Let’s face it.  The legal industry has had a rocky history in terms of work environments.  As a certified life coach for lawyers, I’ve seen that now more than ever, associates and partners are beginning to feel higher levels of stress and burnout symptoms than before.  The stress from the layoffs happening in large law firms and the volatile economy is affecting law partners and associates alike.

So, what can a law firm do to bring about an atmosphere of collaboration and collegiality?

We’ve all heard of positive psychology theory and research studies showing that employees who find meaning in their work are much happier and effective. This is so because they feel more control over their professional life. They see it as being in the right place, doing the right thing, with the right people.   This is a very common reason why law firms and lawyers individually hire a certified life coach for lawyers.

People that find meaning and professional satisfaction in their jobs are healthier, have more energy and focus, and miss less days at work.  Associates who find meaning in their work produce more and make more money for the law firm. Period.

Here are three tips from a certified life coach for lawyers that will help you create a positive work environment in your firm.

1. Be a leader. The first thing you need to do is to lead by example. In law firms, for example, people tend to go off into their own office to work on ‘their’ case.” This leads to isolation and disconnection from the group. It also feeds the competitive nature intrinsic in the legal field.
2. Put your minds together.  Partners should instill in associates and senior associates that they should work together. They can foster a feeling of collegiality by scheduling mastermind meetings in the office monthly or bi-monthly to focus on strategies that would best be applied to the cases they’ve got. If run correctly, these meetings can be incredibly effective in boosting production. Besides, such meetings often lead to innovative solutions to problems in cases.
3. Play together.  As a certified life coach for lawyers, I’ve seen that team building activities are a great way to foster team mentality, loyalty to the firm, and collaboration within the practice.  Many of the top law firms have been taking part in retreats and team building activities for years. They are a great example of what these activities can do for staff loyalty and the bottom line. Remember, you don’t have to spend very much money on these activities. Be creative and you’d be amazed at how many activities you come up with.

Fostering a team environment may be a lot easier than you think. All you need is some ingenuity and feedback from an outside source. Working with a certified life coach for lawyers is a great way to present team activities and to create new policies in your firm to foster collaboration. A certified life coach for lawyers can help you to identify new techniques for team building and in the actual implementation.

Sonia Gallagher is a Certified Life Coach for lawyers, an attorney, and consultant. She works with lawyers that are ready to find fulfillment in the legal profession, steer the direction of their professional lives, and create lasting changes in self-limiting behaviors and patterns. She is also a consultant to law firms that want to get more clients, more profits, and more free time.  Schedule a complimentary coaching session with Sonia today to experience the benefits of coaching first hand.

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I recently visited a friend of mine who has her own law firm.  I was extremely happy for her. She took a huge and fruitful step in her career. She has a lot to be proud of. Yet, I was a bit concerned about her at the same time. She has only been out on her own for three months and already looks ragged, hardly sleeps, and is becoming very forgetful. She jokes about the amounts of stress she is under and how she has to take sleeping pills to get some rest.

She is a really good example of someone who should look into coaching for lawyers.  As a lawyer life coach, I quickly realized several issues that were affecting both her personal and professional life.

1. Delegation. Delegation seems to be a bad word to a lot of lawyers. Let’s face it. A lot of us have controlling personalities that make it very difficult to delegate. On top of that, liability is an ever-present issue. Still, there are specific tasks that you can and should delegate to get more available time for yourself to do what you enjoy most or what gets you most clients and profit.  How are your delegation skills? What exactly do you delegate right now at your firm? You should look into coaching for lawyers to learn new ways to delegate.
2. Systems. A lot of law firms seem to re-invent the wheel every week. The partners at these law firms are prime candidates for coaching for lawyers. Their firms have very few databases and no policy manuals teaching their staff and associates what is expected of them and where to find information and resources within the firm. These firms tend to have unhappy employees and high turnovers.  Being given that little guidance, it’s no surprise that associates wouldn’t want to work in that type of environment for long.  What systems do you have in place right now?
3. Clientele.  To succeed as a Firm, you’ve got to have clients. A Law firm is a business just like any other.  To run it properly, you’ve got to implement business development strategies that work. The problem is we didn’t learn these business skills in law school. Coaching for lawyers is a very good remedy for this situation.

You’ve got to have strategies for client attraction and client retention.  Without these strategies, your Firm will not be in good health. It will not be a long term and successful endeavor.  Tell me, how do you attract clients? How do you retain them? Do you know what ratio of clients stay with your firm for longer than one case? Do you have specific strategies that have consistently worked for client development? How do you teach these to your staff and associates?

Simply focusing on the three issues above can catapult your Firm’s potential for success and long term profit. You can learn these techniques and more through coaching for lawyers and training for lawyers.

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Do you know what work life balance is? Do you have it in your own life or do you see it as a mere myth meant for others to obtain?

