By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)
At just 36, Paula Anderson, a partner in Shearman & Sterling’s litigation practice, has already earned a national reputation, having been named to Crain’s NY Business Magazine’s “40 Under 40” list and having received the National Organization for Women’s 2012 Women of Power and Influence Award.
It is not lost on her that these are significant achievements for an African American woman in an industry where diversity is still too rare.
“I’ve been interested in diversity in the legal industry since I began my career, and it still concerns me,” she said. “I go to industry functions and there are hundreds of attorneys there, and I am often the only person of color or maybe one of about five out of hundreds. I’ve always been driven to find a way we in the legal industry can address that, to better reflect the students graduating from law school.”
Anderson is doing her part at Shearman & Sterling. She is a member of the firm’s Diversity Committee, has been active in the firm’s WISER (Women’s Initiative for Success, Excellence and Retention) inclusion network, and was the first chairperson of the firm’s African American inclusion network BLAQUE (Black Lawyers Aligned in the Quest for Excellence).
“Through our various inclusion networks, we aim not just at recruiting diverse lawyers but promoting them as well,” she explained. “At the mid-level we lose a number of these lawyers. We see too many people opt out or pursue other careers. It is an industry-wide issue.”
Anderson adds that Shearman & Sterling’s inclusion networks are designed to enable people to advance by providing two key factors for success in a legal career: mentoring and programs focused on business development and networking. She has been very open in talking with young lawyers about the stereotypes that women and people of color must contend with in their line of business.
“Access to the pathways to success also means dealing with some of the unconscious biases that may exist,” she said. “For example, there are certain preconceptions some people have with respect to women not having boardroom presence or not being aggressive enough. Particularly in the litigation field, there are certain ideas of what a successful and capable litigator should look like, and that’s often something akin to a Perry Mason.”
That’s why visibility is so important for successful role models, she added. “We need examples of women who are successful, who have their own unique style and are being themselves, and are able to relate to a board or a jury. We are making some progress in addressing these types of challenges.”
Thought Leaders: Moira Elms, Global Head of Brand and Communications, PwC
Thought LeadersI felt I had to do something about it.
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Voice of Experience: Kathy Elsesser, Managing Director and Head of Global Consumer Retail Group, Investment Banking, Goldman Sachs
Voices of Experience“Know what you want and ask for it. I have noticed a tendency on the part of the women I mentor to take what they’re given and do well with it. But the question I try to ask them is ‘what do you really want?’” She continued, “Ask for the things that will help you get that – versus accepting the things that are presented to you.”
And that mindset can benefit women throughout their career – from the entry level all the way to the top. She encouraged women to think carefully about how their skills and talents could be best leveraged at work. “Especially for women who decide to have a family, I would encourage them to think every day about how they are spending their time. As you get older, you begin to realize that time is a limited resource.”
She continued, “When you have a new project, think about whether this is important, or whether, if you personally do it, it is going to have an outsized return relative to someone else taking it on.”
“I really see women take on what they are given rather than asking whether it’s the best use for their time. If someone else can do it, give it to them and find a higher and better use for your time.”
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Should We Replace ‘Work-Life Balance’ with ‘Autonomy’?
Work-LifeNew Accenture research, published today, shows that more and more employees globally feel they are getting a handle on work life balance. In fact, according to the study, the same percentage of men and women (70 percent) say they believe they can “have it all,” just maybe not all at the same time.
This shows that people feeling a sense of empowerment about their ability to negotiate their own career and personal demands.
The research (which consisted of an online survey of 4,100 business executives at medium and large companies around the world) reflects what Accenture’s Managing Director of Global Inclusion & Diversity Nellie Borrero called a growing trend. She believes corporate culture is evolving in a way that encourages people to take more control over their own career paths. Those stats on work life balance may be part of a new global employee autonomy paradigm.
Borrero said, “We’re starting to see a shift where people feel they can ask certain questions and ask for what they need to integrate their careers and their personal lives. We want leaders to recognize that whatever we are changing about workplace culture, it’s starting to work.”
As people gain more autonomy – the ability to ask for changes and make decisions about work and life – we are seeing them become more satisfied with their jobs, and more engaged with their companies.
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Breaking Through Resistance: Achieving More by Overcoming Your Blocks
Managing ChangeDo you find yourself repeatedly facing a particular type of task or experience that you just don’t want to deal with? What is it that keeps us stuck in some areas, unable to move forward even when we desperately want to do so?
According to the American Psychological Association’s Stress in America survey, participants list lack of willpower as the top reason they fail to move forward with changes. But while you may think that you can push your way through your blocks by the force of sheer willpower, that may not be enough.
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Voice of Experience: Beverly Anderson, Executive Vice President and Head of Consumer Financial Services Group, Wells Fargo
Voices of ExperienceAccording to Beverly Anderson, Executive Vice President and Head of Wells Fargo Consumer Financial Services Group, one of the most important lessons she has learned during her career is what it means to be a leader.
“I got some really good advice a few years ago from one of my mentors, and it has helped me so much as a leader,” Anderson said. “I’m an intense person and I push pretty hard to achieve at a high bar. And what I’ve learned about that style is that it sometimes keeps people from coming along with me.”
She continued, “If my style impedes people from getting on board, that destroys my leadership brand and my ability to lead effectively.”
“What I’ve been working on is taking all of that passion and excitement and energy around business achievement, and funneling it in the right way to motivate and inspire the team I work with. It’s a fundamental shift in the way I lead and connect with my teams and partners. It’s been transformative for me.”
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Time to Rebuild: What to Do If Your Personal Brand is Killing Your Career
Ask A Career CoachDo you have a personal brand? Trust me. We all do. “It’s what they say about you when you’ve left the room,” says the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. But what if what they’re saying about you is killing your career?
