Building Leaders
In May 2014, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 31 percent of lawyers working in the United States were women, yet according to the Washington Post, only 4 percent of the 200 top law firms have female, firm-wide managing partners. Law remains a male-dominated field, and the women who enter it today are looking for ways to become leaders while maintaining their personal lives, their integrity, and their identities.
With that in mind, a strong contingent of female law students from all three years of study gathered at the Law School for the Law Women’s Leadership Summit, which enabled them to listen and learn from a group of highly successful, highly fulfilled women attorneys. According to a survey given at the end of the summit, the students overwhelmingly arrived with two goals in mind – to get to know other women who are leaders on campus and to develop their leadership skills.
“Today is the culmination of a number of conversations with female students and alumni about the unique challenges that female student organization leaders face, and that they may encounter as attorneys,” explained Dean of Students Amy M. Gardner as she opened the summit, adding that while it was helpful that similar programs had been held at other law schools, this one was specifically designed to respond to the concerns Chicago students had brought to her. “We know that six hours cannot adequately address every concern or situation you may have now or in the future, but hope today will help you add to the tools at your disposal to lead in now and in the future. We hope today helps build the community of women leaders at the Law School. The sessions have all been designed with student input and the questions the panel will answer are the ones you submitted.”
Carrie Hightman, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of NiSource, kicked off the programming with a talk on how women’s minds work and how they approach problems.
“I worry that women today think there are no obstacles that affect women that don’t affect men. That is not true. There are many unintentional biases, and there are differences. Men and women communicate differently, and we all gravitate to those who are like us, which means if there are men in charge they are going to be more likely to hire other men,” Hightman noted. “So be smart about opportunities, and be aware of things that can hold you back."
Hightman asked the participants to complete two short worksheets. The first, called the Mindset quiz, determined how much growth potential individuals feel they can develop through dedication and hard work. The greater the growth mindset, the more likely the person will possess the resilience necessary for accomplishment. The second worksheet was the 12-Item Grit Scale, which measures a person’s tendency to maintain interest and effort in a long-term goal.
“My mindset score is 89,” Hightman said. “Do you think it started out at 89? No, but today, I am very successful, and part of that is because I developed my growth mindset, my willingness to adapt and to keep going even when things were difficult. Grittiness and mindset are things we can cultivate and grow.”
Four more very successful lawyers comprised the panel that followed Hightman’s talk. Kathy Morris, founder of Under Advisement, which assists law students and attorneys with job searches and career management, moderated. Suzanne Courtheoux, ’04, works with the Ombusdman Project at LAF of Metropolitan Chicago, a job she took after working with Seyfarth Shaw. Dana Davenport, ’07, also left big-firm law, and is now in-house counsel at Accenture. Magistrate Judge Mary Rowland, ’88, worked in both public service and BigLaw before becoming taking the bench, and Kristen Seeger, ’02, has spent her entire career at Sidley Austin and is now a partner.
“The point here is that there is no one correct way to build a career,” Morris pointed out. “There are lots of different approaches, and you will end up where you should be.”
Using questions that the students had previously submitted, the attorneys eagerly explained the elements they found to be most helpful to them in building their careers. Davenport explained that the biggest factor for her has been mentoring, getting to know different people in different parts of law who have helped guide her as she has faced issues and challenges while building her career.
“You would be surprised how many people are willing to speak with you and help you along your path. Go to events, interviews, cocktail parties, everywhere there could be someone who impresses you and that you just want to get to know better. And sometimes these connections lead to opportunities,” she said.
As for things they regret, Rowland described how as a law student, she did not use the Law School in the way she should have, as a place to ask questions and to make mistakes before the mistakes affect a client.
“The problem is once you have clients, you have to speak up, you have to speak in court, and I didn’t really know how because I had not been practicing, I had been sitting on my hands in class afraid to make a mistake.” That, she said, is one thing that no woman should be doing.
Courtheoux explained her career change to public-sector work by elucidating her view that it is okay to find work that creates a way of life that works for you. “I spent nine years in big firms, which is much longer than I had originally intended. But BigLaw is a particular lifestyle that didn’t really suit me. I left my job and spent a summer finding the next thing, and it was the right thing. Now I represent nursing home residents right, which is an exciting challenge, a big change, and I am so happy I did it.”
But for those who do like BigLaw lifestyle, Kristen Seeger pointed out that is important to power through those difficult times, especially the first six years of motherhood, when things are particularly hard. “But it is so worth it, because it is much more difficult for women who have left work to come back. Still, there is more to it. When women make mistakes or have doubts, they hold themselves back with too much self-doubt that men simply don’t have, and it stops them from becoming the leaders they can be. Women need to reach higher.”
For more information on grit and growth mindset go to the ABA website.