What makes a great leader in law? Not what you’ve been told
Over the past few months, I’ve been working on something very close to my heart, and it’s now finished and ready for publication.
I’ve written a chapter for the upcoming second edition of Beyond Bias: Unleashing the Potential of Women in Law, a book that brings together leading voices in the legal profession to explore what still holds women back, and how we move forward.
Why so many lawyers secretly hate business development
Earlier in my legal career, the phrase business development used to make me shudder. I thought it meant awkward networking events, trying to “sell” myself, or being highly extroverted, none of which felt like me.
Last week in Female Lawyers’ Club, we hosted a fantastic masterclass with Lara Quie, Senior Director of Business Development at FTI Consulting, to banish the myths and uncover what BD is really about.
How to cope with a legal career if you’re a worrier (like me)
Have you ever lain in bed worrying about work? Have you ever had to get OUT of bed to check an email or deadline? Had that heart-stopping moment when you think you sent the wrong attachment, or sent the email to the wrong address?
A legal career can be stressful at the best of times. And if you’re prone to worrying about things, it can quickly become a bit of a nightmare.
Becoming a Likeable Badass in Law
I’ve recently read the book “Likeable Badass” by Alison Fragale and it was filled with great advice for women professionals. It’s about how you can behave in work to get you ahead whilst maintaining your likeability (in other words, how to walk the tightrope that men don’t have to walk).
I first became aware of this tightrope when I read “Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg years ago. Sandberg talks about how when women behave assertively at work, they are perceived as less likeable which, in turn, affects their prospects of success in negotiations and their career more generally. When men behave assertively, it does not affect their likeability. The same goes for success: success and likeability are positively correlated for men but negatively correlated for women. Studies have shown that when a woman is successful, people of both genders like her less.
Time for Business Development?
Last week in Female Lawyers’ Club, we were joined by the lovely Eileen Donaghey of Donaghey and Chance, a business development consultancy. Eileen delivered a masterclass on “How to Create a Business Development Plan.”
Eileen’s session was so useful – we agreed that most law firms simply don’t teach you how to do business development. If you’re lucky, when you’re junior, you’ll be able to follow a senior lawyer round and see how they do it, but that’s usually about it. Yet if we don’t learn how to bring in new business, how are we ever going to get ahead in our careers? I want to make information like this readily available to female lawyers so they can forge a great career on their own terms.