As in-house lawyers, we must be fair-minded, we must be good examples, we must be sympathetic and empathetic. For most of us, this is not so difficult. However, we live in a complicated world. The workplace is a very diverse place. In-house lawyers encounter diversity in every form: cultural, color, gender, physical ability, sexual orientation, ethnic, religious. How do we ensure that “we all just get along” without compromising our personal beliefs and moving the business goals of the company forward, all while protecting the company from legal risk?
I know the general counsel of a very large public company. On his desk is a Bible, on his wall is artwork with quotes from that Bible. Personally, I feel very comfortable in his office because I share in his beliefs. If I was an employee of this man, would I feel as comfortable if he had a Quran on his desk and Islamic art on his walls? In such a case it would be the responsibility of that general counsel to make me feel just as comfortable under the latter circumstances as I do under the former.
How does one practice one’s personal beliefs without “offending” someone who believes differently? In the corporate world, I do not wear my religion on my shirt sleeve, I do not preach or engage in religious discussions (unless invited to do so). To behave otherwise would not only be counter to the manner in which I share my religion with others outside the office, but could also arguably create exposure for the company by evidencing a perceived (not actual) prejudice in my way of thinking. Of all the offices within the corporate structure (except for perhaps Human Resources), the general counsel must demonstrate absolute freedom from any hint of bias for or against someone who is not like them.
On the other hand, should in-house counsel be relegated to a state of exhibiting absolutely no spiritual life whatsoever? That would be quite unfair to those whose beliefs require them to reach out to others who may be spiritually in need. How, then, do we as in-house counsel “practice” our religion? Just like the business situations we encounter daily, we have to find fair compromise, balancing two of the most important aspects of our lives (work life and spiritual life), walking a fine line between the permissible and the impermissible.
In many cases, people in our position offer “testimony” to their faith through the way they live their lives, their interactions with clients, their daily practice of the principles they adhere to, their efforts at instilling those principles (not the religion) into the culture of the business. In other words, through example.
There are so many issues dividing us today. My hope is that although we have diverse viewpoints, we look to the common moral threads running through each of our belief systems and, within the workplace at least, apply them. Make no mistake, I am not advocating that we act in a morally relative manner. Rather, we must respect each other’s belief systems, hold true to our own principles, and practice our own traditions while being sensitive to creating a perception of bias for or against one belief system or another.
*Originally published on December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Implicit Bias*
Implicit Bias (also known as “Unconscious Bias” or “Hidden Bias”) has been described as negative associations that ordinary people are found to harbor in relation to various social groups – even while honestly reporting that they regard themselves as lacking these biases. Stated another way – it is believing that one is impartial, but behaving as if one is not.
The information presented by those who advance the notion that implicit bias is real and present in our everyday lives suggests that an open mind and serious self examination is required in order for each of us to test our self awareness and assess our own implicit biases. At the end of this column, you will have the opportunity to do just that by linking to a fascinating study being conducted by researchers at Harvard University. If you take this short test, you will receive feedback informing you where you may harbor subconscious bias toward certain social groups. I guarantee that you will be surprised at the delta between your conscious thinking and the way your brain actually responds to the test stimuli.
Implicit bias studies have shown that doctors are more likely to prescribe life-saving care to whites; that managers are more likely to hire and promote members of their own in-group; police are more likely to shoot a black man carrying a cell phone than a white man; and that referees in basketball are more likely to favor players with whom they share a racial identity. If doctors, business people, police men and women, and presumably objective professional referees are subject to unconscious biases, it would seem unrealistic to believe that lawyers are immune. The good news is that implicit bias can be overcome through awareness, acknowledgement and conscious effort.
Understanding implicit bias is important to lawyers because, once understood, it becomes an important tool for the way we approach our day-to-day jobs. The Harvard study shows that Implicit Biases vary from person to person and that implicit attitudes are modified by experience. Once we understand that we may have a bias for a particular group or groups over another, we can attempt to manage it, check it at the door, when making decisions or giving advice that pertains to or affects that group or a person with that group, for example, providing HR counsel on a RIF or assessing the credibility of an accused manager during an investigation. We can also use it to aid us in moving to a certain result, for example, in picking a jury that will be biased in favor of our client.
ALFA International, a global network of independent business focused law firms, together with ACC Chicago, sponsored an ethics seminar on implicit bias last week. Because this is an intriguing topic, new to many lawyers, there was a full house. People walked away talking about what they had just learned.
