Recently I received an email from a firm that was proudly announcing the lawyers who had been promoted to equity partner. I had coached all but one of those lawyers.
When I coached those lawyers, I was struck by four things.
I have written before about the importance of developing self confidence. I know from my own career because I faced fear and lack of confidence on more than one occasion.
Now, I have watched lawyers I coach experience a breakout success in client development when they accomplish something challenging and outside their comfort zone. Those
If you played a sport, or played an instrument, or created art while you were growing up, think back about your own experience “in the zone.” If you have ever done yoga, you were likely in the zone during class.
Professor Mihalyi Czikszentmihalyi (pronounced `Me-hi Chicksent-me-hiee’) introduced the concept of flow (in the zone) in
Are you a junior partner developing your practice? If so, you might listen to a Delegating and Supervising Podcast you can download from iTunes on how I delegated and supervised a star associate who worked for me.
W
hy is delegating and supervising so important? Put simply, without younger lawyers providing excellent work, no matter
I think that many young lawyers find client development daunting. A few years ago, I gave a presentation to new partners at a firm who at the end were likely overwhelmed. Their firm had given me two hours to give an overview. By the end I am sure many of the young partners wondered where
As you likely know, I love music in part because of the emotion and the story in the song. A few weeks ago I posted: Life Lessons I Learned from Harry Chapin. I rarely receive emails about posts, but I received 10 that day. I even received a telephone call from a lawyer who
I have heard from several lawyers that I am a “motivational” speaker. A few years ago, the ABA Young Lawyers Division asked me to speak at their spring meeting. Specifically I was told that my task was to “motivate” the young lawyers attending the meeting. They chose the title of my presentation:
Many of you are like me in that you went to law school with the idea that as a lawyer you would be able to help people and make a difference in your community. Then you started your law practice with a firm and rarely have the feeling that you are actually helping people and
On Monday I suggested that giving bonuses based on billable hours is counterproductive and is actually a de-motivator. You get what you reward. When you reward billable hours you get more billable hours and you give a direct message that associates should focus on billable hours.
I received a comment from Anon that shows how
In my post yesterday, I shared that a carrot and stick approach with bonuses based on hours billed is not a great motivator. An associate wrote me and said she agreed, but also asked that I share with senior lawyers what actually does motivate associates and how to tap into it. As you will see