I wish I had known…how to understand the people in a law firm (part 4)
For the last several weeks I have been discussing how understanding the people that you work with will lend itself to a much happier and more successful work environment. Last week I shared the first of two steps to gaining a better understanding of your co-workers: understanding law firm Logistics. More specifically, a law firm’s Logistics is comprised of proximity, affinity and necessity. These details determine work assignments within the firm. Understanding who the key personnel are in your law firm and how each person’s role lends itself to the support of the others and to the successful completion of the work will go a long way toward helping you to understand the critical role that your co-workers play in the organization. The second of the two components needed to gain a better understanding of the people in a law firm is getting to know each individual on a personal basis by utilizing the skill of Emotional Intelligence. You can assess your Emotional Intelligence by determining your own Emotional Quotient (EQ). EQ measures how well you recognize emotions in yourself and others, and how well you manage these emotional states to work as a group or team. This is a skill that can be developed and, when developed, leads to deeper and more effective relationships, both personal and professional. There are essentially 5 categories that make up your Emotional Quotient: Self-Awareness– The ability to recognize and understand your moods, emotions and drives, as well as their effect on others. Self-Regulation – The ability to control or re-direct disruptive impulses and moods and the propensity to suspend judgment and think before acting. Motivation – A passion to work for reasons that go beyond money and status and a propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence. Social Skills– A proficiency in managing relationships and building networks. Empathy – The ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people. At this point, you are probably thinking one of two things. Either: 1) This is really cool information OR 2) This information is overwhelming… If you are in the first camp, you are probably a fairly introspective person who enjoys self-analysis that leads to personal growth and improvement, as well as stronger interpersonal skills. But if you are in the second camp, don’t despair! You may not be naturally inclined to self-analysis. That is ok, especially if you recognize it (this is your self-awareness at work!) but you have to admit you would benefit both personally and professionally from having a better understanding of the “inner workings” of yourself and others. And I am here to make this simple for you! So, let’s just boil EQ down to these categories: Self-awareness and Self-regulation: What makes you tick? What sets you off? How do you handle yourself and interact with others when your limits are pushed? What preferences do you have for how you want things done…and why? I think the best way to get in touch with these details is to do one (or both) of the following: 1) journal it out (ask yourself these questions and answer them, in written form) and/or 2) interview some of the people closest to you and be prepared to hear their perspectives about you. Both of these exercises will give you a sense of how you operate and...
read moreI wish I had known…how to set strategic networking goals
In my last post I described a way to evaluate your current network by looking for certain types of people. This is a useful exercise to assess the diversity and depth of your network. It also positions you to set some solid goals, which is what I’m talking about this week. So you have a list of your current network and you have taken the time to reflect on the ways that these people can contribute to your professional life. You may have noticed some gaps, or categories that you couldn’t fill from your current connections. Maybe you noticed several gaps. What do you do now? First, do not get discouraged. If you reviewed your list and found that most of your network consists of people that you don’t know well enough to know if they would challenge you or support you in a time of need….you’re not alone. Most people don’t know the people in their professional network at this level. But if there are gaps, the next step you must take is to figure out what your current networking priorities are. At the stage you are in right now, do you most need a mentor? More client referrals? Someone to give you a kick in the pants? It’s time to do some reflecting on your current career goals. Yay! Does anyone else get crazy excited about the idea of setting and breaking down your big goals? Or is that just me? Even if you don’t love goal-setting, it’s ok. That’s why I’m leading you through this. Let’s take it one step at a time. First I want you to sit down and envision where you want to be in 10 years. What are you doing? Who are you with? What type of environment are you in? What work are you thrilled to get to do every day? Get specific. Write this stuff down. Close your eyes and see yourself in your ideal environment doing the type of work you can only dream of doing. Note everything you can about this vision. Spend at least 10 minutes on this exercise. Are you back? Ok great, now break down this vision – in order to make this happen, what do you need to accomplish in the next 5 years? In the next 3 years? In the next year? In the next 90 days? Again, get specific and write down these answers. Keep them where you’ll be able to readily access them again. Done with that? Awesome! Now, in order to achieve the basic goals you have just set for the next 90 days, what type of support do you really need? For example, if you have a goal of bringing in 5 new clients, you will want to connect with different people than if you have a goal of getting a promotion in your organization or handling a big project. Now look again at the categories I listed in my last post, and at your list of your people that fall under each category. You have some specific goals now, so you can narrow down your focus. Which category do you need to focus on adding to or expanding in your network right now? Is it mentors? Potential referral sources? Or encouragers? Get a basic idea of the type...
