Women as Allies

Recently, the Atlantic published an article by Anne-Marie Slaughter (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-wome...), a former high ranking State Department official who made the claim that women cannot have it all - that inevitably, women who pursue professional aspirations, will have to choose between being successful professionally or having a stable home life.  This is assuming, of course, that a home life entails a family.  

Soon the Atlantic article went viral and women everywhere started responding.  CEOs, mothers, wives, even other State Department workers shot down Slaughter's opinion as unique to her situation, of her own making, and her own choice.  The backlash seemed to insist that women can have it all, if we just try hard enough...work hard enough, mother hard enough, wife hard enough, please everyone hard enough.  It is endless.  

It seems to me, every time a woman says something or does something outside the socially acceptable parameters of femininity, or if she complains about the patriarchal structure within which women have to function, she is pounced upon for being too unappreciative of the opportunities she's been given.  She is branded as dramatic or a radical feminist, and she is shunned most forcefully by other women.  

Best Friends at the Bar: Planning is a Big Deal - Especially For Women

I have been a planner all my life. I make lists, cross out what I have accomplished, highlight in yellow what is really important, and rejoice when everything is crossed off the list - until the next day when the list starts anew. I believe in planning ahead and being super organized, as anyone who has read the Best Friends at the Bar books knows.

Throughout the time that I practiced law, I made a list at the end of each day and put it prominently on my desk to greet me the next morning. Over coffee, I reviewed the list, made priorities for the day and adjusted the list as needed. It was a good plan, and it worked for me. I had a personal relationship with my list. No one came between me and my list.

But, recently, planning has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I now am planning my daughter's wedding and a Book Launch Event at the same time. My fear - the thing that keeps me up at night and is not affected in the least by Ambien - is that I will end up with a book sales table at the wedding and a ring bearer at the book launch! You laugh...I am totally capable of that in my current state of mind. To boot, a man just came to my front door with a load of mulch that I know nothing about! A BIG load of mulch.

Can Women Have It All? 6 Questions You Should Ask Instead

It’s been a couple of months since Anne-Marie Slaughter’s controversial article appeared in the Atlantic.  In that article, Ms. Slaughter argued that women still can't have it all for a variety of reasons.  As I thought about her article and read many of the responses to it, it occurred to me that there is something missing from this conversation.  We’ve managed to reduce a complex amalgam of issues to a yes or no question.  As you progress on your work/life journey, ask yourself these six questions to gain clarity and deeper self-awareness. 

How do you define “having it all?”

To Slaughter, it means having a successful career AND raise a family in the process, but “having it all” is ultimately self-defined.  To some, it means being a stay-at-home mom and raising kids.  To others, it means choosing not to have kids and focusing your time and energy on other pursuits.  It can also mean the freedom to start your own business.  Personally, I think “having it all” is about having choices.  Your definition may change as your life and career progress.

Personal Branding Corner: How to Increase Your Legal Fees

As part of the personal branding programs we offer businesses, we often review fees for services and suggest an increase in fees.  Often a fee increase is absolutely justified given the personal branding work the client has done to themselves and their businesses.

As service providers, clients often wonder how they could possibly justify an increase in their fees.  They seem stunned that in "this economy" why would anyone pay us more?  We're always stunned by how little businesses value their quality work product and personal brand recognition and growth.

So how can a business possibly raise their prices?  And, why would anyone want to pay you more for your services?  The answer is a simple one.   It's all about how a business packages their services.  And by "package" I do not mean the pretty red bow on the box or in business terms, your logo or slogan or colors.

Click HERE to read the rest.

Personal Branding Corner: Keep Your Olympic Optimism Going To Maximize Your Personal Brand

As the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games wrapped up last night, my family and I were quiet and a bit sad. The Olympics are shown to be a mood booster, not only for spectators and TV viewers, but for the entire country.

Did you notice your overall mood and outlook on life was more positive and joyful during the 17 days of London Olympic competition?  Did you notice you weren't living in fear of terrorism, natural disasters, or politics? Did you notice your personal brand resonated louder and with more ease and grace?  Did you notice your job and/or your business was better off, as a result?

Click HERE to read the rest.

A Must-Read For Any Aspiring Professional

Editor's Note: Liz Bailey was a 2011 Ms. JD Fellow and is a recent graduate of Harvard Law!

