Many of us read Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office a while back. One of the suggestions was Don't Feed People. So that immediately came to mind when I entered the kitchen this morning and saw a huge box of cookies and a note from the new (first-year female) associate saying, "I look forward to working with all of you."
Did she just commit corner-office suicide?
I think not. First, they were bakery cookies, not homemade. I think that was a smart move--you don't want to look too housewifey. Second, I think it probably sent a positive signal to the staff that she is a nice person. It's always good to get off on the right foot with the people who can really save your neck. And I think the attorneys--the ones who will actually determine whether she ever gets a corner office--probably didn't even notice. Or just enjoyed their yummy cookies if they did.
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- I'm a 30-something commercial litigation attorney and mom of 3 amazing girls. You can contact me at legallycertifiable AT gmail.com
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5 comments:
That's a great idea. I think I'll do that for my first job as an attorney... but I'll have my husband make something instead. ;)
My boss is the atty research director in our building and she has a huge lovely corner office with a view of the capitol. She bakes cakes for every birthday and muffins for every oral argument. I think that book sounds like a crock. A crock of inedible soup maybe.
Wow. Pretty ballsy for a incoming first year. Is she the only one? What do the other first years think? At my firm, that would be a serious sign of brown-nosing that may win points w/ the staff, but would mark her as uncool by the other first years (b/c my firm is just annoying like that).
Kady,
I'm in a mid-size firm so we don't have a class of first years. And she actually graduated the year I did--I don't have the scoop on what she's been doing since November. But there's not really a group of young attorney's to label her uncool.
Rayne,
I agree that bit of advice was not the best. I have definitely been known to go grab a snack for a secretary who has been helpful--or who gets stuck at her desk all day because all the other secretaries in our area are out. But I do think that frequently baking for work could lend the impression that you are more homey than career-driven. Not saying it's true, but it's kind of like me not advertising that I am a mom until I have proven myself. Certain people have preconceived notions that women who do certain things aren't career driven enough.
Proto,
Sounds like a plan!
I think it sounds like a nice gesture and she probably meant it that way, whether or not it was interpreted as brown nosing or not. I agree that bakery was the way to go. If she'd taken the time to bake, I think that would have been different. I think the book was saying, "Don't cook for the office" rather than "Don't ever bring in treats." Plenty of men bring in donuts or other junk to the office (at least men I know).
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