Meg Sullivan for International Women’s Day

In celebration of International Women’s Day, our very own co-founder, Meg Sullivan was interviewed by international law firm, Pinsent Masons, about the challenges women continue to face in the ever-changing business environment.

In her interview, Meg addresses:

The conscious and unconscious biases that exists within organizations

The inner barriers that women continue to struggle with and what to do about them

How we can think differently about our priorities with regard to work-life balance

Why is gender balance an important issue within the legal profession?

The amount of empirical research and data available today that proves how critical diversity is for driving innovation and growth in any organization makes gender balance a subject no successful business can avoid. In order to remain competitive, respond to the changing realities of the marketplace and be considered a desirable place to work, businesses around the globe are spending serious time and money focusing on the advancement of women and how they can foster a more inclusive environment and culture.

Can the legal industry afford to be the exception?

There are more and more woman in important positions with buying power, whether in the legal department or on the business side of clients today. Since garnering legal work is all about relationships, it seems only natural that these decision-making women will want outside counsel to better reflect the gender balance they are demonstrating.

If the objective is to establish long-term profitable connections, it will mean fielding teams that are not only experts in their domain but demonstrate diverse thinking and approaches to finding solutions. Based on many conversations I have had with female clients, they are very serious about making choices of legal counsel – not just based on merit (that is the starting point), but also based on diversity (that is the differentiator). Can any firm afford to give opportunities away to the competition?

In your view, what are the main factors that hold women back in the workplace?

Although there is a lot more awareness around the fact that people with different backgrounds respond to challenges and opportunities in the workforce differently, what seems to be missing from the conversation is inevitable biases – both conscious and unconscious – that arise because of these differences.

Rules of the game in the workplace are still largely being set by men, so when a woman doesn’t react the way a man might, their actions are often misconstrued. This manifests itself in many ways such as how women negotiate for themselves, sell themselves, raise their hand for assignments, handle conflict, offer an opinion, navigate social time connected to work, and give or take credit, to name a few.

Women often lack confidence in their value and worth, and struggle to fake it with conviction. There is still much work to be done across the board to improve communications and bridge the expectations gap.

More and more men are taking bigger roles in childcare and helping to manage the family, but most women still bear the vast majority of those responsibilities. They are managing their professional careers and running the family business at the same time. That’s two full-time jobs. There is no doubt that there are better solutions to alleviate these added pressures for both men and women Organizations who have taken this issue seriously are seeing important results: a highly motivated and productive workforce.

What do you think makes the biggest difference in enabling women to progress to the highest levels professionally?

Opportunity, opportunity, opportunity. Give us a shot. Test our mettle. Take a chance. It will pay off.

Work-life balance is often cited as a barrier to progression. As a woman with a successful career, how do you achieve work-life balance?

Honestly, I don’t think work-life balance exists in the way we tend to describe it. I try to frame the concept differently and think of it as ‘work-life priorities.’ What part of our lives gets the most focus and when? Make clear choices and own it. You know what is best for you and what matters most at any given moment.

Priorities should change and shift regularly depending on what is going on in your world. Life is a long game (hopefully) so play it strategically. Forget about what isn’t possible and focus on what is. We can always make time for priorities an we’ll be a better-balanced person for it.

What advice can you offer to women who want to succeed in the workplace?

There are two important things I have learned the hard way. Firstly, I am no good to anyone if I don’t take good care of myself. Health and wellbeing is paramount for success in work and life at all levels.
Secondly, burying yourself in work and not exposing yourself to broader interests and experiences makes you myopic. It’s impossible to innovate and have new ideas, let alone be interesting, if you don’t engage in new ways. Make time to meet new people and try new things. The effort will be transformative.