The featured speaker was U.S District Court Judge Mark Bennett, who has made the study of Implicit Bias the keystone of his unique approach to jury instructions. He is the first judge in the country to instruct all of his juries on the role of implicit bias in decision making; the state of California just last week approved the use of his pattern jury instruction on implicit bias for use in California criminal trials.
Whether or not you accept the concept of implicit bias, one thing is for certain – the study of implicit bias is not pseudo-science or the advancement of the latest wacky social theory. This is real grist for the mind’s mill and hundreds of social science studies are conducted on this topic each year.
Here is the link to the Project Implicit test site: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ . I invite you to test your self-awareness of bias against the actual bias shown by your behavior. While not perfect or absolute, the test results should move one to serious self-reflection and to be open to the possibility that one’s thinking is not as objective as one might hope or believe. I would love to see your comments posted after you have taken the test.
*Originally published October 26, 2011
The information presented by those who advance the notion that implicit bias is real and present in our everyday lives suggests that an open mind and serious self examination is required in order for each of us to test our self awareness and assess our own implicit biases. At the end of this column, you will have the opportunity to do just that by linking to a fascinating study being conducted by researchers at Harvard University. If you take this short test, you will receive feedback informing you where you may harbor subconscious bias toward certain social groups. I guarantee that you will be surprised at the delta between your conscious thinking and the way your brain actually responds to the test stimuli.
Implicit bias studies have shown that doctors are more likely to prescribe life-saving care to whites; that managers are more likely to hire and promote members of their own in-group; police are more likely to shoot a black man carrying a cell phone than a white man; and that referees in basketball are more likely to favor players with whom they share a racial identity. If doctors, business people, police men and women, and presumably objective professional referees are subject to unconscious biases, it would seem unrealistic to believe that lawyers are immune. The good news is that implicit bias can be overcome through awareness, acknowledgement and conscious effort.
Understanding implicit bias is important to lawyers because, once understood, it becomes an important tool for the way we approach our day-to-day jobs. The Harvard study shows that Implicit Biases vary from person to person and that implicit attitudes are modified by experience. Once we understand that we may have a bias for a particular group or groups over another, we can attempt to manage it, check it at the door, when making decisions or giving advice that pertains to or affects that group or a person with that group, for example, providing HR counsel on a RIF or assessing the credibility of an accused manager during an investigation. We can also use it to aid us in moving to a certain result, for example, in picking a jury that will be biased in favor of our client.
ALFA International, a global network of independent business focused law firms, together with ACC Chicago, sponsored an ethics seminar on implicit bias last week. Because this is an intriguing topic, new to many lawyers, there was a full house. People walked away talking about what they had just learned.
The featured speaker was U.S District Court Judge Mark Bennett, who has made the study of Implicit Bias the keystone of his unique approach to jury instructions. He is the first judge in the country to instruct all of his juries on the role of implicit bias in decision making; the state of California just last week approved the use of his pattern jury instruction on implicit bias for use in California criminal trials.
Whether or not you accept the concept of implicit bias, one thing is for certain – the study of implicit bias is not pseudo-science or the advancement of the latest wacky social theory. This is real grist for the mind’s mill and hundreds of social science studies are conducted on this topic each year.
Here is the link to the Project Implicit test site: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ . I invite you to test your self-awareness of bias against the actual bias shown by your behavior. While not perfect or absolute, the test results should move one to serious self-reflection and to be open to the possibility that one’s thinking is not as objective as one might hope or believe. I would love to see your comments posted after you have taken the test.
*Originally published October 26, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Reaching the next generation lawyer
This year marks the 24th anniversary of my licensure to practice law. I think such a benchmark allows me to now refer to those currently in law school as the “next generation” of lawyers. I recently had the unique opportunity to get together with a group of these next generation lawyers to discuss some of the things that don’t necessarily come through in the classroom.
Josie Gough, the director of experiential learning at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, invited me and David Susler to meet with her class of students to share the insight that comes with a few years of real life experience. Our discussion mirrored some of the issues that I have written about in this column, the idea being to help the students benefit by hearing from experienced lawyers who could describe some of the landmines that many lawyers may encounter over the course of their careers.
Although many issues were touched upon, the focus always returned to the notions of integrity, honor, duty and humility around which our talk was based. I was truly impressed with the way the students genuinely embraced these concepts and seemed determined to absorb as much as possible in the short time we had together.