read moreI wish I had known…how to understand the people in a law firm (Part 3)
Previously I discussed my initial (misguided) impression of how a law firm environment would work, based on my past work experience. I described how, after some time and opportunity to observe, I came to a clearer understanding of the inherent pressures of the law firm environment. This new level of understanding benefitted my professional relationships almost immediately. I also discussed the resulting shift in my mindset, giving me a sense of greater personal responsibility about my role in improving the environment of my firm, and also a greater sense of compassion for the people who shared that environment. I used my understanding of my work environment to then make improvements to my relationships by learning more about the people in my law firm. Today I’ll discuss what I did to learn about my co-workers. What I thought then: As I’ve shared in past posts, I didn’t understand the high intensity nature of law firm life when I started at a firm. My former career, which had an entirely different purpose, work load, pressures, and culture, contributed to some of my expectations about what it would be like to work at a law firm. But the intensity at my first law firm left me confused and disillusioned. I observed myself (and those around me) react to stressors in what seemed to be highly dysfunctional ways. In past posts I used the words naïve, immature, and ridiculous, just to name a few adjectives that came to mind in those early, disillusioned days! While in the pressure cooker myself, I had a hard time understanding that everyone’s behavior (including my own) arose out of the intense nature of the work and the resulting intensity of the workplace. Having recognized this fact objectively, I decided to take action to better understand the workplace dynamics and the people involved, in the hopes that everyone could have a more gratifying work experience. What I know now: In order to understand people, you need to get to know them. I know that concept may sound a little too simple. And it is simple. But simple does not mean automatic or even easy. And it is especially not easy when you are in the thick of a busy and intense workplace! Getting to know the people that you work with is a two-part endeavor: first, you need to understand their professional responsibilities: their position, their obligations, who they support, who supports them, and how all of these pieces fit together. We will call this “the Logistics.” Understanding the Logistics of your particular law firm is the first step to really understanding the people that you work with. The second step in understanding your co-workers is getting to know them personally—taking the time to learn about their unique backgrounds and skills, as well as their internal drive and motivations. The ability to successfully develop understanding in this second step is a skill we’ll call Emotional Intelligence. Your Emotional Quotient (EQ) refers to how well you recognize emotions in yourself and others, and how well you manage these emotional states to work as a group or team. In my experience, when people do not have a good grasp of either the Logistics of their law firm or the internal motivation and drive of their co-workers (using their EQ), interpersonal problems...
read moreI wish I had known … how to assess the connectivity list
Last week on “I wish I had known” I went through my system for organizing my contacts in a spreadsheet. If you’ve taken my suggestions up to this point, you now have an all-inclusive list of your entire professional support system, all in one place, ready for analysis. So what do you do with this data? Let’s talk about that… If you’ve been reading my past posts on my networking journey, you have probably gathered that I didn’t know a whole lot about how to build a network at the beginning of my career. I knew it was a good idea to “network.” My idea of what that was didn’t really work for my personality and preferences, so I had to figure out, by trial and error, what worked to get me “connected.” Over the past few weeks I’ve been sharing this process with you, in the hopes of helping those out there who also feel that the traditional concept of “networking” is intimidating and unnatural. My advice thus far has focused on establishing a clear idea of where your professional support network currently stands. In other words, get all “your people” on one list and take a look at it. Again, break this task down if it seems overwhelming, or consider hiring someone to help you. This task is fundamental to understanding where your networking efforts are best spent. When you consider the amount of time it can take to network “blindly,” i.e., without any strategy, merely hoping that the right people come across your path, the time necessary to compile your list will seem far more palatable. Once you’ve compiled your connectivity list (and have sorted and organized it), you’ll be ready to look at your contacts and set some preliminary goals for solidifying and growing your network. Here’s where I think it gets really fun and rewarding… First take a look at your list(s) of people that are either in the same profession or in fields related to your profession. Write down answers to the following questions (bonus points if you start a document or notebook for networking notes…if you’re looking for a great place for this sort of thing, try Evernote): Which 5 people on my list are the most likely to refer business or opportunities to me in the next 90 days? Which 5 people on my list would probably refer business or opportunities to me if they better understood my skills and goals? Which 5 people on my list could be good potential mentors? Which 5 people on my list are the most similar-minded to me? Which 5 people on my list do I admire the most professionally? It’s ok if you have some overlap. You will finish this exercise with 25 names at the most, or possibly less if there are names that are listed more than once. Now, you may recall that I asked you to put even close friends and family on your list. And after you divided your list as described here, you should have a separate list of people mostly unfamiliar with your profession (i.e., they don’t work in or closely with your profession, even though they may hear regularly about some of your tasks and challenges). I’m guessing you have a lot of friends, family, church and extracurricular contacts...