Work life balance is the separation between your work life and your personal life. It is the boundary that you create between your profession, career, or business and every other segment that makes up your life. Aside from your career, these segments include your family, personal growth, spirituality, fitness and health, and community and friendships.

Once you begin to establish healthy boundaries between your work life and your personal life, you begin to feel more fulfillment and personal satisfaction. This happens as a result of your own state of wellness. Your mental state becomes much more confident, clear, and decisive because you are well-rounded and balanced.

By having a clear and consistent separation between your job and the other segments of your life, you enable yourself to truly be present in each realm of your life. You no longer worry about work projects while at home and don’t worry about things you need to do at home while at the office. This allows you to be sharper, more efficient, and better-focused. It also enables you to use your time more efficiently, be more effective with your communication, task completion, and decision making, and to enjoy your time at work much more than ever before.

Work life balance plays a huge role in determining whether a person will reach career advancement. This has been proven by studies and statistics which you will read about later in this book. The studies on work life balance are truly impressive and have been eye-opening to many employers.

“Work-life balance is now the second most important driver of employee attraction and commitment”, says Corporate Executive Board (CEB) research.

Studies done by CEB research also show that employees work much harder for companies that offer better work life balance. In the current economic environment, work life balance now ranks as one of the most important workplace attributes-second only to compensation, according to research conducted by the Corporate Executive Board among more than 50,000 global workers.

Did you know that employees who feel they have a better work-life balance tend to work 21% harder than those that don’t?(CEB Research).

According to the research done by CEB in 2006, 53% of employees felt they had a good work-life balance. Yet, that number plummeted to 30% in the first quarter of 2009.

Right now, the most successful organizations recognize that the most appreciated service they can provide to their employees is the “gift of time.” This is a very valuable nugget of information. It’s a great leverage tool for companies to use when hiring talent and for individuals looking for employment. Time can be a factor included in your compensation negotiations.

In fact, the study done by CEB showed that more than 60% of the employees polled identified flexible schedules as the most important work-life practice their employer could provide.

In essence, time is of incredible value to both employers and the employees today. Savvy employers are realizing this and using work life balance programs and perks to attract talent they may otherwise not afford. These days, many talented workers are not looking for more money. They are instead looking for better quality of life…that which you get through work life balance. So, even if you are not able to negotiate a higher salary, you can use work life balance as a leveraging tool to create the lifestyle that you desire.

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Have you ever noticed a trend in the thinking patterns of successful people? Have you ever wondered why it seems like success comes so easily to some people and so difficult for others?

It all has to do with your beliefs and self-talk.

People that achieve success in a consistent basis have one thing in common. Whether they are successful athletes, executives, business owners, or artists, they all know that they will succeed. They know this before they even attempt to achieve the goal they set out for themselves. They envision themselves living the way they want to live and feeling the excitement, gratitude, and the sense of accomplishment that comes from reaching what they set out to do.

Positive self-talk is the dialogue that goes on in your mind. It is where you believe in yourself and are confident in your capabilities to the point that you are certain that you will succeed. Here is a list of steps you can take to create positive self-talk to get ahead in life.

1. Choose to create positive self-talk. When you realize the enormous power that thoughts have over your actions and view of life, you should make a decision to stop living your life with self-imposed limitations. Once you opt for a life filled with opportunities, potential, and fulfillment, you take the most important step to creating the reality you desire.

2. Feed your mind. Choose to look for good things to focus your thinking on. Focus your attention on positive, uplifting, and encouraging words to say to yourself. For example: “I don’t have to finish everything in my task list today” or “Dealing with this client will make me a more patient person.” Choose to look for the silver lining.

3. Practice persistence. Now that you realize that your self-talk has been going on for decades, you must know that taking back control over your self-talk will not happen overnight. It is a progress that will require your effort.

Continue to find ways to remind yourself to stop and analyze any negative self-talk and to counter it with a positive message to yourself. As you do this, it will become easier. You will reach a point where you do this without realizing it and building your positive self-talk will actually become second nature.

4. Observe your self-talk. Try to relate to your thoughts as scenes in a movie theater screen. When you put yourself in the role of a third party or outsider, it is a lot easier to practice neutrality and to see a situation for what it really is. By becoming an observer of your thoughts and self-talk, you are better able to assess their validity or lack thereof in each thought or thinking pattern. In time, you will also be more apt to seeing trends in triggers that cause the negative self-talk to take place.

5. Reframe your Thinking. When you become aware of having a negative thought, give it a positive spin. For example, if your self-talk tells you “I’m never going to get the promotion. I’m late to work yet again!;” remove the negative opinion and the judgment from it. Then, you can reframe it into a more positive message like “I was late to the office today, what can I do or avoid doing to get here on time?” Don’t allow your self-talk to beat you up so much. Take control of it and give them a spin. Focus on how you can avoid doing the behavior again.

6. Watch for Absolutes. A lot of people have a tendency to use phrases like “I always,” “I never,” or “I am” with negative self-talk. These phrases can be terribly harmful to you. They create an instant limitation on you and your capacity for change. Avoid them at all costs. A good way of doing this is asking yourself questions regarding the self-talk message.

