International Women’s Day: Second Series, Part Two
Taylor Root is proud to once again be supporting International Women’s Day 2018. This is the second of a two-part article, where we have interviewed a selection of our female clients asking them how they are pressing forward for women’s gender parity #pressforprogress.
Taylor Root interviewed, Karen Kerrigan, Chief Legal Officer, Seedrs
Past Progress
If you could tell your younger self one thing what would it be and why?
Just because someone is older, doesn’t mean they are right. Being a great problems solver comes down to two things: experience and striving to see things differently. Anyone can add value on the latter.
Present Progress
How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
Continuous learning. I read about a lot of different things, and genuinely believe that knowledge about non-legal matters makes you a better lawyer.
Future Progress
How is gender parity being achieved in your profession and what do you think needs to be done to press for progress?
There is a lot of talk about gender targets at the moment, which sometimes isn’t helpful. Achieving parity is about giving both genders the right platforms to compete in a true meritocracy. For women, that might mean things like flexible working and professional coaching rather than trying to hit a quota.
Taylor Root interviewed, Katie Cosgrove, General Counsel, Carwow
If you could tell your younger self one thing what would it be and why?
Just keep going. Every professional thing you do is leading you somewhere, and each piece of work and experience is valuable, even if that’s not always clear at the time!
What action or decision are you most proud of making in your lifetime?
Being brave enough to ask for a work pattern that allows me to have a fulfilling career and be the kind of parent I want to be to my children. I’ve been lucky enough to have two great employers (ZPG Plc and carwow Ltd) that have supported me to work part time, whilst giving me great career opportunities.
Of the people that inspire you, what character traits do they have which you admire?
Tenacity, positivity and high energy.
Taylor Root interviewed Nilema Bhakta-Jones, Group Legal Director, Ascential Group Limited
Past Progress
If you could tell your younger self one thing what would it be and why?
Have more fun, work fewer hours, no-one went to their grave saying they wished they worked harder. Ask for help, and listen to your heart and your head. However, if someone tries to reshape your personality, dampen your passions or mould you into a shape that is not authentic to you – resist. Always stay true to your passion and core values. Don’t miss your children’s special days.
What action or decision are you most proud of making in your lifetime?
Standing up and being counted when it really mattered even if I was a lone voice. When it comes to people, I have advocated on many occasions to do the ‘right thing’. People matter, and by putting people first every time you can’t wrong. I have discovered subsequently from others that I made a difference to their lives – to me that is a life worth living.
Describe one of your failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?
I failed to advocate for myself, allowing others to take the accolades for my ideas thinking it didn’t matter as I rationalised it on the basis that it was for the greater good. Actually, it does matter when it comes to remuneration and progression. It is not crass to advocate for yourself, it is necessary when you are surrounded by high achievers and especially if you don’t have a Senior Executive sponsor/mentor. Sometimes it can be easy to be generous outwardly and yet be ungenerous to yourself. Create time for yourself: “put your own oxygen mask on first, then help others”.
If you had to start your career from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?
Seek out a mentor sooner, and get coaching even if you have to fund it alone. Everything else taught me valuable lessons.
Present Progress
Of the people that inspire you, what character traits do they have which you admire?
Honesty, integrity, courage, kindness, empathy and great oratory.
If I were to ask people in your workplace for three adjectives that best describe you, what would they say?
After a straw poll of those around me:
Passionate, committed, empathetic.
Energetic, collegiate, resilient.
Innovative, progressive, smart
courageous, enterprising and industrious
How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
I look for the joy in everything, and opportunity to learn. I am surrounded by creative, passionate, smart people who know how to have fun! I stay motivated by continually learning.
If you were to be a mentor to someone within your profession, what one piece of advice would you give?
I do mentor people in and out of the profession. I say there is no wrong decision, be authentic and true to yourself. There are plenty of opportunities to grow and be happy. Find out what your greater purpose is; you were put on this planet for reason, so don’t settle for mediocre pursue your passion. If it boils down to one thing: do the thing that makes your heart sing!
What is your personal mantra?
If I can make a positive difference to people’s lives then I have lived a life worth living.
