Highlights from the Alliance’s 2014 Flex Success™ Leadership Institute

On October 23 & 24, 2014, the Alliance held its inaugural Flex Success™ Leadership Institute for senior attorneys, of counsel, and junior partners working a flex or reduced hours schedule.  It was an incredible event with open and honest conversations between the faculty presenters and attendees on issues including business development, mindset and grit, interrupting flex stigma, and personal success stories from previous Flex Success™ Honorees.  Here are some highlights of the knowledge that was passed on:

Meg Milroy, Assistant General Counsel, Verizon: Self-document your successes; you never know if your manager will be there next review time.

Lisa Horowitz, Founder & Principal Advisor, Attorney Talent Strategy Group: Don’t be afraid to set boundaries that work within your schedule — being gritty also means being strategic.

Gail J. Cummings, Executive Coach & Psychotherapist: Having a growth mindset means being able to have those difficult conversations without being confrontational.

Sandy Chamblee, Chief Diversity Partner, Steptoe & Johnson: Understand your client, their industry, and be fearless! Take a risk and be willing to learn something new.

Ben Wilson, Managing Principal, Beveridge & Diamond: A firm values the business you bring in, but you need to also show excitement.  Ask yourself, “how do I add value?”

David Morales, SVP & Senior Associate General Counsel, AARP: Think outside the box even for the simplest projects.  We equate flexibility to happy attorneys, and happy attorneys means good work.

Sara Holtz, Founder & CEO, ClientFocus: Effective business development is a marathon, not a sprint – effective marketing doesn’t mean “random acts of lunch”.

Verna Myers, Founder & President, Verna Myers Consulting Group: Defaulting to silence is problematic to you and the organization; learn to interrupt bias and answer with intent and impact.

Deborah Kelly, Partner & Deputy General Counsel, Dickstein Shapiro: With over 25 years of working a flex schedule, she and the firm trained each other on what it means to be flex. As the flex person you have be flexible too.

Elaine Herrmann Blais, Partner, Goodwin Procter: Ask yourself what success means to you; choose what you do and know when to say yes or no.

Marci Rose Levine, Partner, Dentons: You are not alone; everyone is utilizing some type of flex schedule, some are just doing it openly and formally.

Eve Howard, Partner, Hogan Lovells: Flexibility keeps people at an organization that would otherwise leave.

Ritu Bhasin, Principal and Founder, bhasin consulting, inc.: Leadership presence, profile development, and relationship capital are three key ways to attract sponsorship.

Becky Sheetz-Runkle, Strategic Marketer & Speaker, Sun Tzu Strategies: Ask for what you want and be authentic.

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Learn more about the Flex Success™ Leadership Institute.