I was similarly impressed with the way that Professor Gough reaches out to the community of lawyers to bring their actual experiences to life for students who have had relatively little exposure to practicing law. By working in externships and meeting lawyers from the real practice world, the students gain snippets of wisdom accumulated over the course of many lifetimes of practice across a broad practice base – private practice, in-house, public interest, judicial and government. Professor Gough uses her extensive “Rolodex” not only to connect her students with terrific practical experience externships, but also to call on lawyers like Susler and me to provide insight into the “softer” skills, such as getting along with your boss, creating value for the company in the legal department and nurturing quality relationships with your clients.
She also creates the opportunity for her students to affirm that what she teaches them in the classroom is not just theoretical. They learn from “outsiders” that maintaining their integrity is essential to a successful career and not just flowery language that means nothing once they actually enter practice – that it impacts how they will be viewed by judges and other lawyers for the rest of their careers. They learn that they will soon occupy positions of leadership in their communities, that they will be sought out to solve problems, that there are many gray areas and advice is usually not black and white, that they might have to make a difficult choice between a client and “doing the right thing.”
They learn to understand that their chosen profession is indeed noble and that they must act with nobility (not arrogance) and with heartfelt humility. They learn it is important to treat everyone with the dignity they deserve simply because they are a member of the human race – from their support staff or the poor pro bono client to the partner in the corner office. They learn that they must use the gifts they have been given and the positions they have earned, to give back to the community and to further enhance the profession of law.
Susler and I were privileged to have been a part of Professor Gough’s experiential learning class. If you are afforded a similar privilege, as a member of this noble profession you are called to answer, to help ensure that the next generation of lawyers continues to value the privilege of practicing law and the position of influence that goes along with it.
Josie Gough, the director of experiential learning at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, invited me and David Susler to meet with her class of students to share the insight that comes with a few years of real life experience. Our discussion mirrored some of the issues that I have written about in this column, the idea being to help the students benefit by hearing from experienced lawyers who could describe some of the landmines that many lawyers may encounter over the course of their careers.
Although many issues were touched upon, the focus always returned to the notions of integrity, honor, duty and humility around which our talk was based. I was truly impressed with the way the students genuinely embraced these concepts and seemed determined to absorb as much as possible in the short time we had together.
I was similarly impressed with the way that Professor Gough reaches out to the community of lawyers to bring their actual experiences to life for students who have had relatively little exposure to practicing law. By working in externships and meeting lawyers from the real practice world, the students gain snippets of wisdom accumulated over the course of many lifetimes of practice across a broad practice base – private practice, in-house, public interest, judicial and government. Professor Gough uses her extensive “Rolodex” not only to connect her students with terrific practical experience externships, but also to call on lawyers like Susler and me to provide insight into the “softer” skills, such as getting along with your boss, creating value for the company in the legal department and nurturing quality relationships with your clients.
She also creates the opportunity for her students to affirm that what she teaches them in the classroom is not just theoretical. They learn from “outsiders” that maintaining their integrity is essential to a successful career and not just flowery language that means nothing once they actually enter practice – that it impacts how they will be viewed by judges and other lawyers for the rest of their careers. They learn that they will soon occupy positions of leadership in their communities, that they will be sought out to solve problems, that there are many gray areas and advice is usually not black and white, that they might have to make a difficult choice between a client and “doing the right thing.”
They learn to understand that their chosen profession is indeed noble and that they must act with nobility (not arrogance) and with heartfelt humility. They learn it is important to treat everyone with the dignity they deserve simply because they are a member of the human race – from their support staff or the poor pro bono client to the partner in the corner office. They learn that they must use the gifts they have been given and the positions they have earned, to give back to the community and to further enhance the profession of law.
Susler and I were privileged to have been a part of Professor Gough’s experiential learning class. If you are afforded a similar privilege, as a member of this noble profession you are called to answer, to help ensure that the next generation of lawyers continues to value the privilege of practicing law and the position of influence that goes along with it.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Emotional Intelligence
“…the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions” Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer, “Emotional Intelligence”, 1990
A high Emotional Intelligence Quotient, or EQ, is an essential element of a successful lawyer’s personality. This is readily apparent from the definition set forth above. Some scholars believe that one’s EQ is set at birth while others believe that Emotional Intelligence can be learned and developed. In either case, breaking down the several elements that make up the EQ helps one to better understand the concept of EI. When one is aware of the various factors that enter into the EQ, one can work to harness the insight gained and enhance the ability to interact with the client.
