It’s time that Women’s Initiatives in law firms stepped into the 21st century and involved men. Men benefit greatly from these initiatives, and they must also be part of the conversation in order for the firm to get the best results.
What are the objectives of most firms’ women’s initiatives? For most firms, these initiatives involve (among other things) some form of the following:
These are of course very impactful and therefore important objectives. If they are achieved, women will be more successful in their firms, contribute at a higher level in a more supportive environment. Guess what? Men benefit too.
Don’t male partners — and associates, for that matter — benefit if their firm is generating more revenue? Don’t they get the value of working in a firm where there is more knowledge sharing, meaningful personal development and other payoffs from mentoring? Aren’t they and their clients better off when talented women stay with the firm and continue to contribute their expertise, thereby providing better client service and stronger client relationships?
Of course they do.
And they also benefit from the policies that can derive from thoughtful, comprehensive initiatives. For example, a few years ago, I was leading a conversation with partners at a major professional services firm. One of the male partners pulled me aside at a break and said, “You know, I am really glad this women’s initiative was implemented. My second child was just born and I’ll be taking a few weeks off, taking advantage of the parental leave policy established as part of the initiative.” “So the women’s initiative isn’t just for women?” I asked him. “I suppose not,” he replied.
In addition to the fact that men personally benefit from these initiatives, they should be part of these conversations for purely practical reasons. It is remarkable that in most cases, in most firms they are not.
For example, in order to develop more effective practice groups and other high-performing teams at a firm, the entire team must be engaged—not just women. In addition, if a firms truly wants to improve the way certain decisions are made, from succession planning to staffing to financial resource allocation, then the people who make many (if not most) of those decisions must be discussing these changes- and that means the men. To leave them out of the conversation is to necessarily limit the influence of the initiative. Moreover, leaving men out of the mentoring process deprives potential mentees (both women and men) of a vast body of knowledge and experience. I do appreciate that in some instances it might be more valuable for a woman to have a female mentor, but that is certainly not always the case.
As beneficiaries of these initiatives and key players in their success, men must no longer be observers, but rather should be active participants.
This is not to say that all aspects of women’s initiatives should not be “women only”. For example, affinity groups or other gatherings that are primarily focused on providing critically-needed support and encouragement might work best if only women participate. But in general, since the objective is to build a better culture, everyone in the culture must be involved in the process.
What do you think? Isn’t it time for firms’ women’s initiatives to include men in a more meaningful way?