5 Ways to Support the Women Around You

I work in law. Law is considered a competitive field and lawyers are considered competitive. However, we have to remember that supporting the success of others will never dampen our own successes.

I grew up feeling like I could do anything I set my mind to, and the fact that I was a girl never seemed like a disadvantage. But since embarking on a career in law it is clear that no one (male or female) can truly excel on their own.  To date, I’ve been inspired to see women at all levels supporting each other and becoming stronger together than one could ever be on their own, but I still come across the people on the edge who view their colleagues as competitors and only look out for number one. There is nothing wrong with been fiercely competitive (a lot of us are), but if you always do it at the expense of others you will find yourself stuck and alone.

Create allies and support your colleagues and contacts.

To celebrate International Women’s Day we wanted to make some suggestions about how you can suppoty the women around you – here are some suggestions:

1. Have authentic conversations.

Have conversations and get to know them.

There’s nothing that makes someone feel more valued and supported than really listening and engaging in what they’re saying. Practice your active listening. This helps you to build and strengthen your relationship with them as well as helps you identify further ways to help and support them in the future.

2. Be yourself.

As well as engaging in authentic conversation, you should also be yourself. Build your relationship with others by being yourself, being honest and being vulnerable. By opening up to others you encourage them to feel safe enough to open up to you. By having an open and honest professional relationship, you can truly support each other.

3. Give other women a voice

If you notice that another woman isn’t being heard – support them and lift them up. This can be as simple as asking them for input and/or opinion. This can be inviting them to join the conversation and giving them an opening. Help them have a voice.

4. Hold each other accountable and cheer others on

By deepening your relationship with your colleagues and contacts, you should then be able to take the relationship to the next level by holding each other accountable and cheering each other on to help others reach their goals. If something isn’t happening or isn’t working – do it yourselves, together.

5. Celebrate other people’s successes and give credit where credit is due

Make a conscious effort to replace any gossip or jealousy of others with support and celebration of another woman’s success. It isn’t always the big things, celebrating and noticing the small things and saying so can really make someone’s day.