Powerhouse Women in Law Panel Shares Secrets of Success

Cushman & Wakefield recently held its first West Coast Women in Law Leadership Event in San Francisco at the top of Salesforce Tower San Francisco. The gathering was co-hosed by the firm’s Legal Sector Advisory Group (LSAG) and Women’s Integrated Network (WIN).

The panel discussion and networking event featured four powerhouse women within the legal sector: Salesforce’s Wei Chen, Morrison & Foerster’s Tessa Schwartz, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton’s Susan Spaeth, and Uber Technologies Inc.’s Erica Wray. The discussion was moderated by Cushman & Wakefield’s Sherry Cushman. Check out the takeaways from the event below in our latest CRE Q&A.

Q: What was the main purpose of Cushman & Wakefield’s Women in Law event series, and why is it important?
A: To promote women in the legal sector through an educational and networking event that share the professional and personal journeys and their profound experiences. Attendees were able to hear how these successful women achieved their goals with anecdotal stories and recommendations on how to achieve one’s own success. Over 500 women have attended our Women in Law event series in New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and now San Francisco with plans to expand to new markets.

Q: What words of wisdom were shared by the impressive list of guest panelists?
A: Schwartz: “You must be excellent at what you do so that you have the respect of your colleagues within the organization, and you have to demonstrate an interest in the whole group/workplace and care about the people around you. You need to act like a leader to become a leader.”

Wray: “Leadership is about the We not Me”;

Chen: “Don’t look around you, look at where you are going, where you want to be.”

Spaeth: “Learn how to strategically say ‘no.’ When you look ahead to where you want your career to be five years from now, and you have a vision of what you want it to be, you need to do the work now to get there in the future. Accepting projects that do not help you reach your goals creates an unwanted distraction. So, while you are expanding your skillset and do not want to be shoehorned, you have to get rid of the clutter to reach your goals.”

Cushman: “Life is not fair, the only thing you can control is your attitude and your effort.”

Q: Why is Cushman & Wakefield so supportive of women, and in particular women in law?
A: We believe women, in both commercial real estate and the legal sector, are on the cusp of increasing in numbers. For too many years, both industries have been male-dominated and we are trying to change that. Through Cushman & Wakefield’s Women’s Integrated Network (“WIN”), we have built an internal company network of over 2,400 women globally created to develop and support the talents of our women for continued growth and opportunities. Through education, training, networking and supporting women in the industry, we are confident women will become more powerful players in the years to come in two traditionally male-dominated industries. Our Women in Law event series is one action we as a company have, and will continue to take to support this change.

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Dennis Kaiser