Leading with compassion and intent: women shaping the next chapter of African law

While technical excellence is key for successful lawyers, coupling that with experience and seniority does not in of itself make a great leader, says Karen Ainslie, a director and Head of Employment and Labour at Deneys who will celebrate her silver anniversary (25 years) with the pioneering firm next year.

For Karen, the best leaders are those who can listen, empathise, and put themselves in someone else’s shoes. Dispute resolution expert Purnel Gangiah, a fellow director at Deneys who first crossed paths with Karen as a Candidate Attorney in 2016, holds similar views. For Purnel, who now has several attorneys reporting to her, leading with compassion is so vital that it’s a personal mantra.

“I think you’re only able to have a great, healthy team where you’re working together to reach a common goal, and when you understand the people in your team,” says Purnel, who’s also spent her entire career at the leading African firm.

“Leading with compassion is so important, because when you’re doing that it’s not about your own feelings but understanding the people working with you. You need to understand their strengths and weaknesses, where you need to pick them up, where you need to fill the gaps, and the only way you’re able to do that successfully is if you’re leading with compassion, intent, and by example.”

Talking with Purnel and Karen, there’s a couple of nice overlaps for two talented lawyers who lead teams in different practice areas of Deneys, and began their legal careers at the firm nearly fifteen years apart. A decade ago, Karen was one of the women leaders at the South African firm who gave Purnel a glimpse of what was possible early in her career, now Purnel is doing the same for another generation of Candidate Attorneys and junior lawyers coming through Deneys.

Tremendous change and opportunities for new generations

Legal practice has come a long way since Karen began as a Candidate Attorney in 2002, “fresh from university in Pretoria”, when there were few female partners at large South African firms, and none in the employment space she now leads.

While Purnel had Karen and several other female leaders - such as current Chair Michelle David, competition lawyer turned cyber law expert Rosalind Lake, and financial regulatory expert Desiree Reddy - among an array of examples of women excelling across many practice areas when she first joined the firm ten years ago, Karen hadn’t had equivalent role models for what was possible.

“When I started out studying law, people told me ‘don’t you know the long, billable hours, it’s not good for women’ and that you shouldn’t even start to think of having a family before you made partner, if you wanted to succeed,” says Karen. “Representation is much better now. I think youngsters can walk into a firm like Deneys and see female partners, and senior associates putting their hands up for partnership, while also being people with diverse family lives and other interests.”

Purnel is part of that evolution, quickly rising to become an equity director, and Chair of the Women in Red Committee. While she was mentored by several leaders at Deneys, particularly in dispute resolution, Purnel also fondly recalls an airport drive with Karen when she was a Candidate Attorney, nervous about retention and unsure about her future practice area. Karen’s example of genuinely listening and offering advice, despite the big gap in seniority, lingered. “No matter how senior I get, I want to always make sure that I’m approachable,” says Purnel

Women in Red

That sense of compassionate leadership, and of empowering lawyers to become the best versions of themselves, rather than trying to fit into a narrow box or particular track, is something that resonates when talking with Purnel and Karen, the current and past Chairs of the Women in Red committee at Deneys.

The firm has had women’s initiatives for many years, but initially they were geared towards female lawyers and fee earners; nowadays the Women in Red committee is an active group with “regular get-togethers with a real purpose, and meaningful projects in place”, says Karen. It’s all-inclusive, seeking to create opportunities and conversations, and empower all women across the workplace, even inviting male colleagues to discussions on health and financial savviness.

Purnel, who took the baton from Karen as Chair over the past year, says that last Women’s Month they ran a campaign relating to “messages to my younger self”, giving the firm’s ladies the chance to reflect on how far they’d come.

This year, like the firm itself, the focus of their Women’s Month campaign is firmly on the future – goals, ambitions, what the women are working towards, the next chapter in their careers and lives. “It goes along with Deneys ‘As the World Moves’,” says Purnel. “We’re moving into a new chapter, what is that for yourself?”

While Women in Red runs and takes part in events and campaigns, including beyond the firm with things like Help A Girl Child, its mostly about women supporting each other, empowering each other, and creating a safe space.

For Purnel, some of the most valuable moments come when hierarchy vanishes, and people can openly discuss issues like mental health, motherhood, and workplace pressures as human beings. “Whether you’re a director, Candidate Attorney, associate, or support staff, everyone’s able to be themselves.”

Accepting and embracing people as individuals is vital, say both senior leaders, who each credit the people and culture at Deneys for keeping them at the firm their entire careers. Deneys, they say, is a firm that provides space for different people and career paths, an ethos that goes beyond women to the firm’s broader approach to diversity, and to clients themselves. “From a corporate perspective, I think we need to have diverse workplaces,” says Karen. “I see so many clients now who feel comfortable working with all kinds of different members of my team. There really is a space for everyone, and we need to keep promoting it.”

And while each has grown at the firm from Candidate Attorney to director, leaders, and role model, neither want to see those coming through at Deneys try to mimic their journeys. Instead, it’s important, says Purnel, that younger lawyers find and stay true to themselves. “That’s as original as you’re going to be.”