| Law.com has a provocative article today featuring female partner Mercedes Meyer of Drinker Biddle & Reath on the different male characteristics women should take on if they would like to be successful in the male-dominated legal world. I am not quite sure what I think of this. Part of me thinks, hey, if my colleagues don’t want to hear about my kid, screw them! If my male coworker can say, “I’ve got to leave early to coach little league” and everyone thinks he’s a big hero, why should the bar be any higher for me? The other part thinks that some of these tips wouldn’t be too hard to follow. I’m interested in hearing what you all think. Is it naive to believe that we shouldn’t have to do this? Is it necessary to take the gloves off, fight dirty and use a little potty mouth if we want to play with the big boys?
The problem is that women sometimes sabotage themselves with female mannerisms that men misread as hesitancy or uncertainty. As a result, the women don’t get tapped by partners to do important work, they don’t get called by clients, they start to stagnate and, eventually, they leave the law. The theory is that they miss out not because they’d rather be playing jacks with their daughters but because they haven’t learned the rules of the game.
At this point in the conversation, many people would start talking about flexible hours, telecommuting or part-time partnership tracks. Not Meyer. Instead, she is pushing women to reach the top in the traditional way: by figuring out what law firms expect and then supplying exactly that.
Take, for instance, the PowerPoint presentation Meyer gave at the 2007 spring meeting of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. At the time, she chaired the group’s Women in IP Law Committee. She called the talk “How to Pledge a Sorority When Your School Only Has Fraternities, or How Female Associates Can Become Partner.”
Fine-tuning one’s image was a big part of Meyer’s presentation. Think of the way Madonna keeps honing her public persona. But since pointy bras and elaborate dance routines are probably the wrong brand for lawyers, Meyer recommends instead a careful concoction of time-honored professionalism — a firm handshake and deliberate eye contact — with a determined avoidance of pre-feminist behaviors.
Translation: Don’t offer to take notes, make copies or get coffee. Don’t use a “questioning tonality” in phrasing questions — it makes you sound unsure of yourself. Don’t worry about whether everyone likes you. And think twice before you mention your offspring. In fact, Meyer says that women should treat the topic of children like politics or religion. Not everybody wants to hear about your kids, either.
Appearance, too, plays into the brand. Keep your hairstyle professional. Dress in a “classy” way. (There’s a good chance that means no cleavage and no tight skirts.)
