Monday Morning To-Do List

    The most important part of the GOOD Guys program are the tangible tools you can use to make positive change. Use this worksheet to assess your office environment. If you are dedicated to making actual change, start here.

    1. Look at who’s in charge.

    List the core leadership group in your firm, company, or organization (choose up to three). For example, in a company, the core leadership group may be the Executive officers with another layer as the management team.

    Leadership Group

    ______________________________________________________________________

    ______________________________________________________________________

    ______________________________________________________________________

    • Assess the diversity among the core leadership. What percentage are women? What percentage are people of color? LGBTQ? Disabled? If less than 40% - 50% are women, or if less than 40 – 50% are otherwise diverse, there is room for improvement.
    • Assess where “unofficial” power lies in your firm, company, or organization and determine how diversity success can be measured there. For example, private firms may ask not only how many women are equity owners, but also how much equity do women own?

    2. Know your own implicit bias. 

    Take the test for gender/career bias.

    These kinds of questions might be difficult to think about, but unless we all answer them and address our biases, we won’t be able to move forward.

    • What level of implicit bias do you have toward women and careers?
    • Toward other people of color?
    • Toward sexuality?
    • Toward disability?
    • Did any of this surprise you?

    3. Identify your zone of influence.

    What is your personal zone of influence? Know the areas where you can create a more diverse professional environment around you. You can have major impact by hiring diverse professionals as vendors as well as supporting them internally. Diverse professionals can be experts, suppliers, lawyers, or anyone you work with professionally.

    Circle categories where you have influence:

    • Hiring 
    • Assignments 
    • Evaluation 
    • Advancement 
    • Compensation 
    • Selection of Outside Counsel
    • Selection of Other Outside Vendors 
    • Other: _________________________________________________________

    This checklist was originally published by the National Council of Women's Bar Associations as part of its GOOD Guys Program website.