Today, women in the legal profession find that it is critical to support one another and to collaborate to achieve success. Cullinan鈥檚 article further states that her findings show 鈥渨omen are more likely to care for the collective鈥�, and that 鈥渨omen are聽聽during the workday to focus on their top priorities, because they feel guilty or selfish for doing so. (聽that indicates guilt is typically a female trait supports this finding.) If women do carve out time, they tend to give it away if someone needs them.鈥�

Not surprisingly for many women, law firms鈥� women鈥檚 initiatives have helped to facilitate collaboration and support for women seeking to advance their careers in legal.

, Chair of both the Women鈥檚 Initiative and the Healthcare Litigation Group at Baker Donelson as well as a member of the firm鈥檚 board of directors, notes the strategic importance Baker Donelson places on advancing women. 鈥淭he Women鈥檚 Initiative has a robust strategic plan honed over the last 10 years and a Women鈥檚 Initiative Leadership Team made up of nearly 50 seasoned women and men attorneys and business professionals who are passionate about advancing women,鈥� Crider says.

鈥淚n understanding that a large book of business is the quickest way to advance, we developed our groundbreaking and award-winning Women to Equity program six years ago,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚n the year-long program, we take a class of 14 women income-shareholders who are looking to make equity-shareholder in the next 3-4 years. Throughout the year, we have programming led by equity-shareholders, firm leaders, and coaches on topics related to building a book of business 鈥� such as identifying targets, collaborating, selling your expertise across the firm, and how to turn a single matter into a career-long client.鈥�

Many law firms have women鈥檚 initiatives as well as diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) initiatives; and leaders of these groups have discussed the many challenges still faced by individuals including:

• • • compensation models not set up for sharing credit;
    • partners passing on their clients to favored young (and often white male) associates who have been groomed to take over the client;
    • lack of billable time allowance for managing women鈥檚 initiatives; and
    • lack of collaboration by those who have succeeded before them.

In other words, while the firm may have the best intentions with establishing these initiatives, until they become part of the strategic fabric of the firms and credit is given to those who spearhead and manage these initiatives, the emphasis will remain on billable time and origination. This dynamic unfortunately results in a loss of the opportunity to create a diverse, inclusive, and collaborative environment that ultimately benefits all members.

Encouraging camaraderie

Still, many firm members find camaraderie among their peers. Brownstein Hyatt Farber & Schreck鈥檚 , a shareholder and Chair of the firm鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Leadership Initiative, says that her “professional life is full of smart, dynamic, supportive women who want to see other women succeed. I know some women haven鈥檛 had the same experience, but I spend my days surrounded by women who do what they can to lift others up, and I am grateful for it.鈥�

Is it easier to do business with women buyers of legal services? It may be, several suggest. 鈥淲omen are very often oriented toward solving problems rather than approaching issues as a zero-sum game of winning or losing,鈥� Johnson says.

Baker Donelson鈥檚 Crider adds that she鈥檚 experienced 鈥渘o difference in the ease or difficulty of doing business with clients based on their gender. The key in either situation is to listen and continue to ask questions to ensure you are giving the client exactly what they need now and in the future.鈥�

Cullinan鈥檚 article discusses other interesting findings. She writes:

Researcher, consultant, and author聽聽has studied gender differences and has published her findings in several books. Her research uncovers an important difference in the way men and women view collaboration. She found that women are more likely to agree with the statement 鈥楤eing a good team player means helping all of my colleagues with what they need to get done.鈥� In contrast, men are more likely to agree with the statement 鈥楤eing a good team player is knowing your position and playing it well.鈥� In organizations that get work done through informal project teams or that have overlapping accountabilities, this difference in perspective has implications聽for the way the men and women engage in collaboration.

Some of the challenges women today face with business development include time, of course, which is often everyone鈥檚 greatest challenge. 鈥淏alance is the goal that eludes women attorneys from the most junior attorney to the most seasoned rainmaker,鈥� Crider says. 鈥淭here are so many pulls on our time. With the encouragement of a great mentor, women, in my experience, can intuitively develop business.鈥�

Finding the time

The challenge, of course, is finding the time to create those business development opportunities 鈥� too often other tasks will grab time jealously while forming business development strategy will not. For all lawyers, it takes intention and ruthless, consistent execution to be successful in developing business 鈥� and that can be very difficult with the competing time demands on all of us, she adds.

Other challenges we face, adds Brownstein Hyatt鈥檚 Johnson, stem from the fact that 鈥渕ost decision-makers are older men. While many are happy to hire women, there鈥檚 still fundamentally a headwind involved in not seeing people like me reflected in the client base.鈥�

Today however, more corporations are aware of their demands of outside counsel for diverse teams and that they themselves need to follow their own advice. 鈥淲e agree we need to do a better job of i) building our own diverse teams, and ii) hiring more outside counsel who are diverse,鈥� explains a diverse member of Google鈥檚 in-house counsel. 鈥淲e are all working toward collaborating outside the historic norms and being more inclusive of women and minority counsel.鈥�

In fact, some law firms are holding in-house counsel responsible for following through on their often-lengthy RFPs which demand painstaking disclosure about staffing of women and minority counsel. 鈥淐hange is happening, it鈥檚 just very slow,鈥� the in-house team member adds.

