You don’t have to become someone you’re not when you become Partner. You can do partnership YOUR WAY.

One of the reasons you’re hesitant to go for partnership is because of your fear of who you have to become to get there and how you’d have to behave to stay and succeed there.

You worry you won’t be able to be authentic.

You worry you’ll have to become a different type of leader

You worry that becoming partner will involve sacrificing the things that are important to you – like your work life balance and your weekends.

If this is you, you’re not alone. I hear this all the time and it’s one of the reasons why mid to senior level black lawyers join BE THE FIRST when they are thinking about progressing their career and unsure about the next step.

For those of you who are new to me and my work, BE THE FIRST is my signature career progression programme designed specifically to support mid to senior level black lawyers to fulfil their potential within the industry and navigate the black experience all the way to the top. If you’re a mid to senior level black lawyer and you’re ready to progress to the next level – whether that’s a promotion to partnership or GC – this is the programme for you. Click here to find out more.

The question of whether to go for partnership came up in BE THE FIRST earlier this week when, during our month-end Progression Review, one of my clients announced to the group: “I am certain I want partnership and I am 100% sure it’s in my control to do it my way”

This would be an amazing show of confidence and certainty from anyone. The fact that it came from a client who, just 3 months earlier, was leaning towards NOT being partner because of who she believed she’d have to be and the sacrifices she thought she’d have to make, is astounding.

This was such a transformation (and one that has occurred many times in BE THE FIRST) that I had to share it with you to show you that it’s available for you too.

Helping my client make this shift from feeling swept along by her career and by other people’s expectations of her, to feeling that partnership is something she is choosing and is fully in control of, was simple.

I coached her on her track record in her career and showed her how being authentic had in fact been her winning strategy. From there she was able to see that not only was being authentic and leading her way going to be possible, it was also the thing that was most likely to help her get there. (In BE THE FIRST we pay serious attention to understanding what’s working and what you need to keep doing to progress).

I then coached her on her confidence in her value, and how being authentic would bring more of that to the table.

Lastly i coached her on her relationship to her career. I showed her that if her career was a train, it wasn’t something that could ever run away from our out of control of her, because she was the driver. At any given moment, she gets to decide how fast it goes and the direction it will take.

As a result of what coaching helped her see and understand about her success to date, my client starting feeling and showing up more confidently than ever before, adding value like never before – all by doing it her way.

If you’ve been struggling with the idea that you’d have to be someone you’re not to become partner, this video will calm your fears and give you the confidence to go for partnership as who you are.

Questions about progressing to partnership? Let’s chat. Book a call with me and let’s talk about what authentic partnership means to you and how I can help you create it. Book here https://calendly.com/carolineflanagan/bethefirst