What to do when marketing yourself makes you want to hide under your desk
Last week, a group of Female Lawyers’ Club members got together for a roundtable on marketing ourselves. I opened by admitting that the whole subject makes me want to hide under my desk, and that I’m sometimes the person who’ll spend far too long agonising over a two-line LinkedIn comment. It turns out I’m not the only one.
Why senior women leave law firms, in their own words
Over the summer, I asked you what law firms could do better to keep you and promote you. In total, 109 of you answered, and today I'm publishing what you said in The Female Lawyer Retention Report. I’ve given a summary of what the report says in this week’s email, but I highly encourage you to read the report itself when you have a minute (the link is below). It’s an eye-opening read and reminds us all not only that the patriarchy is still very much alive and kicking in the legal industry (who knew?!) but, more importantly, gives many ideas on what we and our firms can do about it to make our profession more equitable for everyone.
Why some networking events feel effortless (and others don't)
You know the feeling. You walk into a networking event and you're on. You remember names, people laugh at your jokes, you leave feeling like you could take on the world. Then a few weeks later, you walk into the same room and you can barely string a sentence together and are dreading speaking to anyone. You want to leave the second you arrive.
You're the same person, with the same skills, in the same kind of room. Yet the experience feels completely different.
How can we be two different people? The answer may be hormones.
Is apologising gendered?
Occasionally the idea for a blog doesn't so much suggest itself as smack me in the face and insist that I write it. This is one such occasion.
This was prompted by three separate incidents in fairly short order. I was on the receiving end of suboptimal behaviour from three different people, and on none of these occasions did the person apologise. I say “people” when what I actually mean is “men”, and it gave me pause to wonder whether the propensity to apologise, or not, is gendered. I had a suspicion that it was, and this prompted me to look into it further.
The ten-minute LinkedIn upgrade every female lawyer needs
We ran a masterclass recently with Mike Roberts, founder of Making Digital Real, who helps professionals use tools like LinkedIn, video and AI to build visibility online. I'd already been to one of his sessions back in April and picked up plenty then, but somehow there was still more to learn.
LinkedIn is a wonderful tool for female lawyers. With a few small upgrades to your profile that you can make in minutes, you can help your ideal clients find you more easily, without even leaving the house. That's a huge win for very little effort.