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CCCA_V7No3_CoverStory-FIN_CCCA 13-09-23 4:04 PM Page 20 Cover just didn’t find that to be true.” Mandel were co-panelists at a law firm event, speaking on Breaking Through, which launches Oct. 10, provides candid women’s advancement in law and professional services. To pre- accounts of how talented women made their way to the top level pare, Mandel had read — and devoured — the U.S.-based book, of prominent Canadian organizations. Chown, former Ontario Courageous Counsel: Conversations with Women General Counsel in Regional Managing Partner for McCarthy Tétrault, and Mandel, the Fortune 500. a consultant with global executive search firm Spencer Stuart, Chown, too, had read Courageous Counsel. Meeting for the first say the access they were given surpassed their expectations. time, they wondered if there might be a Canadian version to “These women were incredibly open about personal and pro- write. Coincidentally, they each knew one of Courageous fessional stories,” Mandel says. “I think they saw the value in our Counsel’s American co-authors who later would give them their project for the next generation of leaders and were more than “blessing” to take up the challenge and write Breaking Through. willing to share not only their successes but their frailties; to say, “I spent the last part of my career focused on looking at the ‘We’re human, we’re fallible, we stumbled on some of these things issue of why women were leaving private practice,” Chown says. and hopefully we can help guide future leaders in this area’.” “One of the places they were going was in-house.” The idea for the book came in late 2011 when Chown and “I’m a consultant in a global executive search firm so I have Book Excerpt What Needs to Change: Women general counsel—and those who coach them— talk about the tools and techniques of successful leadership. By Kirby Chown and Carrie Mandel “My priority was not to be the general counsel who sat to the side in an advisory role, but to be part of the team running the company.” —Lynn Korbak, Morneau Shepell he 32 women general counsel featured in Breaking Through have provided us with valuable insights into what it takes to Tsucceed in this complex, evolving position. To help discern the themes that might be helpful to women aspiring to these roles, we spoke with a select group of executive coaches who have worked closely with both women and men in law, busi- ness, finance, academia, and professional services. They included Judith Humphrey, president of Toronto-based The Humphrey Group; Sharon Ranson, president of The Ranson Group, also in Toronto; Susan Richardson, vice-president for client services in the Toronto office of Felix Global Corp.; Catharine Larkin, managing director for MICA Learning Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions in Toronto; and Caroline McHugh, founder of New York- and London-based IDOLOGY. Following are their thoughts on the issues and challenges that face women as they rise to senior-level positions, some of their strategies for breaking through, and some stories from the women we interviewed that underscore the points these coaches are making. Communicating with Confidence After starting her career as a communications instructor at York University, Judith Humphrey became a speechwriter for major banks and companies. “I found that many executives and other senior leaders needed to develop a better understanding of 20 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association FALL 2013