The Struggle To Achieve Equity Partner Status

law2.jpgby Anna Collins, Esq. (Portland, Maine)

When the National Association of Women Lawyers released its annual survey at the end of last year, the statistics regarding women equity partners were sobering. Only 16% of equity partners are women. On average, only 15% of a firm’s highest governing committee members are women, and 15% of the national’s largest firms have no women on their highest governing committee. Furthermore, only 6% of firm managing partners are women. Since men earn almost $90,000 more than women at the equity level, ignoring the hurdles women face is not an option. When we spoke to women lawyers about the hurdles women face on the path to equity partnership, they inevitably identified three challenges: (1) a lack of role models or mentors; (2) the increasing importance of a book of business; (3) work-place bias.

Lack of Role Models

Christine Kirchner of Chamberlain Hrdlicka in Houston, believes a lack of role models is an important hurdle women lawyers face. “As an associate in our commercial litigation group,” she recalls “I was the only woman for a number of years and did not have anyone to serve as a mentor or ‘follow in their footsteps’ in building a practice, networking or developing business.”

“Additionally, as a younger woman,” she continues “I believe it is difficult to develop business when many of the decision makers within companies are still men and feel comfortable handing work to lawyers with whom they have developed a personal relationship over the years.” As a result of a lack of role models or mentors, Kirchner had to look to other women that practiced in the commercial litigation area that had been successful in Houston to develop her own “mentoring system” outside of the firm. Her initiative was instrumental to her development of her own book of business and ultimately becoming a shareholder at her firm.

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Shaking Hands With Strangers

iStock_000003154367XSmall_1_.jpgBy Heather Chapman (New York City)

An introduction to a previously unknown person, whether in a business or social setting, generally starts the same way: names are exchanged, eyes meet, and a handshake seals the deal. Pretty standard, right? But, every now and again, especially in a business setting, you could find yourself in an awkward moment of silence, not wanting to offend and in a quandary as to the proper order in which to proceed with introductions.

Until relatively recent times, protocol dictated that a man be introduced first. The practice was carried over from medieval times, when the highest-ranking person in the room was always the person to whom someone was introduced. (“Your Highness, may I introduce His Grace, the Earl of Green,” for example.) With those times behind, the question still remains: who should be introduced to whom first? The most senior person, the man you work with, or the woman standing next to you? And, is it politically incorrect to introduce someone to a male coworker before introducing that person to a female coworker?

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Telecommuting from the Top

telecommute_.jpgBy Paige Churchman (New York City)

“Phoning it in” used to be an insult implying a lackadaisical performance, but now that many of us have phones practically implanted in our skulls, phoning it in is de rigueur at least some of the time. Telecommuting is everywhere. Even the denizens of the corner offices, who once shunned anything with a keyboard, now carry them in their pockets. The Glass Hammer asked two women from the C-suites—one a technology thought leader, the other on the trailing edge—about how telecommuting has affected their work life.

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Embracing Femininity at Work: A Matter of Opinion

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heel.jpgby Anna T. Collins, Esq. (Portland, Maine)

On December 23, 2008, the Daily Mail reported that image consultants hired by the British law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer had allegedly advised women at the firm to wear high heels with skirts rather than trousers to “embrace their femininity.” Read more

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Once More with Feeling: Emotions at Work

emotions.jpgBy Paige Churchman (New York City)

Two senior managers, both direct reports to the CEO, are faced off in a heated discussion. Their eyes flash. Their voices rise. Neither will give an inch. Then one shouts, “Come back when you’re not so emotional” and walks out. End of confrontation. It happened to Betty-Ann Heggie. At the time, she was the highest-ranking woman at PotashCorp and one of the few women in the mining industry. Her equally angry peer was a man. In business, to let your emotions get the best of you was to be weak, and in the dirty, sweaty, tough-guy world of mining in which they both dealt, a display of emotion could be career suicide.

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Thriving in the Downturn

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financialdecline.JPGby Sima Matthes (New York City)

Gender matters. It matters to all of us, no matter what we believe we think. It matters when we react to the associate at the bank, or the customer service representative on the phone. It matters when we mentally note that our child’s teacher is (atypically) male, or that our construction engineer is (atypically) female. It shouldn’t matter but it does.

This issue is at the core of a recent article on the news page of the UK-based Management Issues site discussed the “thickening” of the glass ceiling in response to the global economic downturn. The article highlights the findings of a 2008 study by the UK management consulting firm Hudson, which concluded that many women may be held back from the top of companies because of their tendency to be “altruistic, people-oriented, co-operative and open” even as it acknowledges that these traits are helpful in leading modern corporations. In troubled economic times, the report states, corporations tend to fall back on the “traditionally ‘male” traits of decisiveness, persuasiveness and leadership in order to survive” leaving women struggling to reach the highest levels yet again.

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Handling Sexual Harassment

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sexhara.jpgby Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

A female vice president was attending a leadership retreat for her company’s top executives. During the retreat, coworkers carpooled to and from a team building dinner; the VP was the only woman in her carpool. On the way home from the restaurant, one of her coworkers made a sexually explicit suggestion about how she could please him.

A female director at a large mutual fund company was meeting with her male superior, a senior vice president. When the meeting ended, he hugged the director and grabbed her breasts.

A well-respected female employee at a non-profit was paired up on a project with a man from the organization’s board of trustees. The trustee continually made comments about the woman’s appearance and body and compared her favorably to his wife. He also hugged her frequently.

On its website, The Sexual Harassment Prevention Institute, a corporate training company in Texas, describes sexual harassment in the workplace as a “behavior that is bothersome, irritating, demeaning, and annoying.”

But the three women mentioned above would disagree. Listening to voicemail on speakerphone is annoying. Sexually harassing a coworker can be devastating. All three of the women said their performance suffered as a result of the harassment. They were distracted at work and uncomfortable participating in group meetings and projects. One of them received her first negative performance review just months after the experience. Yet none of the women reported the incidents.

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Staying Power

workingwoman_1_.jpgBy Paige Churchman (New York City)

There are plenty of stories and statistics about the women who leave high-powered careers, but The Glass Hammer decided to look at the other side of the picture—who’s staying in the game, how do they do it and why? We talked to four women to find out what keeps them growing, motivated, happy and unstuck in their careers. All are mothers. One tried life as a stay-at-home mom but came back. All have high positions at major corporations. They’re located in New York, Chicago and Washington, DC.

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How to Survive the Offsite Meeting

conference.jpgby Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

When news of AIG’s $440,000 executive retreat hit the press just days after the federal bailout, the corporate boondoggle became an endangered species. But corporations will still continue to schedule “working” offsite meetings for their top managers.

The offsite retreat is usually a mix of work and team building sessions. Companies plan these events to strengthen teams, build mission statements or hold strategic planning sessions.

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The Continental Divide

worldmap.jpgby Pamela Weinsaft (New York City) Getting a plum expat assignment overseas is a sure sign you’re on your way to making it. Your company will likely give you an orientation to that new country – the “do’s” and “don’ts” to make sure that you fit right into your new, albeit temporary home. You immerse yourself in a different culture and possibly different language, noting all those things that are different and surprising things that are the same. But what happens when it comes time to return home? Read more

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