Those moments — or turning points — don’t always lead to leadership in the traditional business sense. While they may result in us stepping up, they can also see us stepping back, stepping out, or completely changing the direction we thought we were stepping in.
They can also help us determine our purpose, the legacy we want to leave, and the conviction we’ll have for doing whatever it takes for making such ambitions a reality.
Recently, Women’s Agenda worked with law firm Baker McKenzie to bring a number of leaders with some kind of connection to the legal sector together to help workshop Five Ideas for Shifting the Dial for Women in Business by 2020.
But before our roundtable participants started workshopping those ideas, we asked them each to point to a different moment in their own lives that has shaped or determined their career progression and purpose.
These are the moments the 12 leaders outlined.
For some, including company director Dr Kirstin Ferguson and Gold Coast Hospital Deputy Chair Teresa Dyson, the defining moment for their careers stemmed from having children. Kirstin said it came in the form of her working for an employer who supported workplace flexibility after she had her two children, while Teresa was appointed a Blake Dawson partner while on maternity leave.
For others at the table, illness provided the catalyst. Women’s Agenda Editor Georgie Dent said her turning point came after having a nervous breakdown at the age of 25. While it was a terrible time, she said it was a formative experience. One that saw her leave her then chosen profession of law to pursue a career in journalism.
Kara Cook (pictured above), the owner of Cook Legal, said her turning point came when she was 27 and was diagnosed with cancer. Working in a mid-tier firm, in a career that was travelling well, she decided that the most important thing she could do was to give back. A week after the diagnosis, she accepted an opportunity to work at the Women’s Legal Services Centre and was later promoted to principal lawyer. A number of years later, she decided to establish a firm specialising in domestic violence.
AECOM Chief Counsel Gordon Kenwright said his turning point came with the appointment of Lara Poloni as CEO of his firm. He said she was an amazing role model and sponsor for him in the business, noting that she fast tracked flexible work, promoted leading by example and treated workplace gender diversity as both a male and female issue.
Brookfield General Counsel Claire Bibby also highlighted getting a sponsor as a key turning point. “I asked him to support me getting a promotion. He didn’t advocate for me to get the promotion I asked for. He advocated for me to get the next one up, and I got it” she said. “He showed a level of support I hadn’t been privy to at that point in my career”, she said.
Meanwhile Baker McKenzie partner and chair of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee Anne-Marie Allgrove said spending 18 months working with the firm in London before she had kids gave her an opportunity to expand her network “That created a new world for me in terms of contacts and opportunities, which have been critical to my career progression,” she said, noting that she put her hand up for overseas opportunities. “It is important to seize opportunities as they arise.”
Cassandra Heilbronn, President of the Women Lawyers Association of Queensland, said that while in a relationship with “traditional” expectations that she’d pursue a more domestic life, she subconsciously started pushing against such expectations to better promote women’s equality in corporate environments, and has since found herself mentoring women overseas, speaking on the issue at events and being active on social media.
The youngest of three children, YWCA Queensland Chair Denise Morton said growing up with farmer parents and developing a strong work ethic as a result, later aided her career working in the male dominated field of insurance – she said she often felt she had to work harder than the men around her, and was willing to do so.
Other turning points came after witnessing bad behaviour. Gemma Lloyd said she moved to co-found her business, Diverse City Careers, after a terrible experience in a tech firm. Company director Amelia Hodge said her big shift came when she witnessed several senior women not supporting younger women – just as more men were being awarded further advancement opportunities. “There’s that saying that some women pull the ladder up behind them. I vowed and declared during the course of my career I would always support and nurture women,” she said.
Baker McKenzie Brisbane’s Managing Partner Leigh Duthie, gave an open and honest account of his turning point, revealing how the careers of men are often aided through the sacrifices of their female partners. Leigh’s wife resumed full time practice 18 years after the birth of his only child. When their child went to kindergarten, she had approached her then employer at the Department of Justice and requested leave without pay for the month of January. The request was denied, she was told that other lawyers would resent it if she was given this time off.
“She made the decision to leave and look after our daughter full time, as she knew this would be an ongoing problem,” Leigh said. “I was at the time a younger partner, and that was very easy for me to agree to. It was terrific to have someone at home managing it all … It helped me a lot in my career having someone at home, managing everything on the home front. But ultimately it was a big sacrifice … at the time my wife was resentful about the choice she was forced to make and the hypocrisy in the profession between the different treatment of male and female lawyers when it came to childcare.”
Delving into your own personal experiences — including the moments that may have helped or hindered you — is a great start on determining how you can change the experience for others.
This is an edited extract from our 5 Ideas for Shifting the Dial on Women in Business by 2020, written in partnership with Baker McKenzie. Read the full report here.