I recently had the pleasure of joining the Women in Law Leadership Forum Panel. Sitting on the panel with me was Linda Chanow, co-author of the study entitled “In Their Own Words – Experienced Women Lawyers Explain Why They Are Leaving Their Law Firms and Their Profession”. You may also want to check out the previous report “Walking Out the Door”. I owe a debt of gratitude to Linda and her co-author Joyce Sterling for researching and publishing on this subject so near and dear to me and Life in Law.

Dear Change of Heart, Life never turns out like we plan, does it? I also started out in a different career before I discovered that law was my passion. I completed my Bachelors of Science in Nursing and quickly realized that nursing was not the best fit for me. When I entered law school it was intimidating to be surrounded by so many people who had always had a passion for law. I wondered, “am I in the right place?”, “is this another degree I won’t like?”, “did I completely waste the last five years of my life?”. Thank goodness, the answers have been “yes”, “no” and “no”.

This is not an uplifting story. It is, however, an important one to tell. Many still believe that highly skilled women occupying leadership positions in Canada are immune to gender-based discrimination. Sadly, this is not the case. To move the needle, we need to take an honest look at where it currently sits, as disappointed as that may leave us.

I was asked to write this blog some time ago but hesitated for reasons that were not entirely or immediately clear to me. Reflecting on it, I really think it was because I was afraid to be honest about what it took for me to become a leader in my firm, a firm that undeniably supported me to become part of its management team.

What is “reverse learning” and how can we apply it?