What are you willing to tolerate?
“You cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself as belonging to it and responsible for changing it.”
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hearing psychologist and author John Amaechi speak at Gunnercooke’s annual Symposium.
He has that rare ability to combine insight with humour - to make you laugh one moment and reflect deeply the next. His calm presence and gift for storytelling left a real impression on the room.
But one thing he said has stayed with me ever since:
“Culture is defined by the worst behaviours tolerated.”
— John Amaechi, The Promises of Giants
I’ve been thinking about that quote a lot.
It took me straight back to a law firm I once worked in, where one of the partners was, frankly, a hideous bully.
Everyone knew it. He regularly made pejorative comments to women in meetings. He had a reputation for being difficult and discriminatory. And yet nothing happened.
I once plucked up the courage and raised it at an away day with the managing partner. He looked sad, sighed, and said:
“We just need people to raise formal complaints. Then we can do something about it.”
But that wasn’t true. The firm already knew. And everyone else knew that raising a grievance would have seriously damaged their prospects at the firm. So, the behaviour was tolerated. Justified, even - because the bully had important client relationships and brought in money.
And so the message was clear: certain behaviours would be tolerated if you were powerful enough. And culture was shaped accordingly.
But it doesn’t have to be that way
That experience stayed with me. But so did another one - one that came years later.
In last week’s blog, I shared how emotional I felt after speaking with Alison Eddy, not because of anything upsetting, but because I’d finally heard a different kind of leadership story.
For years, I’d assumed most traditional law firms were broadly the same, especially when it came to culture (fee-share and consultant-model firms like Gunnercooke and Keystone aside).
But I was wrong. Some firms are very different indeed.
Speaking to Alison, and to the other women I interviewed for my book chapter, I saw for the first time what courageous, powerful, emotionally intelligent leadership could really look like. It is happening. And it is possible. Good news indeed – and I genuinely hadn’t known it before.
And that’s why, in this blog, I want to spotlight a few law firms that are walking the talk when it comes to culture and inclusion. Because while many firms still tolerate damaging behaviour, others are showing what’s possible when inclusion is integrated - not an afterthought.
Several firms stand out for the way they’ve embedded inclusion into their operations and leadership expectations:
🌟 Irwin Mitchell LLP
They’ve exceeded gender parity in their partnership: 58% of partners are women.
As Alison Eddy explains:
“It’s largely because management bought in; diversity objectives are written into standard performance conversations … Culture is a critical business asset.”
🌟 Seyfarth Shaw
They’ve embedded inclusive leadership training firm-wide, giving leaders the accountability and skills to model inclusive behaviour. Their executive committee includes women, Latina, Black, and LGBTQ+ partners - and it’s not an accident.
🌟 Finnegan
They apply the Mansfield Rule, ensuring at least 30% of candidates for leadership roles come from underrepresented groups, including women, minority, and LGBTQ+ lawyers.
🌟 Reed Smith
Winners of a gender equality award, they’ve backed up their values with action:
Founded the Reignite Academy for returners
Created The Family Network and Women’s Initiative Network
50% of 2023 promotions were women
🌟 Morgan Lewis
They’ve consistently earned “Mansfield Certification Plus,” recognising the firm’s work to build a diverse leadership pipeline - not just in theory, but in practice.
Why this matters
I’m sharing these examples not to shame the firms that are further behind, but to show that change is not only possible - it’s already happening.
As I wrote in my chapter for Beyond Bias: Unleashing the Potential of Women in Law:
“Most law firm partners are intelligent, fair-minded people. I don’t believe the bias is usually conscious. It’s systemic. It’s cultural. It’s just the way things have always been done.”
But “the way things have always been done” is not a good enough reason to keep doing them.
Want to go further?
I’m now offering a practical training session for law firms on how to create more inclusive leadership cultures, based on the key themes from my chapter.
We’ll look at:
Expose the hidden norms influencing who gets promoted - and who doesn’t
Embed inclusive behaviours that strengthen engagement, performance, and retention
Modernise leadership without losing excellence or ambition
Learn why inclusive firms outperform exclusive ones - and how to make that a commercial reality
If you’re in a position of influence at your firm, or even if you’re not the decision-maker but you’d like to share this with someone who is, I’d love to talk.
Let’s make better leadership the rule - not the exception.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
Rachel
Ps you can listen to John Amaechi’s talk with Gunnercooke Co-founder Darryl Cooke via the links below. It’s a thoughtful and inspiring discussion that I think is well worth your time.