As is the case in traditional psychological sciences, there are several schools of thought that address the concept of EI. I will look at the model posed by Salovey and Mayer in their 1990 article “Emotional Intelligence.”
Salovey and Mayer break down EI into four basic elements: (1) Perceiving emotions; (2) Reasoning with emotions; (3) Understanding emotions; and (4) Managing emotions. In the context of our profession, it is very important for us to be in tune with the emotions of our clients.
You might wonder why someone’s emotional state is so important in our delivery of legal advice. It is important to remember, while our client is the company, the company is made up of people. People cannot be separated from their emotions. As people and employees, they may have concerns about their job performance, the decisions they have made that are now being questioned (or are going to make based on your advice), the mistakes they may have made (or are perceived to have made) and impact they are having on the business. People also have lives outside the company. A sick wife, child or parent, financial problems, major life decisions – all have an impact on the emotional well being of the individual and hence impact the manner in which they address the business problem at hand and in turn the manner in which you provide counsel.
As lawyers, once we have a sense of the emotional state of our client, we need to understand the root of that emotion. Is it business related, or personal in nature? Does it revolve around you and the advice you have given in the past and anticipation about what advice you might give now? Or, does it involve someone else in the business? What is the client’s relationship with that person? What is your relationship with that third person and with the client?
The most important aspect of the Salovey and Mayer model for you to consider is how to deal with the knowledge and insight you have gained into your client’s emotional state. This is the real test of your EQ. Those lawyers who are successful are able to make an accurate assessment of what they are dealing with and react with an approach that is complementary to the given situation.
My friend Jenifer Robbins, General Counsel at FPL Advisory Group, summed up lawyers’ EQ in one word – “Empathy”. The ability to relate to your client on an emotional level is absolutely essential for the successful corporate attorney and business person.
As you approach your daily activities, take a moment to think about those with whom you are interacting and try to gauge their emotional state, think about why they might be feeling the way they do, and take into consideration their perspectives and emotional state as you interact with them.
“Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge”
Plato
Saturday, October 8, 2011
The Golden Rule
The Golden Rule, also known as the ethic of reciprocity, in its various manifestations and restatements over thousands of years forms the basis for almost every culture in human history. Why then is it so hard to abide by this seemingly simple rule? More importantly, why is it so hard for lawyers to practice it?
We are duty bound to zealously represent our clients. Some lawyers treat this duty as a license to use every dirty trick in the dirty lawyer book to accomplish the client goals, as long as those tricks don’t technically violate a rule or cross an ethical line. Lawyers are human beings and as such are not immune to moral and ethical dilemmas. All of us, lawyer and non-lawyer, face choices every day. Those choices have consequences – good and bad. Many times, the prospect of personal or professional gain distracts us from making the right choice – the choice that we would want our similarly situated colleagues to make were the roles reversed.
Practicing the Golden Rule in our personal and professional lives should be the very essence of what it is to be a lawyer. But, how do we reconcile our ethical obligations to our client with the universal of the Golden Rule? That is somewhat of a trick question as I do not think they are necessarily at odds.
Lawyers have a system of rules governing the substance of what we do every day (statutes, regulations, court rules, case law) as well as ethical rules which govern our conduct. When we play in the lawyering space, we play knowing that these rules are in place – we accept them as a given, something that comes with the privilege of practicing law. Smart lawyers know and understand the rationale for these rules and do their best to mind both the spirit and the letter of the law.
Part of what it means to act zealously is to work to test and sometimes change the law. In order to do this, we sometimes have to advance arguments that might seem specious to some, valid to others. In addition to the law, lawyers must deal with people. People are a part of everything we do. Our clients provide us with strategic business plans, advertising copy, lists of people affected by reductions in force, contracts and the facts in litigation matters. When one understands the fluid nature of the law and that facts are recollected by people with differing perspectives of what occurred, there is almost always room for legitimate arguments to be made. However, making legitimate arguments is a far cry from manipulating the system, committing mischief, playing dirty or treating others poorly. There is never a legitimate excuse for failing to practice the ethic of reciprocity, the Golden Rule.