As a young professional, I’ve encountered some astoundingly successful women, with great careers and equally successful family lives.  How did these superwomen make it all work?  Could I learn to find the same balance in my own life?

I caught a break at the 2011 ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto, where I had the opportunity to meet the members of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession.  During a conversation with Mary Cranston, Chair of the Commission on Women (and winner of the Margaret Brent Award), Ms. Cranston recommended that I read her daughter’s book, How Remarkable Women Lead: The Breakthrough Model for Work and Life (Joanna Barsh, Susie Cranston, and Geoffrey Lewis, Crown Publishing, 2009).  I took her advice, and I’m glad I did.

Balancing Work and Family in the 21st Century

Balancing work and family is never an easy task, but these days technology helps to make the juggling act a bit more manageable. Don't get me wrong--I'm not saying it's easy to work full-time and manage my family of four and the immunerable tasks associated with running my household; but I've found that certain  smartphone apps reduce the chaos a bit and  make it easier for me to streamline my work and family life.

In this post, I'm going to write about two apps that I find myself tunring to the most often: Cozi and Springpad.*

First, there's Cozi. Cozi is a smartphone app (available for iPhones, iPads, Android devices and Blackberrys) with a corresponding online interface that's perfect for keeping track of family life and social obligations. Simply put, Cozi provides a home base for busy families, allowing you to manage and orchestrate your family's busy life. The platform offers  built-in functionalities, including a to-do lists for different family members, a color-coded family calendar, and grocery lists.

The Mother Law: Conversation Starter

This month, I've enjoyed reading Anne-Marie Slaughter's article in The Atlantic titled "Why Women Still Can't Have It All." The deluge of responses has been equally enthralling. No matter where people stand on the issues of work-life balance and women in leadership, undeniably, the conversation has begun. That's a good thing.

For the legal profession, the conversation really needs to reach the trenches where mother-lawyers are embarking on the journey into parenthood and the pipeline  begins to leak. But how? Who has the time?

It would be wonderful to debate why women still aren't equally represented in the leadership positions of the profession, but most mother lawyers - especially those with young children - are overwhelmed with the daily challenges of practicing law and raising children. I've found myself literally running from work to pick up my kids. Evening events and casual lunches seem like a distant memory; this is a common story. According to Slaughter, Louise Richardson, who is not a lawyer, "organized her time so ruthlessly that she always keyed in 1:11 or 2:22 or 3:33 on the microwave rather than 1:00, 2:00, or 3:00, because hitting the same number three times took less time." Why didn't I think of that? Rather than worry about big-picture issues, I worry about whether my son packed his homework in his backpack. I develop a strategy not of how to negotiate a salary raise but how to make the most efficient use of my time to actually get to work. (What if I kept my running shoes near the front door with the socks in them so I didn't have to search in my drawer every morning?) If we already manage our time down to the second, how can meaningful conversations among mother lawyers occur?

Arguendo: Getting Married in Law School

I have spent an inordinate amount of time this summer thinking about marriage because I am planning my own wedding which will take place the week after my summer internship ends and before on-campus interviews begin.

Over the year, people have frequently gasped in wonder when I informed them that I was planning my wedding. This occurred so frequently, in fact, that I began to doubt whether this was a sane proposition, or if my fiancé and I had truly underestimated what wedding planning entails. We are the first among our siblings and friends to wed, so we have no real compass and are largely making it up as we progress. But here is our story and some advice, which I hope proves helpful to those in law school who are also getting the perplexed stares.

I entered law school already engaged. My fiancé was fortunate enough to find employment in our new area, so we did not have to contend with the prospect of a long-distance relationship. We chose a date fairly arbitrarily, but we knew that we wanted a summer wedding because I would not be in school and he would have time away from his job. Furthermore, our friends in graduate school and our families – who are coming from all over – would be more likely to attend a summer wedding.

Best Friends at the Bar: Best Friends at the Bar Themes in the News

The recent article in the July/August edition of Atlantic magazine by Anne-Marie Slaughter, "Why Women Still Can't Have It All," hit the news stands and the Internet last Friday and has caused nothing short of a frenzy.  The following Monday, Professor Slaughter stated on MSNBC Morning Joe that the on-line article already had received 800,000 hits.  The editor of Atlantic that same day reported in an interview on NPR that the article received the most activity of any article in the history of the magazine.

So, what's the frenzy all about?  What is causing the buzz?