read moreI wish I had known…how to understand the people in a law firm (Part 2)
In my post last week, I started a discussion regarding the misguided expectations that I had about what a law firm environment should be like, based on the professional work experience that I had prior to becoming a law student. What I learned is that a law firm is inherently more reactionary and faster paced (due to the nature of the work) then the previous career that I had been in. The work often involves tasks or transactions with high stakes. And the people in legal work environments react and operate accordingly. In this week’s post I will disclose the one major mental shift that helped me to better understand the people that I worked with, and how that major shift forever changed my view of my colleagues. What I thought then: As I discussed in last week’s post, when I started out in a law firm environment that was much different than what I had experienced in my pre-law career, I was surprised at all the differences and found myself pretty overwhelmed. Part of my surprise resulted from the demeanor I observed in my colleagues and superiors. When people are under pressure on both a daily and ongoing basis—pressure that can result from a variety of factors—they often don’t behave as they would in an ideal world. I found this high pressure environment very difficult to adjust to, and I truly wondered if I had made a tremendous mistake going into the legal field altogether. It seemed as if almost every day came with some sort of major crisis. A deadline had come up that we had forgotten about. Someone was out sick or in court and we couldn’t find the file that we needed to transact something critical by the end of the business day. Or we couldn’t reach the client to obtain some critical piece of information that we needed in order to complete a filing, which of course needed to happen immediately. When you have enough people in crisis mode running around in a work environment, all at the same time, with the same level of desperation, it can be extremely stressful. And when everyone is stressed out all of the time, people may not show perfect patience and respect at all times and in all interactions. I had the chance to observe several, let’s just say “less than ideal” interactions, and found myself thinking “what exactly have I gotten myself into?” And “this is NOT what I signed up for!” What I know now: I have so much more compassion now for the legal community as a whole than I did back then. When you are really “green” as an attorney (“naïve,” is what I think I called myself last week), some of the behavior that you observe and find yourself participating in is almost ridiculous. Even immature, at times. “Where are the grownups around here?” “Who is allowing this to go on?” These are the thoughts that I had. Looking back, from my viewpoint as a very new lawyer and an associate with quite limited responsibility (let’s just call it “the cheap seats”), it was really quite easy to judge the management style, leadership and decisions that people “superior” to me were making (or not making). While still in that environment, I had...
read moreI wish I had known…how to organize my contacts (part 2)
Last week on “I wish I had known,” I briefly discussed what to do with your all-inclusive “connectivity list.” I recommended dividing the list into three basic categories: those in the same profession, those who understand or work regularly with people in your profession, and those who are (mostly) unfamiliar with your profession. Now, before we go any further in this process, you need to make sure that you are tracking all of your contacts in a way that (1) is reliable, (2) is easy to use, and (3) works for your situation. Not only do you need a system to keep track of everyone you meet, your system should be capable of sorting the data according to the details of your contacts, and you should be able to easily access contact information in order to send electronic messages or regular mail to your contacts when you have an important announcement or interesting news that you want to share. I have to be honest – I did not do this early in my career. I always wished I had a good tracking system for my contacts. When I met new people and spent time talking to them about their daughter’s school activities or a hobby that was important to them, I would always go back to my office and wish that I had a good way to keep track of not only the person’s contact information, but the details we talked about. My memory is pretty good, but I don’t feel confident that I’ll recall precise details of a conversation three or six months after the fact. And wouldn’t it be great to start the next conversation by asking how that contact’s daughter’s basketball team is doing, or if your runner contact has any big races coming up? And you know what? I still feel like there should be an easier way to do this. I’ve tried some apps for scanning business cards and making notes about my contacts, and while they seem like good ideas, I haven’t found one that I love. And furthermore, importing my network and all of the information that I’ve gathered about my connections over the past 10+ years into a new system is a task that I just don’t have the time (or patience) for. So I use an Excel spreadsheet. It’s pretty simple. I understand how to use it. And I know it’s not going anywhere (as long as I back it up.) Now, you might know of a great app or tool that I’ve missed in my research. If so, that’s fabulous. (Actually, would you leave a comment so that everyone can share in this knowledge??) But if not, my recommendation is to just start with an Excel spreadsheet (or a Google Sheet, for a cloud-based alternative). You can see a sample spreadsheet here. If you prefer, you can also use your Outlook or Gmail contacts database. I just prefer Excel because it gives me the flexibility to track a larger amount of the information that I think is valuable. So your next step is to input the people on your connectivity list into the database where you’ll be tracking these contacts. I recommend dividing your contacts up as I covered last week, into categories based on their familiarity with your...
