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.”
WILD about Options: Educating Women on Options Trading
NetworkingThe derivatives industry is evolving due to regulation coming from Washington and it’s forcing participants to look at different opportunities in new markets. To help emerging and experienced women navigate these broader territories, Women in Listed Derivatives (WILD) organized an educational seminar on Options trading.
Hosted by NYSE Euronext and sponsored by the Options Industry Council and Fidessa, the workshop included an educational introduction to Options trading, a keynote speaker about career advancement and panel discussion focused on the current market environment.
Read more
Should You Accept a Promotion Without a Raise?
Money TalksReceiving a promotion is a big deal. A very big deal. Promotions mean more responsibility, new challenges, and an inherent recognition of an employee’s abilities and potential.
But not all promotions come with raises attached. During difficult financial times – when many companies freeze base salaries to control costs – employees may be promoted with the promise of raises when the economy improves. At other firms, where individuals cannot progress unless someone leaves, a promotion (without a raise) – culturally – may be Oscar-worthy recognition. And yet, at still other firms, promotions without raises are mishandled, cheap forms of recognition that lead to compression and inequity.
Two critical drivers – retention and engagement – fuel base salary increases and promotion decisions. Promotions provide individuals with rewards and recognition, career advancement and job growth. Promotions keep employees engaged, focused and committed to the company and its business strategies. Companies recognize that most employees highlight career advancement as a top reason for staying.
While base pay – cited by Towers Watson’ 2012 Global Workforce Study – remains the #1 reason employees join a company, both base pay AND career advancement rank as # 1 and #2 for employee retention.
Employees receiving promotions without raises may find their engagement teetering. If you find yourself in the position of receiving a promotion without a raise, follow these three steps before responding.
Read more
Can Women (Or Anyone) “Do It All” Through Sequencing?
Work-LifeThe perennial “Having It All” debate at times leads to the concept of “sequencing,” which suggests that women can in fact have everything they want from work and family life, if only they stagger their timing of when they focus on each. (As a side note, some have bristled at the idea that having it all is exclusively a women’s issue—see a Wharton professor’s post on the HBR Blog Network for this perspective.)
The concept of sequencing continues to be promoted by some prominent female leaders, such as Michele Flournoy, formerly the highest woman in the Pentagon, and disputed by others, such as Anne-Marie Slaughter, former director of policy planning at the state department under Hillary Clinton and author of the controversial article published last year in The Atlantic called “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All.”
In an interview with NPR for All Things Considered, Flournoy comments:
The NPR interview notes Flournoy’s admission, however, that the vision of sequencing isn’t possible for everyone, since many women lack the support that they’d need to rebalance while still remaining competitive. This leads to the counterpoint of the argument: that sequencing is a myth.
In an interview with Slaughter published in The New York Times, Slaughter suggests that women need to stop perpetuating the idea that doing it all is possible if you simply rely on sequencing:
Which side of the fence do you fall on? The Glass Hammer polled a group of women from diverse industries, as well as career experts, for their experience and feedback.
Read more
Thought Leaders: Moira Elms, Global Head of Brand and Communications, PwC
Thought LeadersI felt I had to do something about it.
Read more
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.”
Read more
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.
Read more
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.
Read more
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.”
Read more
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?
Read more
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