“I have a theory that women are generally given space and appointed to jobs when the situation is tough. … In times of crisis, women eventually are called upon to sort out the mess, face the difficult issues and be completely focused on restoring the situation.” -- Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, to the Washington Post on July 11.

When Christine Lagarde made those comments to the Washington Post earlier this summer, she’d just celebrated her third anniversary as the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) — an organization she took over in 2011.

In the question-and-answer article, Lagarde discussed her career, her work with IMF and the importance of women having a voice at the leadership level.

Having taken over the IMF in a time of unprecedented turmoil, she served largely as a crisis manager. But when asked about the most pressing challenges she’s faced in her tenure, Lagarde described her efforts to persuade Congress to ratify a reform measure that would encourage the representation of women on the organization’s board. As it stands now, all 24 of the executive directors on the IMF’s board are men.

While similar situations exist within the legal community, our profession is making strides. The percentage of female general counsel in Fortune 500 companies jumped to 21 percent in 2014. The percentage of female partners in law firms has also increased by 1 percent since 2009, and overall the number of women practicing law is likewise inching upward. Five years ago, 31 percent of all lawyers were women; today, women make up 34 percent of the profession.

Lagarde associates leadership with encouragement.

“It’s about stimulating (others),” she said. “It’s about enabling them to achieve what they can achieve — and to do that with a purpose.” 

And that’s exactly what DLA Piper’s Leadership Alliance for Women (LAW) aims to do. Through events such as the Global Women’s Leadership Summit, the firm is developing and promoting its female lawyers to maximize their opportunities for business generation and leadership.