Nina's Notes

“The power of people can positively impact how we address the challenges of tomorrow.” – Everyone Matters

I couldn’t agree more with the above statement from the Everyone Matters’ website . It’s something that I feel runs through this edition of Nina's Notes , which is a monthly round up of my inclusion-related musings on LinkedIn.

As I outline in this post , Pat Sharman and Michael Evans invited me to speak at their first in-person event for 2024, which was hosted by HSBC Asset Management UK CEO Stuart White . All the speakers including David Lyon from Natural Capital Associates shared action-focussed thoughts on the topic of “Creative Thinking on Diversity, Inclusion, and the Environment.”

Every point was about what we do today is about driving change for tomorrow. For those who follow me, you will know that I share the importance of understanding data of where we are now, sharing that knowledge so we can collaborate on identifying the opportunities that will have impact on our futures. I talk about these steps as being a change theory with three elements:

Data. Collaboration. Action.

Throughout this newsletter, you will see these elements from a plethora of people seeking to have a positive impact to address the challenges of tomorrow (and also today).

There's lots of ideas and I would love to hear yours. So please do share your thoughts, comment or drop me a line .

Removing the Tiara

“We’re all just different.” - Erica Handling

Erica was speaking at a session about how men need to understand that women are different AND women also need to understand men are different too. You can find out more about the event in this post . Some of Erica’s top areas to consider:

?? How do we support women to move away from “The Tiara Syndrome”?This is when we believe that if they keep doing their job well someone will notice them and “place a tiara on their head” (i.e. promote or recognise them). More recent piece I found on this was in the Mail .

?? Women focus on their faults whereas men are better at focusing on their attributes. How do we help women reframe? In the session the commonly quoted a woman will want to feel 100% able to do a job before she applies vs 60% for a man. This World Economic Forum article is worth a read.

?? Don’t confuse confidence with competence. Erica talked about how girls at school will be looking to reach 100% in their learning, boys will be more comfortable with less. This leads to teachers spending more time on boys. Teachers may also be likely to call on a boy to answer questions in the class to “protect” girls… which impacts their confidence. It reminded me of this piece in Forbes I read many moons ago.

?? Think whether your actions fall under the idea of Benevolent Sexism.This is when attitudes, practices, and actions that seem positive — such as aid, flattery, and rewards — but that undercut their goal of supporting women at work, often under the pretence of providing them with help, protection, compliments, and affection. Interesting piece here from Harvard Business Review .

I leave this section with this quote that Erica shared at the start of the session as additional food for thought from Edward Abbey: “It is the difference between men and women, not the sameness, that creates the tension and the delight.”

Small Actions. Big Impact.

"The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs, one step at a time." - Joe Girard, known as the World’s Greatest Salesman

Another classic motivational quote that came up during one of my daily 15 minutes on a word search app (for those who don’t know, it is my way of taking a few moments for myself).

Why share this now, and in this post recently? I just think the quote is a great reminder of what we all could be considering as we aim to move forward - at work, in life and all the bits in between.

I agree that there is no lift that will speed us to the top - whether as individuals or as organisations (some may disagree - and would be interested in comments)… For me, it’s about many small actions (and learnings) - often taken concurrently, and by many of us - that leads to big impact.

If that impact is to be sustained then it will need time to bed in.For an organisation, we often hear that change takes 3-5 years.

How many small actions over that period will be needed to drive sustained change do you think?

Awards season continued...

"Our work isn’t done and there is more to do beyond gender. We are committed to recognising & removing barriers faced by underrepresented groups. Inclusion needs to be lived & breathed." – Alison Eddy

Awards season continued within the Legal Sector. A big shout out to Alison Eddy for her Lifetime Achievement Award at Legal 500 ESG Awards. I loved this comment in her post. You can see more on her reaction to the honour on her LinkedIn post .

Cookie Conversations

As I share in this post , "Cookie and Conversations" was the phrase Adrian St Clair Walcott and I conjured up at the People in Law Awards shortlist networking drinks.

The phrase came from us talking about Clifford Chance ’s home/fresh/on-site baked cookies creating a moment for Adrian to start new conversations with people when he came to CC’s London office recently. For many “food moments” can be great connectors.

It gives people something in common to strike up conversations, and ultimately build relationships.

Have to share this image and congratulate Toby Horner and his team once again! As outlined in this post , Clifford Chance won the champions of champions award for the firm's Early Recruitment Talent Campaign at the People in Law Awards organised by the fabulous Fiona Wilson and Sarah Morton .

(We did also get a highly commended for Excellence in EDI.)

Legal LinkedIn Influencers

“You are in a position through your platform to amplify others. Do it bigger and do it louder.” - Linda Riley , CEO and founder of the British Diversity Awards

I've used this quote from Linda previously in Nina's Notes and in this post more recently. It's a great point that is worth continuous reiteration.

I'd re-quoted Linda after the publication of TBD Marketing Ltd ’s Top 100 Legal LinkedIn Influencers . It was humbling to be featured. I hope it’s because I get to amplify the work of others (alongside my “general thoughts”) through what I post/publish on LinkedIn .

So my ask: please keep sharing your stories and champion others who drive change. The more role models out there, the more we inspire …and the more likely that inspiration can turn to inclusive change.

Together We Can (Influence)!

What Can We Do?

Leading inclusively - and beyond discomfort - is realising that your truth isn’t necessarily someone else’s truth

One month on from the launch of her book - Beyond Discomfort: Why Inclusive Leadership is so hard - Nadia Nagamootoo (she/her) held an energising session to workshop some of the ideas from her work that she shares in her recently launched book Beyond Discomfort: Why Inclusive Leadership is so hard .

