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 Communications Specialist Caitlin Puffenberger at cpuffenberger@lcldnet.com.
1. How the GC of Mastercard Improves His Law Firm Relationships
Corporate Counsel, 9/11/18
“Face-to-face conversations build trust, establish priorities, create common vocabulary, and allow everyone to figure out their true goals,” writes Tim Murphy, LCLD Member and General Counsel of Mastercard, on the importance of annual law firm summits.
2. Fifty Years of Economic History Proves that Inclusive Workplaces Make Us All Richer
Quartz, 8/30/18
“Improved access to high-skill jobs for women and people of color accounts for around 25 percent of all economic growth from 1960 to 2010,” according to a report from the University of Chicago and Stanford University.
3. Leaders Create Leaders: How 3 Former GCs Planned for Their Successors
Corporate Counsel, 9/13/18
“Talent development takes time, ideally years,” said Michelle Banks, the former general counsel of LCLD Member corporation Gap Inc., during a discussion on the importance of succession planning.
4. Is Office Politics a White Man’s Game?
Harvard Business Review, 9/12/18
Women and racial minorities are at a disadvantage when it comes to office politics—not because they lack political skill, but because they are alternatively penalized or overlooked for engaging in the political behaviors from which white men often benefit.
5. Diversity is an American Strength, Not Weakness
Bloomberg, 9/13/18
“There’s strong evidence that through repeated contact, diversity leads to greater social trust and lower discrimination between people of different backgrounds. And the correlation between organizational diversity and performance might also come from this difficult but rewarding strengthening process,” writes columnist Noah Smith.
6. How Companies Can Ensure Maternity Leave Doesn’t Hurt Women’s Careers
Harvard Business Review, 9/11/18
To keep parental leave from derailing women’s careers, organizations should communicate that parental leave is a brief interlude, not a major disruption; provide support on both ends of the transition; and be aware that women’s preferences around communication or scheduling may change.