As lawyers, we should first and foremost represent our clients to the best of our ability. This does not imply taking cheap shots at opposing counsel or making frivolous arguments. Rather, implicit in this duty is the responsibility to act within the bounds of the rules set in place by the authorities that govern our practice. As a profession with a high calling, it is also our duty and responsibility to put ourselves into the position of the lawyer (and the client) on the other side of the matter and act according to the principles of the ethic of reciprocity. Respect that lawyer and her client as you expect to be respected. Treat the lawyer and her client the way that you expect and deserve to be treated. Do not be underhanded, do not lie. Abide by the Golden Rule in whichever manifestation you recognize it.
“…Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Leviticus 19:18
We are duty bound to zealously represent our clients. Some lawyers treat this duty as a license to use every dirty trick in the dirty lawyer book to accomplish the client goals, as long as those tricks don’t technically violate a rule or cross an ethical line. Lawyers are human beings and as such are not immune to moral and ethical dilemmas. All of us, lawyer and non-lawyer, face choices every day. Those choices have consequences – good and bad. Many times, the prospect of personal or professional gain distracts us from making the right choice – the choice that we would want our similarly situated colleagues to make were the roles reversed.
Practicing the Golden Rule in our personal and professional lives should be the very essence of what it is to be a lawyer. But, how do we reconcile our ethical obligations to our client with the universal of the Golden Rule? That is somewhat of a trick question as I do not think they are necessarily at odds.
Lawyers have a system of rules governing the substance of what we do every day (statutes, regulations, court rules, case law) as well as ethical rules which govern our conduct. When we play in the lawyering space, we play knowing that these rules are in place – we accept them as a given, something that comes with the privilege of practicing law. Smart lawyers know and understand the rationale for these rules and do their best to mind both the spirit and the letter of the law.
Part of what it means to act zealously is to work to test and sometimes change the law. In order to do this, we sometimes have to advance arguments that might seem specious to some, valid to others. In addition to the law, lawyers must deal with people. People are a part of everything we do. Our clients provide us with strategic business plans, advertising copy, lists of people affected by reductions in force, contracts and the facts in litigation matters. When one understands the fluid nature of the law and that facts are recollected by people with differing perspectives of what occurred, there is almost always room for legitimate arguments to be made. However, making legitimate arguments is a far cry from manipulating the system, committing mischief, playing dirty or treating others poorly. There is never a legitimate excuse for failing to practice the ethic of reciprocity, the Golden Rule.
As lawyers, we should first and foremost represent our clients to the best of our ability. This does not imply taking cheap shots at opposing counsel or making frivolous arguments. Rather, implicit in this duty is the responsibility to act within the bounds of the rules set in place by the authorities that govern our practice. As a profession with a high calling, it is also our duty and responsibility to put ourselves into the position of the lawyer (and the client) on the other side of the matter and act according to the principles of the ethic of reciprocity. Respect that lawyer and her client as you expect to be respected. Treat the lawyer and her client the way that you expect and deserve to be treated. Do not be underhanded, do not lie. Abide by the Golden Rule in whichever manifestation you recognize it.
“…Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Leviticus 19:18
An Opportunity to Get to Know Each Other
I had the good fortune to meet a very nice young lawyer today, the kind of lawyer who will make a big difference in the lives of many people for generations to come.
Sam Finkelstein is the founder and CEO of Legal Prep Charter Academies. LPCA is a legal-themed charter high school approved to open in the Chicago Public School System in the fall of 2012. It will offer a college prep curriculum in a very high-quality learning environment in a high need community in Chicago.
I am excited about this new Chicago public school for many reasons. Too many in fact to address in this column. So for today, I will focus on only one – the “diverse” school population served by the school and the opportunities such diversity presents to lawyers who are not used to working with such populations. I have seen or heard various statistics from several sources that indicate that by the middle of the 21st Century, “diverse” individuals will make up 50 percent of the U.S. population. To many people this may be a shocking statistic, but it is well accepted as a realistic estimate of our future ethnic/cultural make-up. So for those who find this an uncomfortable statistic, I suggest a retooling of mindset in order to be successful in our “new” world.
A good friend of mine related to me that he (like many of my colleagues in the law) was raised in a middle class, white, suburban, Christian community during the 1960s and 1970s. To him, this was America. The only “diversity” he experienced was between Irish, Germans, Polish, Italians, Catholic and Protestants (and various mixtures of those particular groups). Once in a while there might be an Asian or Asian Pacific person who crossed his path. So, while this was a diverse group in one sense, in another it was very homogenous.
