Still Room for Improvement at the Top

(image from Another Cartoon Brouhaha from the New Charm School blog)

We're not happy to report this but we're also not surprised by the ABA's recent article Women Lawyers at the Top Earn Significantly Less than Men by writer Debra Cassens Weiss.

We're counting on the next generation making the difference at the top because young women professionals have already made a difference at the entry level as we discussed here.

Listen, the top is now dominated by the baby boom generation. As a member of that generation, I can regale you with stories of the shockingly unequal society I was born into and raised in.

The "second wave" women's movement didn't really begin until I graduated from high school in 1970.

In my senior year, the aptitude tests given to answer the question "what do I do NOW?" were "pink" and "blue." If you took the "pink" test (do you wonder why I hate pink?) and you had an aptitude for math, you were advised to go into nursing or teaching grade school. If you had the blue test, you were told to be a doctor or an engineer.

The "want ads" in those years also had one set of job opportunities for women and another for men. "Men wanted" and "women wanted." It was a very big deal to change these things.

The women professionals of my generation had to work twice as hard just to be a lawyer -- something the men of my generation could take for granted if they had the background, talent, ability, ambition, etc. necessary to make the grade. We also had to make some very hard choices between career and family -- choices that women still have to make today but that come without the "see I told you so's" that ours were likely to trigger.

So I'm not going to be too distressed that the ABA reports the following. I know the women coming up behind us are in the process of changing all of this . . . .

A new survey shows “slow progress” for women in the upper echelons of big law
firms.

The survey (PDF) by the National Association of Women Lawyers finds that only 16 percent of equity partners at large law firms are women, and they earn almost $90,000 less than their male counterparts, a salary disparity that increased from a year ago.

Male equity partners earn a median salary of $625,000 and females $537,000,
the Legal Intelligencer reports. The survey says at least part of the difference may
be because of the substantially greater number of male equity partners.

The pay difference is even greater at firms with higher billable-hour requirements,
where female equity partners earn $140,000 less than males.

For the remainder of the article, click here.

Rules for Renegades

Any day now we're going to have a web page at the PWNSC website for recommended reading. Until that day comes, here's a recommendation by member Patsy Bellah.

The book is “Rules For Renegades” by Christine Comaford-Lynch.

I listened to her on a teleseminar today. The first part of the teleseminar was about her products and what she has for sale, but then she got into some resources she recommends and she said she highly recommends joining LinkedIn and Meet Up, among some other resources she mentioned.

I recommend her book because of it’s down-to-earth motivational suggestions encouraging women to go for it. She’s also very high on mentors, a priority I feel every woman should have. There’s a lot of free stuff you can pick up at her website http://www.rulesforrenegades.com/.

Patsy Bellah
Bellah Business Support Services
PO Box 34520
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 840-2957
http://www.greattranscriptions.com/ and http://www.lightningfastinfoproducts.com/
Author of How To Get Your Info-Product To Market With Lightning Speed!
Fourteen Surefire Ways To Create Your Own Info-Product In An Afternoon.

Everything is a Negotiation

(Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide and Negotiation in Three Dimensions)

The Value of Diagnostic Questions
Krivis' Improvisational Negotiation
Win-Win Negotiation Skills for Lawyers
Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School
Principled Negotiation
Negotiation Articles
American Bar Association Law Student Negotiation Competition
Resource Center for Negotiation Education
Monster Mid-Career Negotiation Coach Library
Negotiation Journal
Transboundary Environmental Negotiation
Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
Harvard Business Essentials Guide to Negotiation
Center for Research in Conflict and Negotiation
WTO Trade Facilitation Negotiation Documents
International Negotiation Journal
Twelve Rules for Negotiation
How to Negotiate
Negotiation Blogs

Can You Blog Your Way to Success?

(photo: Digital Revolution by Kenneth Pinto)

Not without asking yourself these questions:

What characteristics describe your ideal client?
What is your client's occupation?
What are their demographics?
Where are they located?
How do you know when it's a "fit?"
What about financials - monthly fee, annual income, other profit centers?
What is your ideal personal client relationship?
How do you view your practice - vocation or calling, vision or dream?

From Edward Poll's "Look Before You Blog"

Women Business Owners Report Gains with Social Networking

(photo: Collaborative Socialability by J. Parks)

Not exactly a big surprise, but nice timing in light of our upcoming presentation on social networking to read this recent article entitled Women Business Owners Part of Social Entrepreneurship Trend. The article is by Anita Campbell writing for Small Business Trends. For full article click on link above. Excerpt below:

Today’s high-powered women executives make it a point to weave social entrepreneurship into their businesses.

The Women Presidents’ Organization - Chicago chapter, recently announced the results of a survey of its members. Those survey results were especially interesting because on the one hand they indicated substantial growth. Eighty-five percent (85%) reported that their revenues grew over 25% in 2006. Roughly the same percent predicted their businesses would also grow in 2007, sometimes up to 70% growth.

Clearly, these are women focused on the top line and bottom line.

