by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)
When we think of the life of a lawyer in a big firm, we often think of the time commitment it takes to get to be partner.
In the past, women attempting to balance life and work have been unceremoniously pushed off the equity partnership track. The times are changing, however. While one still must put in the time and effort, top firms are now competing with one another to get and keep top talent.
Working Mother, in conjunction with Flex-Time Lawyers, published its second annual list of the Top 50 Law Firms for Women this month. The list recognizes the efforts of firms aspiring to hire the top female attorneys, including the availability of flexible work arrangements, in-house networking, mentoring and management training to enable the female lawyers develop the skills and contacts they need to advance to the partnership level.
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Ask-A-Recruiter: Manage the Crush of Fall
Ask A RecruiterI am dreading getting back into fall, when my kids are back in school so the morning routine is crazy, the pace is faster as everyone returns from vacation and needs things yesterday, and the days seem shorter. What are some ways to take back control?
Knowing that things will be more hectic, block out time now while you have a moment to choose your priorities. Take out your daily planner or log into Outlook and actually block out the following:
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Engage the Power of Practice for a Balanced Life
Expert AnswersContributed by Sylvia Warren of SimplytheBestCoaching.com
According to award-winning author David Shenk, “The glut of information no longer adds to our quality of life, but instead begins to cultivate stress, confusion, and even ignorance.” When the overwhelming pressures of work and life accelerate faster than you can deal with them, does it feel like you don’t have space to breathe? If so, what you’re experiencing may be normal. Super-achieving women in business, finance and law often challenge themselves to the max and then wonder how they are going to cope with it all. As the song goes, it just takes your breath away.
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Work-Life Effectiveness
Work-LifeJoyce DeLucca is a mom of two living in the Big Apple, where she works as the managing principal of Kingsland Capital Management LLC . When she first started out, she struggled on a daily basis with balancing the competing demands of her family life and work life until finding a creative way to avoid missing out on the once-in-a-lifetime moments with her children.
DeAnne Merey is a single mom and founder of a public relations firm, DM Public Relations. But despite the success of her Manhattan-based firm, Merey’s biggest and most important client is a five-year-old. And that’s because he’s her son.
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The Cracks Seen Around The World
Breaking the Glass CeilingWith most Americans away from their desks for Labor Day, celebrating the waning days of summer with barbeques, burgers, and beach outings, we at The Glass Hammer felt the need for a brief respite of our own. It’s in this vein that we veer slightly from our usual realm of coverage to examine how the glass ceiling (or the breaking of it) is faring around the world.
We begin in the States, where there’s been lots of talk of late about the glass ceiling in politics and government. Both Hillary Clinton and John McCain’s VP pick Sarah Palin claim to exemplify the disappearance of the glass ceiling in US politics. That said, America still lags far behind other countries when it comes to women in at the top of government. In the country’s 238 year history, we can now name only two women named as vice presidential candidates; Ms. Clinton’s missed chance at the top of the ticket keeps the number of women nominated for President at an easy to manage, if embarrassing, zero.
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Peace Through Business
Women and PhilanthropyThe Institute of Economic Empowerment for Women (IEEW) is in the business of providing opportunities for underprivileged women. Believing that nations with a stable economy are in a better position to promote and accept peaceful solutions, they launched the Peace through Business initiative.
According to Kathy Neill, Program Coordinator at IEEW, the program actually grew out request from the U.S. State Department to develop a business training program for women in Afghanistan. “The program is founded on a simple premise: It’s possible to change the world by educating women about business and giving them the tools to succeed,” said Terry Neese, the president of IEEW in a Northwood University Press Release.
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The Gender Agenda at Standard Chartered
Breaking the Glass CeilingIn the United States, women currently make up almost 75 percent of the banking industry’s entire workforce, but hold only 9 percent of chief executive positions. Conventional wisdom is that it is not much better in the United Kingdom. Yet, against this backdrop, an amazing 20% of women reach senior positions at Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), a bank formed in 1969 through a merger of two banks: The Standard Bank of British South Africa and the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China. The organization, which prides itself on having one of the most diverse workforces in the global financial sector, knows it can do even better. Enter Maram Habash, Group Diversity & Inclusion Manager, who coordinates the effort to support women as emerging leaders.
“The Group Women’s Council was set up to drive the bank’s ‘gender agenda’ supporting our overall Diversity & Inclusion programme,” she says. “The Council’s objective is to help women in Standard Chartered realise their full potential through personal development and supportive workplace practices implemented in an engaging and inclusive workplace.”
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Women Business Leaders Take Center Stage in Campaigns
NewsLately, several high profile women business leaders have reemerged onto the political scene, bringing their charismatic personalities and knowledge of the economy to the campaign trail.
Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett Packard, has become a familiar face on Sunday morning political talk shows as a surrogate for John McCain’s presidential campaign. Though she was asked to step down by the Board of HP in 2005 after amid concerns about the controversial merger with Compaq, Ms. Fiorina, 53, is a proven fighter who didn’t stay out of the public eye for long.
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Ask-A-Recruiter: In Crisis Mode, You Still Need Career Planning
Ask A RecruiterContributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart
I just got laid off so I’ve been applying to as many jobs as I see posted or hear about, but none of them seem quite right. Can I afford to wait for the right opportunity?
If waiting implies doing nothing until the exact dream job arises, then, no, you cannot afford to wait. But even when you are laid off and in need of another job quickly, applying to everything in sight isn’t a good strategy either. You might think that stepping back and taking time for career planning is a luxury. In fact, career planning is a necessity that can both minimize current harm and prevent future damage. In a time- urgent situation, such as a job loss, career planning needs to balance coping with the present while building a foundation towards the future.
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Career Women: Their Own Worst Enemies?
Breaking the Glass CeilingA study published in “The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance: Earning What You’re Worth in Sales” by Shannon L. Goodson, made news last week. Ms. Goodson, co-founder and president of Behavioral Sciences Research Press, is a specialist in visibility management. She compared nearly 11,500 professional women with about 16, 700 men from 34 countries, and concluded, “Being able to draw attention to your contributions and competencies at work has become an important part of modern career management, and it is something most women are still unwilling or unable to do as consistently as their male counterparts.” Reuters printed the findings in an article entitled “Career women are their own worst enemies: study”.
According to the study, men get further ahead in the workplace because they feel little or no reluctance, uneasiness, guilt, or shame, in self-promotion. Men often climb up the corporate ladder with ease; women don’t because most women “still cling to the myth that self-promotion is “socially unacceptable”, “unlady-like” and “morally suspect” says Goodson.
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50 Best Law Firms for Women
NewsWhen we think of the life of a lawyer in a big firm, we often think of the time commitment it takes to get to be partner.
In the past, women attempting to balance life and work have been unceremoniously pushed off the equity partnership track. The times are changing, however. While one still must put in the time and effort, top firms are now competing with one another to get and keep top talent.
Working Mother, in conjunction with Flex-Time Lawyers, published its second annual list of the Top 50 Law Firms for Women this month. The list recognizes the efforts of firms aspiring to hire the top female attorneys, including the availability of flexible work arrangements, in-house networking, mentoring and management training to enable the female lawyers develop the skills and contacts they need to advance to the partnership level.
Read more