The morning after Lois Quam gave birth to her first child, Ben, the chief of staff to the governor of Minnesota called to ask if she would chair a new state health care reform commission. She said yes and used her six-week maternity leave from UnitedHealthcare, where she was research director, to set up hearings. Suddenly, at age 28, she was a working mother with two big jobs, juggling legislative sessions, business meetings, and baby rearing.
A version of this article appeared in the January–February 2011 issue of Harvard Business Review.
