Several weeks ago a senior woman partner from a large law firm asked my opinion on as issue that had been bothering her for a long time. Apparently, her law firm has a partners meeting every spring. For the past two years she has asked the firm managing partner to set aside time for the women partners to meet. Both times he has replied that there was “no time in the schedule” but that the women partners could meed for cocktails the night before the full partners meeting. However, few people arrive the night before because the meeting does not start until noon the next day and individuals must pay for the extra night of accommodations. When she asked if a women partners meeting could be held in the morning prior to the larger meeting she was told that they were welcome to do so as long as no “extra” budget was required.
“Do you think he is deliberately blocking our efforts to get together?” she asked me. I prefer starting my musings with the “high road”: the firm managing partner needs more explanation about the importance of the meeting, the value of the women partners’ conversation for the entire firm, and a request for the meeting made with significant lead time so that the cost can be put into the budget. The woman with whom I was speaking responded that she thought she had done all of this but would try again and obtain my input about ways to clarify the purpose of the meeting.
I told her that if these actions did not yield an affirmative response we could devise a “Plan B”. She ended our conversation with, “I am just not sure.” What do you think?