I had an executive coaching client who was absolutely brilliant. She could see several steps ahead of anyone else on strategy & execution details, was the go-to person when the impossible needed to be done and no one had the guts to do it. There was just this one tiny issue. She didn’t know how to manage people. She left bodies in her path and this was preventing her from getting additional bodies reporting to her. While she had made some progress in this area, she couldn’t shake off the bad reputation. Do you know the skeletons in your personal brand closet? How do we shake these off?
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Voice of Experience: Paula Anderson, Partner, Litigation, Shearman & Sterling
Voices of ExperienceAt just 36, Paula Anderson, a partner in Shearman & Sterling’s litigation practice, has already earned a national reputation, having been named to Crain’s NY Business Magazine’s “40 Under 40” list and having received the National Organization for Women’s 2012 Women of Power and Influence Award.
It is not lost on her that these are significant achievements for an African American woman in an industry where diversity is still too rare.
“I’ve been interested in diversity in the legal industry since I began my career, and it still concerns me,” she said. “I go to industry functions and there are hundreds of attorneys there, and I am often the only person of color or maybe one of about five out of hundreds. I’ve always been driven to find a way we in the legal industry can address that, to better reflect the students graduating from law school.”
Anderson is doing her part at Shearman & Sterling. She is a member of the firm’s Diversity Committee, has been active in the firm’s WISER (Women’s Initiative for Success, Excellence and Retention) inclusion network, and was the first chairperson of the firm’s African American inclusion network BLAQUE (Black Lawyers Aligned in the Quest for Excellence).
“Through our various inclusion networks, we aim not just at recruiting diverse lawyers but promoting them as well,” she explained. “At the mid-level we lose a number of these lawyers. We see too many people opt out or pursue other careers. It is an industry-wide issue.”
Anderson adds that Shearman & Sterling’s inclusion networks are designed to enable people to advance by providing two key factors for success in a legal career: mentoring and programs focused on business development and networking. She has been very open in talking with young lawyers about the stereotypes that women and people of color must contend with in their line of business.
“Access to the pathways to success also means dealing with some of the unconscious biases that may exist,” she said. “For example, there are certain preconceptions some people have with respect to women not having boardroom presence or not being aggressive enough. Particularly in the litigation field, there are certain ideas of what a successful and capable litigator should look like, and that’s often something akin to a Perry Mason.”
That’s why visibility is so important for successful role models, she added. “We need examples of women who are successful, who have their own unique style and are being themselves, and are able to relate to a board or a jury. We are making some progress in addressing these types of challenges.”
Read more
Movers & Shakers: Latasha Brown, Senior Manager, Assurance, PwC
Movers and ShakersLatasha Brown, Senior Manager, Assurance, at PwC says she is cautious about speaking for all women in accounting when it comes to the challenges associated with gender or race. “But,” she continued, “I can certainly speak for myself, and the experiences of my close associates and colleagues. And I would say one of the main barriers or hurdles is holding onto the belief that it’s enough to just show up and be good.”
“It really is important to develop meaningful relationships with your clients, advocates and sponsors. I still find that some of our male counterparts tend do a better job of selling themselves, and putting themselves out there,” she explained.
“In my experience the challenge for women is not to put those limitations on yourself, by staying inside your comfort zone.” She added, “I have learned that opportunities come to those who step outside that comfort zone.”
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Voice of Experience: Dayle Davison, Managing Director, Citi Private Bank
Voices of ExperienceDayle Davison, Managing Director at Citi Private Bank, spoke enthusiastically about the importance of networking – particularly for African American professionals.
“Are there challenges for African Americans and women in this industry?” Davison asked. “Sure. But I don’t think they are as prevalent as they might have been in the past. We have come a long way.”
“When I first joined the bank, women wore a uniform – nondescript suits with weird ties. Now we are able to wear clothing that doesn’t try to hide the fact that we’re women,” she continued. “But I think the biggest barrier is the absence of an historical network for women, and definitely for African Americans.”
She referred to a recent Fortune Magazine interview with Bob Johnson, the founder of BET. “He speaks very broadly about building strategic partnerships and your brand identity, but also, he discusses challenges that African Americans in business have faced in breaking through barriers.”
“It comes down to that historical network we haven’t had,” she continued, “but we’re building it, and I feel very good about the future.”
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Movers and Shakers: Harlo Holmes, Research Fellow and Head of Metadata, The Guardian Project
Movers and ShakersHarlo Holmes, a Research Fellow at the Guardian Project, says she is just getting started in her career. But as a lead developer on two of the Guardian Project’s biggest endeavors – ObscuraCam and InformaCam, the latter of which just received a sizeable grant from the Knight Foundation – she is certainly a rising star in the open source technology space.
She believes there are some challenges for women and people of color in the tech world, but it depends on the norms of each particular area of the industry. “It’s really difficult in any field for anyone who doesn’t fit the status quo to thrive. But I’m incredibly optimistic about it,” she said.
In the Silicon Valley atmosphere – of which, Holmes emphasized, she is not a part – those challenges may be more pronounced. “I think it’s difficult for anyone who’s not in the status quo, but I think it’s less a problem of overt sexism or racism, but rather more of nepotism or a level of comfort with people who look like them, who fit a model they have seen in college or their grad program. It’s harder to get attention if you don’t fit the mold.”
The open source space is different, she continued. “Why I’m incredibly optimistic about my field is that it feels more like a meritocracy. You can contribute for years and no one knows your identity. The ethos is that we all work together where we can be useful so our project thrives.”
“In the circles we run in, there are more minorities – you’re not the only one in the room. You’re not a unicorn,” she continued with a laugh. “There need to be more and I believe there will be more. You can see the result of increasing diversity – we’re getting better and better.”
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