read moreI wish I had known…how to understand the people in a law firm (Part 1)
In my post last week, I talked about how your first year as an associate is quite intense, but before you know it you will acclimate and adjust…just like you did in your first year of law school. I also discussed how that intensity is present, at least in part, as a result of adjusting to the expectations of others in your work environment. This week, I will be discussing Part 1 of how understanding the expectations and goals of the people that you work with can help you to be more accepting of the dynamics in your work environment – which in turn leads to a more fulfilling professional experience. Okay…so this week’s post is going to be a little more touchy-feely than what I have been writing so far, but I think this is such an important “human” issue, generally speaking, that it is worth talking about. And if it can spare the angst (or, at least, lower the anxiety level) of professional people everywhere (or anywhere), then it is totally worth it! What I thought then: When I first became an attorney and set out to work in my first law firm, I had a set of expectations coming into it. As you may recall from my first post, I had worked in a career before I started law school (and continued to work at that job full-time for my first couple years of law school…I know, crazy, right?). Because I had a previous career, I had already been exposed to working with others in a professional setting. I worked in a science-related field, in a company known for its research and development to produce well-known, household name products. I worked with PhDs, marketing people, patent liasons, other technical people and managers. And I would say that, while there were always some personality clashes here and there or the occasional deadline on a product development schedule, the work environment was pretty stable, low stress, collegial, collaborative and “happy.” Given my past experience of a professional work environment, I had this idea that transitioning into the law world would be quite similar. That is, that a law firm would be highly stable, well-run, collegial, collaborative, prestigious and very people-driven – because the law exists to serve people, right?? You have to understand that I worked previously with very intelligent people (let’s just call them science geeks – a term that I use fondly, because I proudly counted myself as one), who were very focused on the work and the results, but were not as focused on relationships, business mindedness and strategies, etc. So I had this impression that the attorneys in a law firm would be way more people-minded, business-minded and management-minded than what I had come from. What I know now: I have learned that law firms, and the attorneys that operate within them, carry stresses that I was completely naïve about. I didn’t realize until I was in that world how much is riding on the work being exceptionally done. How critical deadlines are in legal matters. How everyone in the environment often does not have the luxury of time to sit patiently and explain something – whether it is their approach, their preferences about how communications and workflow...
read moreI wish I had known…how to organize my contacts (part I)
Last week on “I wish I had known,” I introduced the concept of the all-inclusive “connectivity list.” This week I discuss the next step – organizing all those fabulous contacts! So last week I talked about my initial reluctance to put everyone I know on one list of my “network,” for fear that it would somehow taint my best relationships. Once I overcame the mindset that networking was about taking advantage of people, I realized that the people closest to me were also some of my best professional assets, regardless of whether or not they were in a position to refer business or advance my career. Actually, regardless of whether or not they even clearly understood what I did. The idea is to put all of your contact in one place. (“So, even like my mom and my husband,” you’re thinking? Yes. What’s the point of that? We’ll get to it.) Stick with me here, because what we’re attempting to do is more than just put together a list of where you’re going to get your referrals in the future. We’re putting together a complete professional support network. Did you make your list? If not, give it a try. Read this post, and start a spreadsheet, paper list, Google doc, whatever! It doesn’t matter where you start putting the names – just make sure you’re putting them all in one place. If you’re done with that step, fabulous! But you’re probably a bit overwhelmed with what to do next, right? I hear you – I’m asking you to group together a lot of people, some of them completely unrelated to one another. Why? Because first I want you to get a clear impression of what your professional support network looks like right at this very moment. I’m guessing it is bigger than you thought it was. But even if you’re still struggling to make a sizeable list – that’s ok. All we need right now is a baseline. From here we’re going to get organized and then set some solid goals. Ok, so about that “get organized” part. Exactly how are you supposed to organize this massive list I’ve asked you to create? First you’re going to create categories. I suggest that you simply start with three categories: (1) people who are in the same profession; (2) people who understand or regularly work with your profession, and (3) people who are unfamiliar with your profession. That won’t be so hard, will it? All right – if you haven’t done so yet, go back and make your connectivity list, and then divide it into these three categories. From there we’ll really be able to see where your first networking priorities should be and set some clear goals. Next time I’m going to discuss how to look analytically at your three lists, and what to do next. Lynn Walters dedicates her work to the support and encouragement of lawyers at all career stages. Having practiced as an attorney for over ten years, Lynn knows the variety of challenges that lawyers face. Lynn is passionate about hearing the stories of fellow lawyers and having real conversations about achieving success within the profession. Profile | Email | LinkedIn | Google Plus | JD Mentor...
