How to Claim Your Power as an Influential Woman in Law
“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”
Yesterday, we had the incredible Dion Johnson deliver an inspiring masterclass to Female Lawyers’ Club in which she talked about the P.O.W.E.R principle: the secret to unlocking and unleashing your most powerful expression as a woman, leader and changemaker in law.
Dion is a Board-level leader, development strategist for women in senior leadership, author and international conference speaker. Dion challenges women leaders to respond to the call to show up, speak up, and shake things the hell up in their industry.
Dion’s message is worth sharing: she invites us to step up and be powerful leaders in our own right.
She reminds us that we all have an influence in law and society; perhaps more than we think.
The current system is not working. The gender pay gap and lack of diversity in the legal profession remain despite the efforts of many to resolve them.
Dion spoke of how the law needs a new set of powerful leaders. Leaders who care about the greater good, about the planet and the next generation.
Dion reminds us that we are all powerful.
What if the next leader that is needed is YOU?
What if YOUR ideas or insights were what is needed?
What if YOU know things that can really shift the needle?
Why not YOU?
It’s a fundamental truth that YOU are powerful.
YOU have the capacity to make things happen.
Dion spoke to us about how she had to unmask herself and discover her own power:
She is a black woman in a white man’s world.
She was born with a facial disfigurement in a world that is obsessed with beauty.
She is a devoted Christian in a secular world.
She realised some years ago that she was hurting herself by hiding behind a mask. She encourages all of us to remove our masks and be “radically authentic”. Who are you, really? And who are you becoming?
She reminded us that our deepest desire is for us to be seen and heard for who we really are.
Our deepest fear is also for us to be seen and heard for who we really are!
The legal profession needs us to show up as ourselves and claim our power. Dion talked of three steps to help us do this:
1. Set your intention - if you can conceive that there is a more powerful version of you, that there is more for you to contribute, the first thing to do is to set the intention to be her. Give her room to emerge.
2. Create a steadfast commitment to the following:
P – Paradigm shift – we need to move from a victim status (by focusing on how the system doesn’t like us or want us) to become the powerful creators of our own experience.
O – Ownership – start to own our power; just as we own property, we need to be as resolute in owning our own power. Realise that we have the authority and the right to call for change.
W – Wisdom – recognise that we all have personal experiences that have taught us many things that make us wise. We don’t often credit our own wisdom.
E – Expression – we must share our ideas, insights, what’s working, what’s not working, how things could be, how they need to be. We need to express what we need. Don’t let perfectionism stand in your way. Discuss your ideas with others and allow them to form and change over time.
R – Righteousness – be prepared to call out things that we see in our firms that are just plain wrong. This takes courage.
3. Strategic partnerships – we can’t do this on our own. We need to form strategic networks and partnerships to make change happen in our firms and in society. Dion pointed out that those on the call had done this already by joining Female Lawyers’ Club. You can join us too!
Dion left us feeling inspired and empowered. Her session was a great reminder that we can all effect change by having the courage to become the most powerful version of ourselves and stepping up to be the leaders the law and wider society need us to be.
You can catch the replay by joining Female Lawyers’ Club via the link below.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
~Rachel