I recently had the pleasure of talking with JD Supra’s longtime friend and client Sheenika Gandhi, LMA board member and Chief Marketing Officer of Los Angeles-based law firm Greenberg Glusker, in an Office Hours webinar conversation.
I have long admired Sheenika’s path from marketing coordinator to chief marketing officer – a journey that took just over ten years – and was particularly interested in learning about her success during our time together. My question, asked on behalf of other marketing and business development professionals just starting out in their own careers: How did you do it?
Sheenika’s story serves as excellent career development advice for anyone in this industry – not just marketers and BD folks but lawyers, too – and it is with pleasure that I paraphrase and share her insights here with you, now.
1. Focus on what you love (and be truly open to the possibilities that creates)
“Do what you love” seems one of those things that is easy to say and perhaps not that easy to do, but Sheenika has lived it – in no small part because of her honest and open willingness to act on the opportunities such a gesture creates.
She tells the story of finding her initial coordinator position at Knobbe Martens after graduating with a law degree: “I felt the role was made for me. I had an interest in websites and technology, had a degree in business, and then, of course, I had just finished law school. All of those interests came together in this one role. And so I went for it.”
“I went for it” embodies that spirit of openness featured in much of Sheenika’s story about career growth and success. Reinforced by her other advice:
2. Always be learning
Sheenika continues: “[In that first position] I was really lucky that I had a supervisor who saw that I was passionate about marketing and always wanted to learn more. So she asked me, ‘Have you heard of the Legal Marketing Association?’ I said, ‘No, let me go do some research.’ That's when I dove headlong into LMA and learned everything I could.”
Indeed: curiosity, research, and diving headlong into the next opportunity is a key part of Sheenika’s professional accomplishments. And, related, is finding a boss who supports your learning and allows you to make mistakes as you grow.
Another: finding friends, colleagues, and a community from which you can always learn. Sheenika again: “The amount of time I spent on listservs and with LMA learning from others in the industry has been crucial to my development.”
This last point leads, of course, to:
3. Network, network, network. (And: volunteer)
I love Sheenika’s definition of networking: “Building relationships is the crux of business development and the best way to do that, of course, is meeting people in groups that feel natural to you.”
Groups that feel natural to you turn networking into something with much more give and take, thanks to that other key community-building activity: volunteering.
“Within associations, it's not just about showing up to a networking event. Playing an active role is so important. I started off micro-volunteering for LMA helping with some tech needs for the Southern California chapter 12 years ago. I then joined their board, and this was a combination of me raising my hand, but also someone tapping me to be a volunteer, and I didn't say no.
I've always given 110% in volunteering and serving as a leader. Whatever I could do to meet people.”
4. Share your expertise
A no-brainer around here at JD Supra, but I always appreciate hearing the perspective regarding why it matters. From Sheenika – a thought leader, mentor, frequent guest on podcasts and webinars, and conference speaker – one pointed example: “Somebody I met through LMA saw that I was writing on JD Supra and then thought of me when she had to put together a shortlist for Payne & Fears to recruit their next marketing hire.”
5. Dive into something new (aka: grow, grow, grow)
Sheenika took the job at Payne & Fears and then, after years in which she gained even more experience, she took another at Greenberg Glusker where she now serves as CMO.
Along the way, diving into the new – and rising to the challenge – has also been a key aspect to Sheenika’s story. Early in her career (and early in the rise of social media) that meant diving headfirst into social and digital media technologies. Learning by rolling up her sleeves, leading by example.
And, then again, more recently: “I always like to find something new to work on and dig into. So I spent a lot of time this year refining our strategies when it comes to public relations, business development, and event strategy. I also spend a lot of time now coaching our partners.
I recently took on lateral partner recruiting as of a few months ago. And so that's been an exciting journey. It feels like business development, but in recruiting. Marrying those two worlds for me has been a really interesting challenge.
*Key takeaway here, in case you haven’t picked up on it already. Do you find yourself happily describing your work as “a really interesting challenge?” If yes, you are likely on the right path. Stay the course.
Bonus: Be kind to yourself (aka: understand your role in the big picture)
It’s easy to be inspired by Sheenika’s warm presence, especially when she adds this very humble and human piece of advice to the conversation: “ I wish I'd given myself more grace, reminded myself that I was doing a good job and, just generally, been more confident.
The confidence didn't come until much later, because I didn't have the full picture. You may be responsible for this one thing on your team, but understand how it impacts the firm by looking at the whole picture. I wish I had done that, too, because that would have helped me understand: Why am I doing these things? And how is it impacting the end goal, which is revenue generation?”
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[JD Supra clients: log into your account dashboard to watch a video recording of the complete conversation. Look for the Office Hours prompt in your account homepage and click for the archive of all previous conversations.]
Paul Ryplewski is VP of Client Services at JD Supra. Connect with him on LinkedIn. Follow his latest writings on JD Supra.