read moreI wish I would have known…that your first year as an associate is a lot like your first year of law school
Last week I talked about how when we take time off as attorneys, it is often better to embrace the idea that taking time off can be effective as just a quick break instead of a long vacation. This week, I want to talk about the intensity of that first year as an associate, and how it is actually a lot like the experience we had in our first year of law school. What I thought then: When I started working at law firm for the first time, I thought that it would be a fairly smooth transition from law school life into law firm life. I had just studied for and passed the bar, knew more about the core topics from the bar exam than most of the practicing lawyers around me, and had worked in a career prior to becoming an attorney (which I mentioned in my first post). I thought life would be balanced a bit more, since now I would at least be compensated financially for the time that I was putting in! Also, I was used to coming up to speed on things and being in a “learning” posture. I had just completed years of law school education and studied hard for the bar exam for half of the summer. So, as I said before, this transition into law firm life, and whatever I need to “learn” to come up to speed, should be a “piece…of…cake.” What I know now: When you are a new attorney, what you will experience in that first year is pretty intense. You are adjusting to a new lifestyle: transitioning from functioning as a student to functioning as an associate. There are some experiences that are similar to law school, such as: going to the same place, for about the same long hours, nearly every day; working really hard to understand what you need to know; planning to work really hard for a sustained amount of time; and being immersed in legal language and being around legal-thinking people all day. But there are also some pretty big differences between law school and law firm life. Which means that it’s another transition. You are transitioning to a different system of operation and a different set of people. You are dealing with many different expectations of you (including your own) and you are dealing with them ALL at the same time. Each partner that you will work with has preferences and styles regarding how they approaching their work, how they would like you to approach the work, how they manage their time, how they want client communications to be handled, and how they prefer to communicate with you. And, in all likelihood, you will be working with several partners at any given time (at least at first). You will be expected to figure out how to adjust to and manage all of this information, and to do it quickly. You will also be working with support staff who work with multiple people (including you) and the same factors apply as are mentioned above. More people = more preferences to learn. You are also now billing your time, which means that you are accountable for the time that you spend to perform a task. Whether you are just learning to get your...
read moreI wish I had known…how to make my “connectivity list”
Last week on “I wish I had known” I revealed the game-changer that transformed my approach to networking. Today I uncover the next step in the process of developing a solid network, and discuss another mental roadblock that stood in my way. Last week I revealed the primary factor that helped me get started building my professional network: my own mindset. Once I began looking at the often intimidating task of “networking” as something that even I – an introvert who prefers one-on-one conversations and deeper connections – could do, it changed a lot about this endeavor. But it wasn’t the end of the road. Believing that I could do it was (obviously) only the beginning. I approached building a network as I do most things. Strategically, but with a lot of competing thoughts. As with anything, when building a network you have to start where you are. Defining your current status is key. For goals related to increasing connections, the first thing I recommend is to take an inventory of the people you already know. Through school, church, community activities and hobbies, you probably already have quite a list of people who are at least generally familiar with you and what you do. Start by making a list of all your current connections. For purposes of this exercise, the relationship doesn’t have to be deep or particularly long-lasting. As a standard for who to include in your list, I suggest asking yourself whether you could send the person an email or call them and have them either instantly recognize your name or need just a quick reminder of how you originally connected. If you can sum up in a sentence or two how you are connected, the person should be on the list. So the issue I ran into when working on this task wasn’t leaving off the people that were a bit of a stretch to add to my list of connections – it was the people who were closer friends and acquaintances that I sometimes talked myself out of putting on my list. I realized that I was self-limiting the people on my “network list.” (As an aside, can we agree to call this a “connectivity list?” Because I know people sometimes get intimidated by the word “network,” and also, for reasons I will expand upon below, I don’t want you to look at this as a list of everyone who is going to help you, but more of a list of your connecting potential.) So, when I made my own list, there were some connections that I just couldn’t write down. I didn’t want to “take advantage” of relationships that I viewed as “better” or “more” than a professional connection. This mindset really stemmed from my past view of networking – the belief that networking had to be a schmoozy, “what’s in it for me” game. The belief that networking was all about taking advantage of people. Given that belief, I just didn’t want to put my “good” relationships in my “network” box – because I feared it would turn the whole connection fake. If you’ve been following along, you know that I eventually learned to approach networking in my own way. I figured out that it didn’t have to be fake and contrived. In...
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