Rainmakers are more likely than other lawyers to question established methods...

Former litigator and JAMS mediator Patricia “Pat” Gillette is the woman who coined “Opt-In” for the legal industry (long before Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In) and one of the forces behind the “Mansfield Rule.” Fashioned after the NFL’s “Rooney Rule,” the Mansfield Rule requires that 30% of leadership candidates be women or attorneys of color.

Pat is speaking December 5, 2019, at the Empowered Women conference in San Francisco, hosted by Freeman Means Business. She sat down with Susan Kostal to talk about changes in the legal industry and how leadership needs to adapt.

SK: You have studied leadership in law firms. What have you found?

PG: It is no secret that the vast majority of law firm leaders are white men. And, most of the time they are also among the biggest rainmakers in the firm, and thus among the most highly compensated lawyers. As a result, our image of law firm leaders, much like that of corporate America, is anchored in this group of white males who control the firm’s most lucrative clients. Given that image, the question law firms have tacitly been asking for years is the same as that posed by Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady”: Why can’t a woman be more like a man?

And, because that is the question, the answer seems obvious: Fix the women. Make them more like men and then women will rise into positions of leadership and power.

That mindset led to various well-intentioned actions by firms to “help women succeed.” Yet, after decades of these kinds of “fixes” for women, we still have few women in power positions in our firms. And that is not because women “can’t be fixed,” it is because they don’t need to be fixed. It is the systems that perpetuate bias and limit access to equal opportunities that holds women back.

We need to get at the roots of our implicit bias, redefine leadership, and make the process for success and advancement far more transparent...

SK: So what really needs to change?

PG: We need to get at the roots of our implicit bias, redefine leadership, and make the process for success and advancement far more transparent. For example, we’ve had a cone of silence around how leaders are selected or elected.

That is where the Mansfield Rule comes in; it forces firms to increase the visibility of women by requiring that 30% of the candidates for leadership positions be women and/or minorities, and it requires firms to publish the criteria applicable to attaining a leadership position in the firm. This, hopefully, begins to level the playing field for women and minorities by developing a pipeline of future leaders and eliminating the old boys’ club method of choosing firm leaders.

Of course, in most firms, women and minorities need to develop a book of business to be seriously considered for leadership - since firms still wrongly associate rainmaking skills with leadership skills. But for years we have suffered under the misimpression that women can’t develop business. This is simply not true. In the Rainmaking Study I initiated with the help of Bill Henderson of Indiana Law School, the data we developed from testing and interviewing successful rainmakers showed that there is no gender difference in the personal characteristics that make rainmakers successful. So it is not that women don’t have the skills to develop business, it is that they are limited in the opportunities to do so, whereas their male colleagues are not.

SK: Tell me about some of the things you found in the study.

PG: Rainmakers displayed differently from others in four categories: engagement, dominance, motivation and risk taking. The way these characteristics affect their behavior is that they are confident, active leaders who feel comfortable exercising power, showing leadership, and taking control to influence the results of a team effort to realize individual or organizational goals. They are active listeners who are constantly looking for ways to make their clients look good.

Rainmakers displayed differently from others in four categories: engagement, dominance, motivation and risk taking...

Rainmakers focus on larger issues, the big picture. They do this through delegation and empowerment and are comfortable letting team members take on increasing responsibilities, listening to their views, and encouraging them to act on their own. They know their clients’ business goals and talk in business terms not legal terms. And they know that a “no” means “not now.”

SK: That sounds like a lot of successful individuals. What sets rainmakers apart?

PG: Here’s what’s key. Rainmakers are more likely than other lawyers to question established methods, to interpret systems with some flexibility, and to cut through red tape in order to achieve high performance. Interestingly, rainmakers typically have received less family financial help to pay for college, and are less likely to have attended an elite college or law school. They held jobs before becoming lawyers, usually in a service industry - learning how to recognize the needs of their customers and respond accordingly. They are big risk takers - willing to put themselves on the line.

SK: You’ve been writing about leadership, the legal industry and feminism for a long time. The country continues to weather the triumphs, but also the slings and arrows and sometimes the agony of #MeToo. Are you optimistic?

PG: I am. Clients have really stepped up to the plate, in part because in-house legal departments have diversified much more quickly than law firms. So we see more female General Counsel, more women with power in their organizations to hire outside counsel. And they are using that power to force firms to bring diverse teams to pitch for their work, to give credit to women and minorities who are actually doing the work, to take the lead on cases and deals. Millennials are also pushing law firms to change, and they are a force to be reckoned with. Many of them refuse to put up with work environments that are not diverse and inclusive. And Baby Boomers are having those “aha” moments as what was never personal has become personal because their daughters subjected to intentional and implicit biases in our firms.

Because of the pressures from these forces, firms are examining their systems and inserting controls and bringing transparency into these systems that will level the playing field and provide the same kinds of opportunities to women lawyers as has traditionally been provided to their male colleagues. Whether it’s succession planning for clients, rethinking origination credits, or monitoring assignments and pitch teams, some leading firms are making very deliberate, conscious efforts to prod an industry that’s been painfully slow to evolve. And that kind of focused attention by firms coupled with continued pressure from our clients will change our industry for the better.

Hear more from Pat Gillette, Deborah Tannen, Deirdre Breakenridge and others Dec. 5, 2019 at the Merchants Exchange Club in San Francisco. Registration details are available here.