Future Progress
How is gender parity being achieved in your profession and what do you think needs to be done to press for progress?
Great strides are being made, we need to celebrate it and recognise it in order to maintain momentum, and to give people hope and confidence. In our profession progress is coming from groups of women reaching out and supporting one another. It has also come from Senior and successful men and women giving back and paying it forward. However, it needs to converge, it is too fragmented: ‘united we stand, divided we fall’. The Press has played a huge part in exposing wrong doing. But Society continues to measure success in monetary terms and status as badges of honour, which in turn rewards certain type of behaviour. We need to revisit this and consider the behaviours that matter to society and humanity. Generate value in social enterprise and ‘giving back’. The campaign to redress past mistakes and abuses is helping to cleanse society of things that have been swept under the rug for too long. We have to keep it alive but maintain a balance in our approach which means focusing on success stories too. If reporting the negative ventures into hysteria, we will lose influence, credibility and many people will switch off.
What would you say the top 3 skills are needed in order to be successful in your industry?
Resilience, resilience, resilience.
What kind of legacy do you wish to leave behind?
That I made a tangible difference to people less well off than me. I have a work-in-progress social enterprise scheme to bring tech to humanitarian causes.
At the recent Golden Globes, Oprah delivered a moving speech which led to people talking about her running for president. If you had the choice to recommend a leader, who would it be and why?
Michelle Obama inspires me and moves me to tears regularly. She shines a light on key causes, is empathetic, smart, resilient, courageous, humorous, inspirational, a great orator and a great mom! I heard Poppy Jamon OBE recently – she was truly amazing and inspiring. Amongst lawyers – Lesley Wan is an incredible humanitarian!
Taylor Root interviewed Ruchi Kaushal, General Counsel, Cable & Wireless Communications
Past Progress
If you could tell your younger self one thing what would it be and why?
I would tell myself that what I have to say matters and to not be afraid to speak up. In certain situations where I felt out of my comfort zone, I would often stop myself from asking a question or stating my opinion. I now try very hard not to do that and sometimes ask myself “what would a man do in this situation.”
What action or decision are you most proud of making in your lifetime?
I am most proud of my decision to move across the pond from Toronto, Canada to London, England as a senior associate with Shearman & Sterling. It was a decision I made for myself and I have truly benefited both personally and professionally from the international experience.
Describe one of your failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?
I once made a mistake as a junior associate and I thought it was the end of the world. When I told my senior associate, he put the mistake in context and found a solution on how to rectify it. I remember a few days later the Managing Partner saying to me, there is no such thing as a mistake, unless you do it twice. I have never made that “mistake” again and when others come to me with their problems, I work with them to find a solution instead of blaming them for the “mistake”.
If you had to start your career from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?
I should have allocated more time to learning golf! Seriously, I probably should have spent more time seeking out mentors within and outside my workplace to gain longer term career advice.
Present Progress
Of the people that inspire you, what character traits do they have which you admire?
I admire those that are clever, authentic and strategic.
If I were to ask people in your workplace for three adjectives that best describe you, what would they say?
We recently participated in a similar activity at a strategy retreat. “Advocate, Smart and Problem Solver” were mentioned most often.
How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
I like to take on new professional challenges every 4 to 5 years. Not only do you have the opportunity to work and learn from a new team of colleagues, but you also learn about a new business and develop new skills.
If you were to be a mentor to someone within your profession, what one piece of advice would you give?
My advice would be to take risks and grab hold of opportunities – you never know where it may lead you.
What is your personal mantra?
What goes around comes around – it is important to treat people how you would like to be treated.
Future Progress
How is gender parity being achieved in your profession and what do you think needs to be done to press for progress?
Until recently, I was the only female on my executive team, however, I am proud to say my company has recently hired a female CEO. I do believe in-house legal departments have been more gender-balanced, however, we need more women in the C-suite. In order to do this, I believe you need to force commitments and targets for diversified C-suites and boards.
What would you say the top 3 skills are needed in order to be successful in your industry?
I believe the top 3 skills to be a successful GC in my industry are: commercially oriented, a problem solver and a great listener.
What kind of legacy do you wish to leave behind?
I want to be known as someone who made a difference and pushed the bar a little bit further than what existed before.