My friend met his first black person in college as well as his first Jewish person (at a Catholic university). As he told it, these people were unfamiliar to him and he did not know how to relate to them. Not only had he never met people like this, but what he “knew” about them from others was generally negative. As one might guess, he avoided them as anyone might do when confronted with an uncomfortable situation.
What does any of this have to do with the latest charter school to be approved by the CPS system? The lawyer community is going to be given the opportunity to step up and assist the school as it accepts its first class of freshmen next year, the graduating “Class of 2016.” We will be given mentoring, teaching and other project based opportunities.
We must take advantage of these opportunities so that we can get to know the students in these programs. We must let them see who we are and learn who they are. We need to teach each other about each others’ backgrounds, our respective upbringing, our neighborhoods and home life. People will open up if given an emotionally safe environment that encourages openness and sharing of sometimes uncomfortable and unfounded preconceptions about each other. All participants will learn about each other. Misconceptions, prejudgments and false stereotypical characterizations of each other will dissolve.
The people who participate will learn that despite their differences, we are all more alike than different. By getting to know people who are “different,” who come from a different place, socially, culturally, financially and geographically, walls are broken down and bridges built – one person, one mentor/mentee relationship at a time. People begin to see that yes, there may be differences in speech, food, skin color and so on, but also that they really aren’t that different in their core – they are human beings wanting to provide for their families, desiring good education and the opportunity to excel.
When we come to this level of understanding, we no longer avoid each other or walk on the other side of the street. As lawyers, as leaders of our business and neighborhood communities, we are called to take a leadership role in this process. The new Chicago Legal Prep Academy and people like Sam Finkelstein will provide us an opportunity to do so.
Sam Finkelstein is the founder and CEO of Legal Prep Charter Academies. LPCA is a legal-themed charter high school approved to open in the Chicago Public School System in the fall of 2012. It will offer a college prep curriculum in a very high-quality learning environment in a high need community in Chicago.
“…Legal Prep will focus on the skills that all great lawyers possess: excellent written and oral communication, critical thinking, problem solving and advocacy…While not all of our students will go on to be lawyers, all students will gain an understanding and respect for the law. Students will give back to their communities through scheduled service projects. Every student will be required to gain admittance to college in order to graduate from Legal Prep.” (Emphasis as in original) Legal Prep Mission Statement
I am excited about this new Chicago public school for many reasons. Too many in fact to address in this column. So for today, I will focus on only one – the “diverse” school population served by the school and the opportunities such diversity presents to lawyers who are not used to working with such populations. I have seen or heard various statistics from several sources that indicate that by the middle of the 21st Century, “diverse” individuals will make up 50 percent of the U.S. population. To many people this may be a shocking statistic, but it is well accepted as a realistic estimate of our future ethnic/cultural make-up. So for those who find this an uncomfortable statistic, I suggest a retooling of mindset in order to be successful in our “new” world.
A good friend of mine related to me that he (like many of my colleagues in the law) was raised in a middle class, white, suburban, Christian community during the 1960s and 1970s. To him, this was America. The only “diversity” he experienced was between Irish, Germans, Polish, Italians, Catholic and Protestants (and various mixtures of those particular groups). Once in a while there might be an Asian or Asian Pacific person who crossed his path. So, while this was a diverse group in one sense, in another it was very homogenous.
My friend met his first black person in college as well as his first Jewish person (at a Catholic university). As he told it, these people were unfamiliar to him and he did not know how to relate to them. Not only had he never met people like this, but what he “knew” about them from others was generally negative. As one might guess, he avoided them as anyone might do when confronted with an uncomfortable situation.
What does any of this have to do with the latest charter school to be approved by the CPS system? The lawyer community is going to be given the opportunity to step up and assist the school as it accepts its first class of freshmen next year, the graduating “Class of 2016.” We will be given mentoring, teaching and other project based opportunities.
We must take advantage of these opportunities so that we can get to know the students in these programs. We must let them see who we are and learn who they are. We need to teach each other about each others’ backgrounds, our respective upbringing, our neighborhoods and home life. People will open up if given an emotionally safe environment that encourages openness and sharing of sometimes uncomfortable and unfounded preconceptions about each other. All participants will learn about each other. Misconceptions, prejudgments and false stereotypical characterizations of each other will dissolve.