And focusing on collaboration certainly helps guide the process. But in order to that, it鈥檚 important to recognize that success here is a two-way street. 鈥淚t is important to seek out the perspectives of both women and men,鈥� says Crider, adding that men have been equally great mentors throughout her career. 鈥淭he most successful mentoring relationships I have had are reciprocal 鈥� in other words, we are in this to help one another. In the relationships where I am in more of a traditional mentoring role to a junior attorney, I appreciate the mentees who take the time to support me as well 鈥� those have star power.鈥�

To realize the gains offered by collaboration across diverse teams, it takes leadership and commitment. Creating an environment where everyone matters, and everyone works to support each other鈥檚 success will certainly benefit law firms in the long run. And most certainly, those women who support other women will help drive this success.

Often, we think of innovation as developing a new widget, but there are actually 10 types of innovation, according to Doblin, a Deloitte business. Process improvements, services, and client engagement are just a few of the types, and ones being heavily looked at in the tax & accounting industry. In short, innovation is looking at what exists around us and creating something better, according to industry innovator .

This charge needs to be led by someone, and women seem to be stepping into that role quite naturally. revealed that women leaders are more prone to 鈥溾��, and more specifically will champion change, drive results, solve problems, and innovate.

Further, that looked into the impact on organizations that promoted women into leadership roles showed such organizations 鈥渋ncreasingly embraced transformation while seeking to reduce the risks associated with it.鈥� The study also found these organizations increased the frequency of terms conveying 鈥渙penness to change鈥� by 10%. This could explain why a number of innovation teams across the industry are being led by women or strategically incorporating the female perspective in their drive to innovate.

I spoke to some of these women who are driving change and innovation in accounting firms and organizations of all sizes and taking a leadership role in the transformation that鈥檚 occurring in the tax & accounting industry. They shared their perspectives on the need for change and what is takes to be successful.

The need

The catalysts for change are happening in all facets of the tax & accounting industry, but there are a couple stand-out areas. As , partner in innovation and transformation at Wipfli, points out, leaders are not innovating for the sake of innovating, rather, they have a purpose in mind.

Given the current industry talent shortage, the need for greater efficiency is key. , Chief Transformation Officer at BPM, notes that 鈥渢he Great Resignation is priming the pump of innovation in the workplace鈥� .鈥�

, co-founder and CEO of MOD Ventures, explains how she puts the focus on processes, by asking, 鈥淗ow can I do this one thing better?鈥� Firms, and almost all organizations, are trying to figure out how to effectively work with team members in a hybrid environment while keeping productivity high, maintaining quality work, and staying connected with their teams.

Further, technology is advancing faster than ever before, and for leaders to keep their organizations strong they have to be anticipating how this changes the expectations of both their own talent and clients. 鈥淚nnovation is happening inside the practitioner鈥檚 world, not just outside it,鈥� says , CFO at BitPay, noting that all the automation and process improvements are 鈥渕oving up the level of review and financial reporting.鈥�

Indeed, consider how mainstream companies like PayPal, Venmo, and others are now dealing in cryptocurrency. In this and many other ways, the questions and needs clients have will be changing. Evolution such as this is why 鈥淸innovation] is not a luxury鈥� the pace of innovation has to pick up,鈥� says Arendt.

Clearly, as all these women point out, it鈥檚 time to break the status quo of the traditional work environment, and women have a distinct perspective to voice in this transformation.

The mindset

We need to adopt the growth mindset, Stevenson explains, noting that 鈥淸innovation is] all about changing the way we think so we can change the way we do.鈥� That includes reimagining the way we teach our leaders, she says, noting that accountants are accustomed to operating within limits and boundaries, so we need to challenge accounting leaders to focus more on opportunities.

Solanki emphasized the need for firms to be proactive in their innovation or their businesses could be disrupted, like many were during the pandemic.

The leadership

Strong leadership that fosters a culture of innovation is imperative for success, and accounting firm leaders need to be open to ideas from all areas and levels of the organization. Leaders should establish a culture where all 鈥渃razy ideas鈥� are welcome, and 鈥渘o idea is dumb,鈥� say Stevenson and Arendt, respectively. Leadership that is open to new ideas and has a team with diverse perspectives ready to vet those ideas will have the most potential.

Of course, this requires two-way trust. During the testing and rollout stages, leadership needs to strongly communicate why the change is being made. Stevenson suggests that leaders need to overcommunicate, so the team understands what is in it for them. In addition, the leaders need to listen to the concerns of their team.

Luoma says such action builds trust with her, so her team can freely tell her when they disagree or when things aren鈥檛 working according to plan. The team has to trust that she will 鈥渄itch an effort鈥� if it is not going to achieve the intended goal, Luoma adds.

Finally, Stevenson points out that effective innovation leaders also look outside their firm and collaborating with colleagues because many ideas can come from learning about the changes other industries or firms are making. This can demonstrate 鈥減roof of concept,鈥� she says.

And listening to customers also can inform your firm鈥檚 own planning, but you must act fast given the rate of change in the industry today, adds Solanki.

It is clear that the tax & accounting industry in going through a transformation, and women leaders have a strong role to play in shaping that future. Women have special skills that can be leveraged to identify the problems, develop solutions, and execute the plans that can bring innovative ideas to fruition 鈥� and this includes envisioning what their own career in tax & accounting might look like.

鈥淒ream big,鈥� encourages Stevenson 鈥� and make your voice heard, says Solanki. And remember, women鈥檚 perspectives are not as fully represented at the leadership table as they could be, so mentor fellow women to get more of their ideas heard.