7. Ask yourself Questions. Ask yourself questions like: 1. What led me to this thought?, 2. What would be a better solution or way to handle the situation I’m facing?, 3. What would allow me to overcome this challenge?, 4. What is another potential outcome in this situation?, 5. What would be the worst thing that could happen?, 6. If the worst thing that could happen did happen, how would that affect me? Is the effect really that bad? Is it fatal? These questions are a great way of combating limiting self-talk.

8. Stop the Thought. While you are in the middle of listening to your negative self-talk, stop your thoughts mid-stream by saying “Stop”. If your surroundings allow you to say this out loud, do so. The physical act of saying “stop” out loud will make you better aware of the frequency in which you are stopping negative thoughts, when it happens, where you are when it happens, and what is happening right before it.

9. Rubber-Band Snap. Wear a rubber band on your wrist and snap it each time you hear negative self-talk in your mind. If you can’t say “Stop” out loud, this is a great alternative. The physical pain you feel from this action will be a huge motivator in stopping the negative self-talk.

10. Replace Negative Self-talk with Other Messages. A lot of people find it easier to replace negative self-talk with positive messages than to remove self-talk altogether. Some things you can do to replace your negative self-talk are: A. Use more gentle words to refer to yourself and to situations. (For example instead of thinking “I hate being late,” replace that thought with “I really don’t like being late.”) and B. Change Limiting Self-talk like “I can’t win this case!” or “I’m not going to be able to get that client!” to questions like “Why would I not win this case?” and “What can I do to prepare for it better?”

Self-limiting statements are extremely harmful. They not only increase your stress in response to a situation but paralyze you from finding solutions to the problem. Replace these thoughts with questions instead. This way, you’ll be in the right frame of mind for finding ways to solve the problem. Asking yourself, “How can I win this case?” or “What can I do to get that client?” is much more empowering, isn’t it?

11. Learn Discipline. View your practice of removing and changing your negative self-talk like you would a work out plan. You are not going to see results right away but will feel great once you do. Just like there will be days where you are not motivated to go to the gym, there will also be days where you are not motivated to keep track of your negative self-talk or counter it with positive messages. Doing it however helps us develop our discipline and drive.

It gives us a sense of pride for our accomplishment and a sense of control over our life. It’s an incredible boost of confidence!

12. Modify the Golden Rule. We are creatures of habit. It’s no wonder how easily we can fall into patterns of self destructive thoughts and behavior. Instead of continuing to be your own worst critic, teach yourself to be your best support. Be respectful to yourself and treat yourself with the same compassion and kindness that you would treat others around you. Don’t say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t want another person to say to you.

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What type of leader are you? Be honest with yourself.  Are you as inspirational as you would like to be? Does your team give you 100% of their time and energy each and every time? In this article, we’ll talk about how training for executives can help you achieve this and more.

As leaders, we are catalysts for change and dedication from our staff. We essentially lead all the time.   If you are the head of a law firm, a department, or a business, you are certainly leading by your words and by your actions.

Communication.  A leader’s role is pivotal in creating a positive work environment for his or her staff. You should always demonstrate integrity, loyalty, productivity, and hard work. These messages should be reflected in every message you relay through both verbal and non-verbal communication.

Training for executives can help make you and extraordinary leader and communicator.  One of the key ingredients to being a successful leader is communication skills.  Successful owners of law firms, managers, supervisors, and CEO’s already know the importance of being a phenomenal listener. They hire companies that do coaching and training for executives to become experts at both verbal and non-verbal communication. They invest their time in becoming experts at reading body language.

Think about it, the higher you go in the corporate ladder, the more unlikely it is that your staff will tell you what’s really going on.  The best way to lose that disconnection that is so common is to listen to what they are not telling you.   You can gain a huge amount of insight from your staff members, clients, and colleagues through body language. This is one of the key areas in which training for executives can improve your leadership qualities and your company’s morale.

Accessibility. A good leader should always be accessible – practice the open door policy – and seek to always reward their staff for their efforts and hard work. Leaders are the types of people that their teams will give 110% to without even batting an eye.

Meaning.  Looking at positive psychology theory and research, we know how important it is for people to perceive that what they do is meaningful. Having that knowledge helps us to grow and develop in our personal and professional life.  When we feel we are making a difference in the tasks and projects we do and the challenges we are given, we grow as individuals and gain professional fulfillment.   For many, meaningful work is more important than a pay check.  It’s what makes them get up in the morning with a smile on their face to happily face the new day and look forward to getting to the office.  Smart companies already know this and take advantage of programs focused on training for executives to capitalize on this. Remember this next time you hire someone or assign a task to your associate or team member.

Being a good leader is a skill that is developed through training for executives.  Your development is worth every second of your investment. It is an investment in your own potential – AND in the potential of those that you will lead throughout your life.

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