Strategies for Success

Strategies for Success Program: A Gender-Focused InitiativeCleary Gottlieb continually seeks to provide a substantive curriculum to our lawyers that builds tangible skills, strengthens diversity and inclusion practices, and advances the professional development of female associates at the �rm and throughout the legal profession. Through Strategies for Success, a two-year gender-focused initiative from 2014-2015, Cleary identi�ed best practices and key areas of focus necessary for the retention, advancement and promotion of our female lawyers. Following an overwhelmingly positive reception of the program, the �rm incorporated many elements of the initiative into our lawyer engagement e�orts and our Cleary Core Curriculum of training for all associates.

Cleary continues to incorporate the lessons learned and �ndings of the 2014-2015 Strategies for Success program to help us create pathways to integrate our gender initiatives into both our current professional development e�orts and promotion processes.

2014 Strategies for Success

Stories for Success The second part of the program entailed a series of small group dinners with female senior lawyers and mid-level female associates. The goal was to create additional opportunities for mid-level associates to engage senior lawyers in constructive dialogue about individual experiences, as well as to share ideas and build stronger relationships. Simultaneously, leaders in the program conducted one-on-one interviews with male senior lawyers to gain additional perspectives on how to be successful at the �rm.

Sharing for SuccessThe information collected during the interviews and dinners was compiled and shared with the �rm to highlight the themes developed over the course of the year. The takeaway from the 2014 program was the conclusion that to be successful at Cleary Gottlieb, lawyers need to acquire and demonstrate “substantive mastery,” which can be done by:

— Developing and Cultivating Relationships

— Speaking Up

— Leading

Summary and OverviewIn 2014, Cleary Gottlieb embarked on an ambitious initiative that focused on the success of all of our female lawyers. The Strategies for Success initiative was designed by the �rm’s Committee on Retention and Promotion of Women (CRPW) and featured three components:

— Speaking About Success

— Stories for Success

— Sharing for Success

The program focused on female lawyers’ success, development and leadership at the �rm. The aim of the year-long Strategies for Success initiative was to encourage senior lawyers to share their experience with associates, with a particular focus on our female associates. The program also aimed to promote a better understanding among all lawyers of the di�erence that gender may play in individual professional experiences.

Speaking About Success The �rst part of the 2014 Strategies for Success program was an interactive panel discussion during which seven female partners and counsel shared how they achieved success at Cleary. The audience was able to ask about the successes and challenges that each of the panelists faced throughout their respective careers, as well as solicit advice regarding challenges that they, as female associates, were currently encountering.

2015 Strategies for Success: Substantive Mastery

Developing Relationships and Building Key Networks Given the success of the 2014 Strategies for Success small group dinners, for the �rst prong of Strategies for Success: Substantive Mastery, the �rm hosted small group dinner discussions with fourth- and �fth-year female associates and senior Cleary female and male lawyers. The program’s primary aim was to help associates build and develop relationships by encouraging senior lawyers to share their experiences and career strategies with female associates.

As the second step in implementing Substantive Mastery, Cleary hosted an internal session entitled Developing and Cultivating Relationships, in which Cleary senior lawyers shared personal stories, experiences and strategies for developing relationships, strengthening relationships and building relationships in new environments.

As the third step, Cleary invited Carla Harris, Managing Director and Senior Client Advisor of Morgan Stanley, to discuss her book, Strategize To Win: The New Way to Start Out, Step Up, or Start Over in Your Career. Harris’ book provides substantial insight on what it takes to develop into a strong leader and how to build and leverage relationships to advance your career.

In furtherance of the Committee on Retention and Promotion of Women’s goals, the �rm launched Strategies for Success: Substantive Mastery, which focuses on putting into action the critical �ndings from the previous year. In 2015, the �rm continued to build upon the tangible areas identi�ed as key to success at Cleary: how women associates can develop “substantive mastery” through developing relationships and building key networks, speaking up and showing their leadership capabilities. The 2015 Strategies for Success program is a speci�c continuation of the �rm’s e�orts to provide practical tools and expertise to women associates in furtherance of their professional development.

52% of our New York office associates are women

and

45%

of those women are ethnically diverse

1 As of September 27, 2016

LeadingAs the concluding program for Strategies for Success: Substantive Mastery, the �rm hosted Leading, a panel discussion that addressed the topic of leadership. To show his support for the Strategies for Success curriculum, Cleary Managing Partner Mark Leddy chaired a panel of four partners in a discussion of how to demonstrate and command leadership, both internally and externally. Panelists provided concrete examples on topics such as how and when they considered themselves to be leaders; how they have seen associates demonstrate their leadership abilities; and how and when to take the leadership reins with client relationships.

Each component of Strategies for Success: Substantive Mastery is a result of a year’s worth of data collection on the �rm’s best practices. To foster an inclusive environment, �ve of the six prongs of Substantive Mastery were open to all Cleary lawyers. Within that, however, each program was tailored for our female lawyers. Notably, in the New York o�ce, 52 percent of our associates are women, and 45 percent of those women are ethnically diverse. The Strategies for Success programs provided concrete tools and resources for associates to speak up con�dently and to demonstrate their substantive knowledge and leadership capabilities. Moreover, senior lawyers learned best practices to foster work environments that enable and empower associates to be active participants in their own professional development.

At Cleary Gottlieb, we believe providing this type of substantive curricula to our associates is key to developing and retaining top talent. Notably, attendance exceeded 100 lawyers at almost all of the Strategies for Success programs, and at times was closer to 200 lawyers. The 2014 and 2015 Strategies for Success series of �rm-wide programming served to educate, increase awareness and provide Cleary lawyers with the tools to make both our women and men lawyers more successful.

Speak UpThe �rm then invited Angela Vallot and Mitchell Karp of VallotKarp Consulting LLC to lead Speak Up, a training program on the value of speaking up, during which they shared tools and strategies on how to speak up in a way that demonstrates your con�dence and highlights your substantive knowledge. The consultants encouraged Cleary lawyers to:

—Find Your Own Voice

—Communicate with Con�dence

—Disrupt Interruptions

—Get the Feedback You Need

While this program included content on how women can counteract common barriers to speaking up in the workplace, the CRPW encouraged male and female lawyers at all levels of seniority to attend and participate. The program garnered a diverse audience in terms of gender, race and seniority, which made for a rich and enlightening discussion.

Speaking UpTo hone the skills introduced by VallotKarp Consulting, for the �fth prong of the program, the CRPW hosted an interactive internal workshop on the topic of Speaking Up. As a group exercise, senior lawyers served as facilitators; they role-played scenarios with associates and discussed in small groups. The workshop provided the �rm’s associates with the opportunity to practice implementing the e�ective communication strategies put forward by VallotKarp. Moreover, it provided associates with additional exposure to and mentorship opportunities with senior Cleary lawyers

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