As I shared in this post , in addition to sharing the thought above, Nadia's top ask of any leader was to self-reflect to understand how you can act on your reactions and emotions so they can drive inclusive behaviours. She gave us some ideas to consider:

• Notice your inner voice: it’s telling you something really important
• Be Curious: open up a dialogue with that inner voice…could there be another truth?
• Notice your emotions: if you discover there is another truth, how do you feel? If it’s discomfort - feel it, own it and consider how to work through it

Nadia summed up Inclusive Leadership with four acknowledgements:

• It is hard
• It requires a receptiveness to learning
• It needs a willingness to act
• It will make you feel uncomfortable

I would also add that leaders need support to grow and learn. We can give that by sharing our lived experiences and the impact actions can have on us.

The Smile Tax

The “Smile Tax": the emotional and psychological strain of fitting in that can lead to burnout and missed opportunities.

As I've mention on occasion, we don't know what we don't know. And when Jarell Bempong shared the Smile Tax idea in his recent newsletter , I felt compelled to share .

It is a great reframe on the impact of not feeling you can be you at work. Jarell explains that the "Smile Tax” manifests in the everyday adjustments people make in the workplace from masking accents, code-switching, to appearing cheerful and agreeable even when faced with non-inclusive behaviours.

With code switching, where you alter your form of communication and mannerisms to fit in, Jarell outlined how that can lead to stress, anxiety, exhaustion and isolation.

For me, I can certainly think of many times where I’d have paid the Smile Tax. I also recognise that we all code switch to some extent - when talking to a boss or someone in a professional manner vs our friends and family. For minority groups the impact comes from having to do this almost constantly at work and in society. It means individuals are not able to be their best, which will lead to missed opportunities.

When I shared the Smile Tax on LinkedIn, I'd asked people to share on a poll. 55% felt they paid the Smile Tax, compared to 45% who felt they do their best work. I wasn't expecting that result (based on 31 votes). Interested in others' thoughts.

Hints and Tips

What’s the difference between a mentor, sponsor and coach?

For some in the know the difference between mentoring, sponsorship and coaching may feel this is fairly obvious…but, as we mentioned earlier, we don’t know, what we don’t know.

As I highlighted in this post , this is why it was great to have Clifford Chance alumni and executive coach Louisa Elder share her definitions and insights as part of a career conversation hosted by our social mobility network RISE.

So what is the difference?

• Mentoring is where advice is given by your mentor. Louisa summed it up with this analogy: “They should be teaching you to catch fish, but not catching the fish for you.”
• Sponsorship is about advocacy. The sponsor needs to really know you so they can be your voice when you’re not in the room.
• Coaching is not giving advice. Coaches help you to go from great to even better. They hold up a mirror up to you and you have to work to get to the solution.

Ultimately, Louisa’s secret to success was about having clarity around the purpose of your relationship (and sticking to that purpose). Lots to takeaway so check out my original post .

On that stuck in my mind: “No meeting should be for a meeting’s sake. There needs to be a reason.” Something we can all takeaway for any work situation?

Getting comfortable with uncomfortable?

“…emotions - even uncomfortable ones - are simply data.?Data that you can really use.” - Rachel Schofield

Loved this thought from Rachel in her newsletter called The Rework , which I shared on LinkedIn earlier this month.

The emotion she was considering was jealously - the tag line of the newsletter “Jealous - moi?” She explores how we can take those feelings of jealousy (or “LinkedInitis”) and use them as an objective data point to drive positive action.

Some of Rachel’s ways of analysing the emotion include:

• Lean into the idea that envy, like any emotion, "can get in your way or get you on your way". (Dr. Mavis Mazhura, Psy.D )
• Ask yourself "What is this envy actually telling me?" Get as specific as you can. Is it they’ve done something you’ve always wanted to do? Maybe a moment to think how you can learn from them and get a plan in place?
• Decide what action you want to take as a result: “Thanks envy, you've reminded me I really do want to aim for…”

We’ve got this!

Upcoming events & Opportunities

Here's a quick rundown of some events and opportunities I've posted about or reacted to over the last month:

• Encompass Equality is launching an update to their Why Women Leave research on Thursday 9 May. You can find out more from Joy Burnford 's LinkedIn post .
• Chai n Chat has been launched by Roshni. It's an opportunity for UK South Asian Women to voice and share their personal issues in a confidential 1-1 setting. You can find out more via this post from Sanjeev Bhavnani .
• Wednesday 15 May at 1900BST, Rachel Schofield is holding an Ask Me Anything session. You can book your free spot here .
• Thursday 16 May at 1300BST, Lisa Nugent will be running a FREE Masterclass on "How to rise above the self-doubt and become a successful woman". You can find out more and register via this link .
• On 24 May, Ros Atkins will be at Hay Festival to share best practice from his book The Art of Explanation on how to communicate clearly and confidently – no matter the situation. You can find out more here .
• Erica Handling provides pro bono coaching for women in law through The Women’s Room. You can find out more here .
• Your super early reminder to Save the Date from Next 100 Years for their awards in November, which will be held at Clifford Chance in London. Award nominations open in June.

Final Thought

“Everyone has a voice. Everyone has a part to play to help address the challenges from a changing world.”

I'm ending this newsletter where we started , as this is at the heart of my purpose – giving people voice. Without diversity of voice we will miss how we can create positive change and innovate to ensure everyone can play their part to address the challenges we face – today and tomorrow.

Together We Can!

Thank you for reading this month's Nina's Notes . I hope it’s been useful. Please do drop me a line with any thoughts and you can follow me on LinkedIn .