mind? Menopause.<\/p>\n
Fast-forward to today. I now realize I was managing a menopausal minefield, and I didn\u2019t even know it existed.<\/p>\n
Then, five years ago, it hit me like a train. I had entered the menopause gauntlet. Suddenly, I was the one with the cold rag. I was the one who cried during a Budweiser commercial on Super Bowl Sunday. (The horses, the dog; I\u2019m not made of stone.) I was the one furious that someone had put bowls on the top rack of the dishwasher. I was the one in a daily thermostat tug-of-war with my husband \u2014 him in fleece, me sweating like a rotisserie chicken.<\/p>\n
I was also the one who couldn\u2019t remember why I walked into a room. Or why I opened the fridge. Or why I was crying. Or yelling. Or laughing maniacally. I couldn\u2019t focus. I had zero energy. I was a complete stranger to myself. And I honestly thought I was losing my mind.<\/p>\n
Then I went to my doctor.<\/p>\n
She ran labs, patted my knee in that \u201cYou\u2019re not nuts\u201d way, and gently said, \u201cYou\u2019re in menopause.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh.<\/p>\n
Once I got my hormones evened out, I felt like I had awoken from a fever dream. I returned to something resembling my old self \u2014 still a little sweaty but self-aware and no longer feral.<\/p>\n
Now that I\u2019ve been through it (and survived), I realize I missed a massive leadership opportunity back in those days. I never even considered menopause when I was managing that team of seasoned, brilliant, emotionally unpredictable women. Because I didn\u2019t know. Because no one ever told me.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not in leadership books. It\u2019s not discussed during HR training. It\u2019s not part of team-building seminars. But let me tell you something: If you\u2019re working with women over age 40, menopause is probably working with you, too.<\/p>\n
And if you\u2019re reading this and wondering if it\u2019s happening to you, well, sister, pull up a chair.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s break things down with five signs you may be in the throes of menopause:<\/p>\n
1. Your Brain Has Left the Building<\/strong><\/p>\n Your once razor-sharp memory now has the consistency of mashed potatoes. You can\u2019t recall drug doses, even the ones you\u2019ve used a hundred times. You stare at charts like they\u2019re written in hieroglyphics. You forget you already gave the Cerenia injection and spend five minutes checking Plumb\u2019s to make sure it doesn\u2019t really matter.<\/p>\n