At the recent Golden Globes, Oprah delivered a moving speech which led to people talking about her running for president. If you had the choice to recommend a leader, who would it be and why?
This is a tough one and it should not be a tough one. I would recommend Sheryl Sandberg – she continues to press for progress and breakthrough barriers. We need more motivational leaders like her in business.
Taylor Root interviewed Sarah Coombes, Managing Director, Compliance & Enforcement – EMEA BSA
Past Progress
If you could tell your younger self one thing what would it be and why?
Have more confidence in yourself and your opinions/decisions – this can still be a challenge for me so I’d tell myself to have more courage and believe in myself.
What action or decision are you most proud of making in your lifetime?
It may be a cliché but having children and managing to combine full-time work with family life is probably what I am most proud of – combining motherhood with work can be a challenge and compromises often have to be made, but it is ultimately an extremely rewarding experience. I hope I’m a positive role model for my daughter (and other girls). I’m a big believer in presenting a realistic view of what it’s like to be a working mother – I don’t want to discourage girls from combining work and family but I do want girls to have realistic role models to look up to and to know that with challenges come great rewards.
In terms of decisions I’ve made, I’m most proud of the fact that I managed to build a career in a new country (England), without a network of friends or contacts to support me or tap into for networking purposes. That was definitely a tough obstacle to overcome at the start of my legal career in London. I’m also proud that I decided to jump ship from private practice to in-house when I did (shortly after having my second child) – it was daunting but definitely the best career decision I made.
If you had to start your career from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?
I’m not sure I would do anything different except have more confidence in myself and my abilities. I wouldn’t be where I am now if I’d started out differently.
Present Progress
Of the people that inspire you, what character traits do they have which you admire?
Positivity, empathy, integrity and resilience.
If you were to be a mentor to someone within your profession, what one piece of advice would you give?
As a working mother, I’d wholly recommend an in-house career. There’s usually more opportunity for a good work life balance and a broader career. In my organization, I started out as regional counsel but I now head up a region and manage our legal affairs, as well as our marketing/compliance/education and outreach activities. I love that I’ve been able to leverage my legal role to springboard to a management role and I’d advise anyone I was mentoring to think outside the box in terms of career opportunities.
What is your personal mantra?
Treat everyone with the same level of respect, regardless of who they are, where they come from or what they do. It’s a mantra I learnt from my father and it’s helped me build strong bonds with people from all walks of life (in both my work and personal life).
Future Progress
How is gender parity being achieved in your profession and what do you think needs to be done to press for progress?
My sense is that gender parity is improving within the legal profession and the tech industry (in which I work). There’s a big push to get more girls into STEM and to encourage the next generation to challenge stereotypes. However, real progress will require a shift in thinking (and culture) as it’s my experience that most working mothers still take on the majority of parenting responsibilities and battle against gender stereotypes in their working lives. I’m hopeful that the next generation will make that shift – I see positive signs of it in my own children (a daughter and son, both teenagers), who are most certainly challenging stereotypes and strongly believe in gender parity.
What kind of legacy do you wish to leave behind?
One that embraces girl power and recognizes the important attributes that women bring to the work place. A world where it’s ok to be a strong woman (or girl) without having to demonstrate traditionally “masculine” traits. And a world where kindness is king (or queen)!
Taylor Root interviewed, Susie Harris
Past Progress
What action or decision are you most proud of making in your lifetime?
Deciding to have shared parental leave with my husband: I took six months, he took five. There were quite a few raised eyebrows (as there always are, no matter what your decision) but I have since encouraged other men and women to really consider it. We had a fabulous cross over month in Canada, exploring the national parks, where we got to take some valuable time as a family. I then felt ready to come back to work and had the luxury of knowing that my little one was at home with his Dad rather than having the added stress of him starting a new routine at nursery. It made the back to work transition much easier for me and it helped to set the balance and understanding for the months and years ahead.
Present Progress
How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
I have to be working at a company I believe in and to be working alongside people I respect. At the point I stop learning, that’s when my motivation wanes.
Future Progress
What would you say the top 3 skills are needed in order to be successful in your industry?
Curiosity, creativity and perseverance