The people who participate will learn that despite their differences, we are all more alike than different. By getting to know people who are “different,” who come from a different place, socially, culturally, financially and geographically, walls are broken down and bridges built – one person, one mentor/mentee relationship at a time. People begin to see that yes, there may be differences in speech, food, skin color and so on, but also that they really aren’t that different in their core – they are human beings wanting to provide for their families, desiring good education and the opportunity to excel.
When we come to this level of understanding, we no longer avoid each other or walk on the other side of the street. As lawyers, as leaders of our business and neighborhood communities, we are called to take a leadership role in this process. The new Chicago Legal Prep Academy and people like Sam Finkelstein will provide us an opportunity to do so.
For more on Chicago Legal Prep Academy click here: http://www.legalprep.org/
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Be a good egg – pay it forward
The unemployment rate for lawyers is 3.2 percent*. This means there are 56,000 unemployed lawyers across the country. However, 1.7 million of us are employed. That is a pretty good ratio. Only health-care practitioner and technical occupations fared better than lawyers. Although for the unemployed lawyers out there, the favorable ratio provides little solace.
Over the course of my 23 years of practice, I’ve worked for three different employers – a small boutique general practice firm, a Fortune 500 retail, catalog and internet giant, and my current employer. When I went in-house in 1996, I thought I would stay at my company for the rest of my career. Bankruptcy put an end to that in late 2004.
Over the years I’ve learned some valuable lessons about being ready for the next stage of my career. One of them is the importance of “networking.” As a young lawyer I believed I had neither the time nor the energy to network. I believed that my skills and achievements would carry the day when the time came to look beyond my current position. This was a huge mistake.
I am a smart person with excellent credentials having worked for top-notch companies and with outstanding executives – just like many of the other lawyers shooting for the positions that I want. However, having some connection to the person making the hiring decision puts me a half or full step ahead of my competition. I am a known quantity, less of a risk. I might even find out about an opportunity before it is published.
The most important lesson I have learned about networking is that the best time to actively network is when one is comfortable and secure in one’s position. In good times, one has credibility as a networker because nothing is needed, there is no apparent selfishness. A good networker simply establishes and nurtures relationships. She puts people with complimentary needs together. Of course, it is difficult for human beings to act with complete selflessness and so when we network we cannot help but to think there will be some payback in the future. This may be true. However, successful networkers do not think selfishly. This brings me to my point (finally!).
Most of us have been helped by someone in our network. In turn, we have an obligation to help another in need, to return the kind act with a kind act to another - to “pay it forward.”
Ben Franklin described the concept in a letter to Benjamin Webb in 1784:
…I send you herewith … ten Louis d’ors (gold coins). I do not pretend to give such a sum; I only lend it to you. When you shall return to your country with a good character, you cannot fail of getting into some business, that will in time enable you to pay all your debts… When you meet with another honest man in similar distress, you must pay me by lending this sum to him; enjoining him to discharge the debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with another opportunity. I hope it may thus go thro’ many hands, before it meets with a knave that will stop its progress…
Now is the time to pay forward the kind acts you have received from others. This can be as simple as picking up the phone and offering an encouraging word or two, reviewing and marking up a resume, arranging for an introduction or as involved as helping conduct a job search and making calls on behalf of your colleague. The point is – there are many people out there looking for some kind of help in their career. If you can, give back. Pay it forward! Do not be the knave of which Franklin writes. Be a good egg.
*Originally published July 14, 2010
Over the course of my 23 years of practice, I’ve worked for three different employers – a small boutique general practice firm, a Fortune 500 retail, catalog and internet giant, and my current employer. When I went in-house in 1996, I thought I would stay at my company for the rest of my career. Bankruptcy put an end to that in late 2004.
Over the years I’ve learned some valuable lessons about being ready for the next stage of my career. One of them is the importance of “networking.” As a young lawyer I believed I had neither the time nor the energy to network. I believed that my skills and achievements would carry the day when the time came to look beyond my current position. This was a huge mistake.
I am a smart person with excellent credentials having worked for top-notch companies and with outstanding executives – just like many of the other lawyers shooting for the positions that I want. However, having some connection to the person making the hiring decision puts me a half or full step ahead of my competition. I am a known quantity, less of a risk. I might even find out about an opportunity before it is published.
