Busy-ness
March is always SUCH a busy month, and a month where it can sometimes feel like I have a year’s worth of work all shoe-horned into one.
World Book Day. Mother’s Day. (My birthday!) The awakening of spring. I always have more bounce in my stride with the lighter mornings, the bird song and the crocuses finally reaching for light, which inspire more, and longer trips to the gym, and outdoors.
International Women’s Day, and the purpose behind it
And professionally of course, the most significant of all – International Women’s Day, Sunday 8th March.
The irony is, that sometimes we get so wrapped up in the day that we forget the desire.
By that I mean, the purpose behind it. Not to have women running themselves ragged at annual events to showcase their unmistakable brilliance, and the support of their colleagues and organisation in elevating them and paving the way for progression. It’s also to put in the hard yards: Sharing the workload equally – both case work and indeed the “office housekeeping”. Working hard to reduce the gender pay gap. Become transparent about the path to managing/ equity partnership and silk.
Hard No
Despite the optimism of Spring, there’s “still a way to go yet”. Yawn. This year, with spring optimism in mind, I’m not going to repeat the well-documented reasons not to be cheerful.
Nor will I be partaking in the yearly themed and vomit-inducing “Give to Gain” selfie request from the IWD marketing machine. Instead, I’m focusing on the UN tag line “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL women and girls”. I’m thinking specifically about how I might, with meaning and impact, advance that, not only now but from this day forth.
Reasons to be Cheerful
Thankfully gone are the days when a certain fear was associated with holding celebratory IWD events in case the Gender Pay Gap Bot on (then) Twitter publicly humiliated a firm by announcing with an equal measure of delight and ridicule the stubbornly high gender pay gap at that particular organisation. Of course, the point needs to be made that any such event should be neither box ticking nor showboating. I’d like to think we still have the ability within us to spread the joy. (We know anecdotally that cupcakes may well put in an appearance.)
Reflective Practice
With that in mind, this year, I’ve decided to use this time to reflect, and this reflection comes 2-fold.
Firstly, reflecting on yet another brilliant year in business, working on a daily basis to improve the lot of women in law, by making IMPACT where it matters, not only for individuals but for the law firms and barrister’s chambers withing which they work too.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with Nikki during a pivotal stage in my legal career, as I strategically prepare to transition into international human rights. What sets Nikki apart is her ability to combine strategic clarity with genuine accountability. She doesn’t offer surface level career advice – she builds structured frameworks that challenge you to think bigger, position yourself more intentionally and move with confidence toward ambitious goals. Nikki helped me refine my professional narrative, clarify my value proposition and take focused, aligned action towards potentially securing an international role. She has a rare ability to see both where you are and where you’re capable of going – and then bridge the gap with practical, actionable steps. If you’re a high-achieving professional looking to elevate your career with purpose and precision, Nikki is the coach you want in your corner”
Taylor Catherall, Large-Scale Class Action Settlement Lawyer, Canada.
Celebrations
Also, these reflections have lead me to share my celebration of International Women’s Day by acknowledging some of the brilliant work done by other women in my network to support and elevate equally brilliant female lawyers too.
For example, my Women Impact Network Co-Founder, Norah Durrant, who came to mind after yet another inspiring meeting in London this week, celebrating our 4th anniversary of what started out as an International Women’s Day Roundtable. The group has now become a tight network of supportive women focusing on gender equality within their 15+ law firms. Norah works tirelessly to not only drive diversity in law firms but also place senior female partners within them.
Perfect for World Book Day, we’ve also just this month seen the release of the very valuable new book, Baby at the Bar. It’s written by Emma Price and Emma- Louise Fenelon to support those navigating life as a barrister after becoming a parent, and to which I was treated with a private book signing!!
And that’s not to forget all the other super women supporting the retention and progression of female lawyers, not least Rebecca Stephens and Julia Wojtaszak, emerging leaders in their Junior Lawyers Division fields. They both recently supported the delivery of my keynote, Breaking Barriers to Being your Best through resilience, mindset and confidence, to a collaborative group of 3 Junior Lawyers Divisions, Bristol, Plymouth, and Devon and Somerset.
There’s also Kangwa Musonda, at Addleshaw Goddard, leading the delivery of the firm’s Flourish Programme, a long-standing initiative supporting female progression to senior positions in law. As part of that programme, I provide webinar support on Life Balance and How to Achieve it and, for career break returners, Return with Confidence.
How about Melanie Arens, doing great things with her Later on Lawyers group? She supporting late joiners to the legal profession through mentoring and advice sharing within the community. She kindly invited me to a fireside chat to discuss everything about a legal career, however that might look to you.
Unsung Heroines
And then there are those who are doing things more widely to motivate and inspire, like Elizabeth Rimmer, CEO of Law Care, prompting discussions at the Western Circuit Women’s Forum Conference where I reflected on my own wellbeing practices with the very brilliant Chair, Emma Cross and Committee Member, Elizabeth Bowden, only to realise they weren’t quite where I wanted them to be. This was shortly followed by two perfectly timed Linkedin posts, one from Kate Birt , the other from Robyn Sandilands. A decision was made, inspired in that moment, that has, over the last 2.5 months, proved truly transformative to both health and wellness, and leaves me in their debt.
With full respect and appreciation to each and every one of them, and of course so many more, working daily (often silently), equally influencing impact and results. And huge grateful to be in such a privileged position to do such transformational work in this space.
What are you doing for International Women’s Day? How will you celebrate?
What next? What else? What more?
Even if with nothing formal planned, take a moment to credit yourself for all that you are already achieving in this area, and task yourself with that all important “What else?” question. What one more thing will you do from here and, of course, when?
Perhaps something as simple as registering to join, as founding member, the upcoming Raising the Bar coaching community, designed to Connect- Empower- Coach, exclusive to female lawyers, and launching late spring. This Community will offer a safe space for women in law, through monthly membership, to access pre-court get togethers, (whether peer to peer or coach led), and reflect, set goals, and make action plans to achieve them. To find out more visit: https://nikkialdersoncoaching.com/raising-the-bar-community/
Look forward to welcoming you there.