Women Lawyers Attribute Success to Ambition

By Gina F. Rubel
Special to the Legal

I had the pleasure of attending a Philadelphia Bar Association Women in the Profession meeting where a panel of some of the most admired women lawyers in Philadelphia discussed the topic of women advancing in law firms. There was a reccurring theme of “ambition” and how it plays into moving up and success within a law firm.

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines “ambition” as "an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power or desire to achieve a particular end." So once you have the “desire,” it is important to understand what that desire is for. If it is to move up and be successful with your law firm, here are some of the things that these women leaders advised.

Seek a Mentor
Roberta D. Pichini, a partner with Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock & Dodig, encouraged women lawyers to take time to sit and think about what their long- and short-term goals are. 

“Think it through and clarify your intentions,” she said. “Ask the questions: Who can mentor me? And what’s the reality of me reaching my goals?” She encourages all women of all ages to seek a professional mentor in your firm (not a personal mentor). Pichini also advises that you should become a valuable asset to your law firm by “helping to increase the size of the pie” (bring in business).  Pichini said women need to carry themselves with confidence and be ambitious.

Develop Professional Networks
Stephanie Resnick, a partner with Fox Rothschild, spoke about making partnerships and building business. She recommends getting involved in the community. First and foremost it is important for self-enrichment to do what you like to do and give back. 

Resnick said, “Be active in the legal and business communities. Participate outside your law firm in bar associations or chambers of commerce.  These groups foster networking which leads to business. In addition, look at expanding relationships with existing clients. Determine where your relationships are, it’s about relationship building. Recognize the connections between people.” She went on to advise women to “be visible within your law firm -- volunteer for more. Show a willingness to assist in any way. Demonstrate that you are capable in all situations.” And also, “Be ambitious.”

Follow a Path
JoAnne A. Epps, president of Temple University Beasley School of Law, also provided important advice for women lawyers. One of the first things she said was, “Keep your resume as if you are an academic.  List your speaking engagements and published articles in the Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) format. This is an important tool to have up to date and a way to keep your accomplishments together in one place.”

She said your professional resume is a great map to your career -- a path that you should map out and follow. She said, “Figure out what you want, articulate it and position yourself early. Set your sights high, think about being the foreign ambassador not just an ‘international attorney.’” According to Epps, “It’s all about ambition.”

Make a Difference
Lynn Marks, the executive director of Pennsylvania for Modern Courts, talked about making a difference. She said, “Think about how to make a change -- always look to make something better. Figure out how to use your law degree on how to make a difference. Consider pro bono work.  Find what you are passionate about and follow your dreams. Never give up regardless of what you do and always keep your eye on both short and long term goals.” Lynn concurred that making a difference requires the ambition to do so.  She also said, “Be ambitious, assertive and confident and you will succeed.”

Gina F. Rubel is the owner of Furia Rubel Communications Inc., a public relations and marketing agency with a niche in legal communications. She maintains a blog at www.ThePRLawyer.com, is a regular contributor to The Legal Intelligencer’s blog and blogs for The Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gina-furia-rubel). You can find her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/ginafuriarubel or follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ginarubel.  For more information, go to www.FuriaRubel.com.

Comments

[Joseph Pugh, D.M.]

There seems to be sufficient evidence to indicate that ambition has been the force that has brought about the successes of the attorneys who attended the meeting. What you did at the meeting is classified as a “thematic analysis,” which is a process used in qualitative research to allow the researcher to make sense out of seemingly unrelated textual material, and to translate qualitative information into quantitative data in order to facilitate analysis (Boyatzis, 1998).
Ambition sometimes has a negative connotation. After all, Julius Caesar was assassinated because of his ambition. But rightly understood, ambition is a manifestation of the phenomenon of motivation. Motivation is composed of the psychological forces that determine the direction of an individual’s behavior in an organization, the person’s level of effort, and the level of persistence in the face of obstacles and challenges (Jones & George, 2008).
Ambition reflects the confluence of the two components of motivation - intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is the motive force within the individual. Extrinsic motivation is the external set of conditions that causes the individual to direct personal efforts toward the achievement of some desired future state. In other words, extrinsic motivation provides the goal, while intrinsic motivation provides the individual with the desire to achieve the goal for oneself.
Another factor in ambition is the leadership characteristic of initiative, which allows an individual to influence events, rather than passively accepting events and conditions.
An interesting topic for a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation.

[Lawyer Social Marketing]

Dedication is one of the factors in achieving your ambition. Your ambition would be worthless, if there is no dedication and hardship. Desire for your ambition must be on the top of your mind that you can do it. Just like the woman layers are. They have their dedication to reach there ambition. I'm very proud of them. And thank you for the advices and information I've read on this article. Hoping your entire law firm is successful, as what it is now.

[Adam Whittaker]

Google really was amazing, for it had done which was supposed to be impossible. Google Cloud will allow you print emails and documents like .doc files and PDF. And I really like the printing feature of this Google Cloud. You will not spend a lot of time, and this is easy to use.

[CFDs]

Further benefit of this trading system is that, once created it acts instantaneously without missing a single chance. There is no time lag as things must be done right now for achieving the goal. In fact foreign markets exchange is also using algorithmic trading for making business.

[John Tan from Franchise Singapore Pte. Ltd.]

Lawyers are really respectable persons that eventually encounter so many things that would make them in their professionalism career. And being a lawyer you must be knowledgeable enough to understand and on how to cope and have the ability to struggle when you are down. The life of a lawyer is not easy at all to accomplished it requires wit and talent.

[list of dissertation topics]

There was a reccurring theme of “ambition” and how it plays into moving up and success within a law firm.

[dissertation methodology chapter]

I really like your blog and I will definitely bookmark it.

[carpet cleaning San Antonio]

I’m nevertheless a social media practitioner: In some instances, when individuals become analysts, they stop practicing and may undergo from issues in knowledge the natty gritty. I nevertheless lead activities, experiment and critique instruments, to me, this is a core part of what I’m about, so I won’t halt this.

[Exotic Dancers Las Vegas]

This post has taken the subject onto the next level, great writing skills and message conveyed by the author.

[Austin car accident lawyer]

Very nice article. Your article has helped me to understand this subject on a different level. I would like to appreciate your efforts for exploring this issue. Thank you for your information.

[dentist in Houston]

Thanks for your marvelous posting! I actually enjoyed reading it, you will be a great author.I will ensure that I bookmark your blog and will come back in the foreseeable future.

[Austin neighborhood guide]

Excellent tips. Making it as a lawyer these days can be difficult, but you've given some great pointers!

[Atlanta Roofers]

It is a very inspiring post to go through for excellent story about sustainability; food and environment in urban areas.The successful example of urban farming in Chicago can be followed in other cities to make the cities greener and less polluted.I've enjoyed reading the interesting discussion.