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.
How to Hack Your Time
Recently in Female Lawyers’ Club, we were fortunate enough to have the wonderful Vikki Yaffe talk to us about “How to hack your time.”
I commented at the start of the session that, a lot of the time, we don’t necessarily have a time management issue – we just have too many things to do. I think this is particularly the case in the law where very often we can’t shortcut things: if we bill by the hour, we have to physically spend a fixed amount of time working on things in order for us to achieve our targets or get paid. How very 19th century!
What I Wish I’d Known When I Started Out
A couple of weeks ago, I asked this question on LinkedIn:
“If you’re a senior female lawyer, can you let me know:
What is the one thing you wished you’d known earlier in your career?”
I received replies from many women across various roles and firms, and I am enormously grateful to those of you who took the time to reply. I have kept the replies anonymous as promised.
I have added my own thoughts at the end of the blog.