Compiled for the LCLD Board of Directors every Wednesday, this digest is designed to brief you on the latest headlines about LCLD Members and organizations, as well as thought-provoking articles on diversity in the legal profession, talent development, mentoring, and leadership. Past issues of the Digest are also archived on the LCLD web site.

If you have questions about the Digest, articles you'd like to share, of if you would like to subscribe, please email Caitlin Puffenberger at cpuffenberger@lcldnet.com. 

1. Resources from the LCLD 2016 Annual Membership Meeting 

LCLD Communications, 10/24/16

Materials from the Seventh Annual Membership Meeting are now available online, including slides from the Language in Action exercise on leadership traits, the Language of Leaders slideshow that opened the meeting, and the unveiling of the new What’s Working portal on the LCLD website. 

2. Do-It-Yourself Diversity at The Home Depot

LCLD Communications, 10/18/16

“We’re really a talent development organization that sells hardware,” Teresa Roseborough, LCLD Member and General Counsel of The Home Depot, told LCLD Fellows at a Learning Experience in Atlanta this summer. Fellows learned about the ways in which the company’s values-based culture impacts business strategy and employee development. They also heard from a panel of local general counsel, saw a Language of Leadership Q&A between Roseborough and LCLD President Robert Grey, and toured the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta.

3. Reed Smith Renames Diverse Scholars Program in Memory of Deborah Broyles

Reed Smith, 10/25/16

LCLD Member firm Reed Smith LLP announced this week that it would rename its diverse scholars program to honor the firm’s late Director of Global Diversity & Inclusion, Deborah Broyles. The program provides $20,000 awards and summer associate positions to two law students who have demonstrated academic excellence and commitment to diversity and inclusion. “We wanted a visible and meaningful way to honor Deborah’s legacy and her unflagging commitment to diversity,” said Alexander Thomas, LCLD Member and Global Managing Partner. 

4. U.S. Latinos Feel They Can’t Be Themselves at Work

Harvard Business Review, 10/11/16

“The vast majority of Latinos (76 percent) repress parts of their personas at work,” according to a recent study from the Center for Talent Innovation. In addition, 43 percent of Latinas and 33 percent of Latinos feel they sacrifice authenticity in order to meet their organizations' standards of executive presence – which in turn can determine whether they achieve leadership positions. Latinos also reported that they felt their ideas were often unwelcome, despite their insight into reaching the quickly-growing Latino market. One solution may be to increase sponsorship opportunities for Latinos; currently, only 5 percent of full-time, high-earning Latino professionals at large companies have sponsors. 

5. Why Women Aren’t Making it to the Top of Financial Services Firms

Harvard Business Review, 10/25/16

Women occupy only 20 percent of executive committee roles and only 22 percent of board positions at financial services firms, according to a recent study. “The problem is not simply the tone or atmosphere of the workplace; it is the unstated ideas about what is required for success in the financial industry. An effective senior banker is (wrongly) imagined to be aggressive, dominating, transactional — characteristics that are stereotypically masculine and that are, as a matter of statistical fact, more commonly associated with men." In addition to losing female talent, the lack of female leadership also leads to a lack of female customers, because they are not satisfied with the service they receive from the investment industry.