How to Overcome Self-Sabotaging Patterns and SHINE as a Female Lawyer
As female lawyers, we often face immense pressure—juggling a tough career, personal lives, and societal expectations. These challenges can make us vulnerable to self-sabotaging patterns that not only hinder our career growth but also affect our well-being.
This is why I was thrilled to welcome Estelle Read of Beee Coaching to deliver her insightful masterclass, How to Overcome Five Self-Sabotaging Patterns, So That You SHINE.
Here’s a summary of what she shared and why it’s relevant to female lawyers striving to get ahead in their careers while maintaining work-life balance.
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.
Returning from Maternity Leave as a Lawyer – A Guide
When I returned from maternity leave after having each of my two children, there were few people to ask as there were so few senior female lawyers, let alone female lawyers with children, at the firm I worked for at the time. In fact, it’s one of the reasons I set up this community – so that there would be a place for women to give advice, support and encouragement to each other.
I asked my network for their advice and tips and here’s what they said. I’ve added my advice at the end.
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.