A group of focused, committed, growth-oriented women business leaders does not surprise me. What did surprise me just a little, was how many — 62.9% — said that social entrepreneurship was important or very important.

Keep in mind that we’re talking about substantial “small” businesses. This is a group of business owners who run multimillion dollar enterprises. The minimum size requirement to be a member is $2 million in annual revenues ($1 million for service businesses).

You Tawkin to me?

(left: La Conversation by rougerouge)

From Brain Based Business Who's Listening More - Men or Women?

Deborah Tannen, the famous psycholinguist points out that conversation between men and women often turn into lectures from men, to women who have become the audience. . . She points out that “the imbalance by which men often find themselves in the role of lecturer and women often find themselves in the role of audience, is not the creation of only one member of an interaction. It’s not something that men do to women. Neither is is something that women culpably allow or ask for.”

Tannen’s research concluded that men and women fall into these unequal patterns often because of the core differences in their interactional habits.Boston Globe called this Tannen’s “most intriguing work.” Los Angeles Times reported …” She is an authority on why communication fails at work.”

Tannen [explained]: “Since women seek to build rapport, they are inclined to play down their expertise rather than display it. Since men value the position of center stage and the feeling of knowing more, they seek opportunities to gather and disseminate factual information."

We've Come a Long Way Bay-beeeeeeeeee

Young women in New York and several of the nation's other largest cities who work full time have forged ahead of men in wages, according to an analysis of recent census data.

The shift has occurred in New York since 2000 and even earlier in Los Angeles, Dallas and a few other cities. Economists consider it striking because the wage gap between men and women nationally has narrowed more slowly and has even widened in recent years among one part of that group: college-educated women in their 20s. But in New York, young college-educated women's wages as a percentage of men's rose slightly between 2000 and 2005.

The analysis was prepared by Andrew A. Beveridge, a demographer at Queens College, who first reported his findings in Gotham Gazette, published online by the Citizens Union Foundation. It shows that women of all educational levels from 21 to 30 living in New York City and working full time made 117 percent of men's wages, and even more in Dallas, 120 percent. Nationwide, that group of women made much less: 89 percent of the average full-time pay for men.

But see here for the business and professional retention & promotion problems that persist.

Marketing Advice from Pat Wagner

We were just talking at this evening's meeting of the PWNSC about the benefits of being LinkedIn. One of those benefits is receiving sterling advice from members of your network. When I first joined LinkedIn (here) I asked my network whether I was doing everything I should to market my mediation practice. Not only did I get some great advice, I "met" Pat Wagner who, along with her husband, has written an e-book on networking -- The Networking Game.

Here's some of the great networking advice Pat shared with me.

Identify your target audience


Your target audience is comprised of the people who actually are going to hire you and sign the check. All of us can get caught up in the shotgun approach. It time to have a sufficient number of clients to analyze who actually hired us (their position or role in their firm, for example, why they hired, and where they found out about you). If this information isn't readily apparent, ask.

Why did Joe or ABC Corp. hire you? Once you ascertain the answers, it's useful to keep track of where they learned about your services. I also ask about what is now called "the tipping point" - what event or action caused them to think of me? For example, I have found that news articles about our business brought us lots more business than the articles I wrote for business magazines. Perhaps it's more credible when a third party mentions us and praises us.

Also, I found that several - less than 20 - key people were responsible for most of our business the first few years out. Once I knew the why, I was able to refine my tactics.

Staying in Contact with Your Clients

Yes, word of mouth is the best, but how do you get the ear of the best people -- the deciders?

I don't often do lunches, but I will e-mail or chat on the phone with just about anyone. Most people who want to have lunch with me want something from me and are not so good at reciprocating. By the way, when I started interviewing clients about why they hired me, I was in for some surprises. I was selling my smarts while they were buying how easy I am to work with.

Distance Makes the Heart Think You're an Expert

Less than 5% of my income comes from my home state, and that is not just because Colorado's population is so small. Several large potential clients that exist within walking distance of my office won't hire me, but I fly into Florida, Texas and California many times a year serving the same type of client.

These geographically inconvenient clients partly like me because I am out of town. I know there are legal limitations, but as you develop vertical markets, you might find that smaller states in your region want you for that expertise.

Back to Staying in Touch

As I said, I am good at keeping in touch with old clients and friends. Everyone is busy, and even your fan club will forget you if you are not reminding them. We use friendly e-mails with interesting and helpful information aimed at those key contacts - nothing canned and no mass e-mail newsletters.

Branding

We have a trademarked friendly, philosophical postcard we send out very year. It sounds hokey in this electronic age, but I walk into people's offices all over the country and see the last seven years of cards lined up all over their desks.

About Pat Wagner

With her husband, Leif Smith, Pat Wagner owns Pattern Research, Inc., a 32-year-old research and training business in Denver. Pat has been working with librarians and library associates as a trainer and consultant since 1978, focusing on personnel, management, leadership, marketing, career and strategic planning issues.