In-House Counsel

In-House Perk: Leaning Into Authenticity

In-house counsel who work at large companies and tech companies often feel freer to be their authentic selves.

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diversity-5582454_1280 (1)As someone who is passionate about belonging, my heart sings when I hear about work cultures where people are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work and to be their authentic selves (notwithstanding my role as employment lawyer who is leery of those employees who may not understand what is work-appropriate). This is certainly my experience where I currently work. And when I attended a diversity and inclusion conference a few weeks ago, I loved learning that many of my in-house colleagues feel the same.

I can’t definitively say that the call to be authentic is unique to in-house culture. My former firm was a safe space to celebrate my identities as a woman and as an Asian American. I felt supported and included. But I certainly code-switched and felt pressure to assimilate into the firm culture, more than I do now as in-house counsel. In hindsight, I distinctly remember feeling the strong need to fit in when I was in Biglaw, never wanting to take too much vacation, not wanting to arrive at the office too late or leave too early, or do anything that could be viewed as digression from being a go-to associate. But was that really assimilation? Or simply fulfilling the expectations so that I could succeed?

Looking back, I don’t think I spoke differently — but I did refrain from speaking up, for fear of saying the wrong thing, for fear of being too audacious or unapproachable. I was cautious in what I wore — I didn’t want to stick out too much and wanted to look professional, refraining from coloring my hair or nails abnormally. Rightly or wrongly, I expended a lot of excess energy in considering how I wanted to be perceived, keenly observing cultural norms, and acted accordingly.

But fast forwarding to my current experience as in-house counsel, I am seeing one common trend, at least from in-house counsel who work at large companies and tech companies — and that is that we feel freer to be our authentic selves. We don’t feel like we need to hide as many aspects of our lives, and that is something I would definitely list as a perk to being in-house counsel.

For example, some of us feel freer to wear what we want, whether that shows up as casual clothing, deviation from how lawyers typically dress, including more color in our clothing and accessories, or in our hair styles. Others of us feel freer to be more casual in our conversation, more emotive or to use slang. While others of us feel freer to be open about our personal lives — from our identities as caregivers of children or elderly, to taking time off, to addressing our own physical and mental health without fear of stigma.

I also can’t definitively say that all in-house counsel have this perk. I suspect it varies with the company culture and size of legal department, among other factors. But for me, I have absolutely thrived from being able to be authentic at work and couldn’t imagine working any other way.

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Meyling Mey Ly OrtizMeyling “Mey” Ly Ortiz is in-house at Toyota Motor North America. Her passions include mentoring, championing belonging, and a personal blog: TheMeybe.com. At home, you can find her doing her best to be a “fun” mom to a toddler and preschooler and chasing her best self on her Peloton. You can follow her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/meybe/). And you knew this was coming: her opinions are hers alone.

 

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