The most important lesson I have learned about networking is that the best time to actively network is when one is comfortable and secure in one’s position. In good times, one has credibility as a networker because nothing is needed, there is no apparent selfishness. A good networker simply establishes and nurtures relationships. She puts people with complimentary needs together. Of course, it is difficult for human beings to act with complete selflessness and so when we network we cannot help but to think there will be some payback in the future. This may be true. However, successful networkers do not think selfishly. This brings me to my point (finally!).
Most of us have been helped by someone in our network. In turn, we have an obligation to help another in need, to return the kind act with a kind act to another - to “pay it forward.”
Ben Franklin described the concept in a letter to Benjamin Webb in 1784:
…I send you herewith … ten Louis d’ors (gold coins). I do not pretend to give such a sum; I only lend it to you. When you shall return to your country with a good character, you cannot fail of getting into some business, that will in time enable you to pay all your debts… When you meet with another honest man in similar distress, you must pay me by lending this sum to him; enjoining him to discharge the debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with another opportunity. I hope it may thus go thro’ many hands, before it meets with a knave that will stop its progress…
Now is the time to pay forward the kind acts you have received from others. This can be as simple as picking up the phone and offering an encouraging word or two, reviewing and marking up a resume, arranging for an introduction or as involved as helping conduct a job search and making calls on behalf of your colleague. The point is – there are many people out there looking for some kind of help in their career. If you can, give back. Pay it forward! Do not be the knave of which Franklin writes. Be a good egg.
*Originally published July 14, 2010
Enhance Your Integrity by Fessing Up to Your Mistakes
“A man (or woman) must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them. “
A source of great discomfort for many people, especially lawyers, is to admit error. As lawyers, we often look for someone to blame when something goes wrong. We work hard to find the root cause of the problem. We do this for several reasons, among them: (1) to assess responsibility and accountability (usually financial) so that the “wrong” can be made “right”; and, (2) to ensure that the same mistake is not repeated. But what happens when your investigation concludes that you caused the problem or made the mistake? How many of us are man or woman enough to step up to the plate and take our due, at whatever expense to our career or personal life?
We are not paid to make mistakes. We are paid to avoid them. Lawyers live in a grey world where there is usually no course of action that is 100 percent risk free. Rarely are we involved in a decision that gives us the option of “no risk” versus “certain risk.” Inherent in the practice of law is the possibility that a risk will be realized. In such cases, clients look for blame, and it is often the lawyer to whom they look first. This is a hazard of our profession and should be avoidable by fully informing our clients of the risks involved in taking certain actions over certain other actions, and of course, documenting that advice for later reference if needed.
However, what does one do if a real mistake is made and you are the cause? In my opinion, the best practice is to fess up and admit when you are wrong about an issue and move on. Being upfront and honest about how the mistake was made and the circumstances surrounding it gives you credibility and ensures your good reputation with your client. This is very practical, but difficult, advice to both give and to follow. However, there is terrific upside. The most important positive long term benefit is that your client will learn to trust you more. If you can admit that you made a mistake in a certain circumstance, your client will believe you and trust your judgment the next time because she knows that you are not trying to hide anything from her or to simply make yourself look good.
Another reason to be upfront is that the people with whom we work on a daily basis are very smart – smart enough to figure out if the intention driving your finger pointing is to focus attention everywhere but upon yourself. They will eventually figure out where the problem originated at which point you will either be immediately out of a job, on your way out of a job, or effectively distrusted to the point where you can no longer perform your job effectively. A friend of mine told me about an interview he had with the CEO of his company. The CEO told him that the company is very leanly staffed and if you make a mistake, own up to it and move on – but do not try to hide it because there is nowhere to hide and that it will be discovered sooner or later. This same friend told me that there have been a couple of times when he has gone to his boss and said, “I screwed up.” He said, “It isn’t easy to do but easier than I thought it would be before I started the job.” This lawyer has clearly established himself as a trusted advisor in the company and has developed a relationship with his supervisor that allows this to occur. Much is to be said for the supervisor who recognizes that people do make mistakes and that allowing them to come clean is a positive approach to dealing with errors and the steps necessary to correct them.
The first step in Maxwell’s advice is to admit the mistake, first to oneself and second to the people to whom you are responsible. A mistake usually leads to wisdom. A typical lawyer will then work very hard to correct the mistake (and no doubt succeed in correcting it). In the end, you will be a better, smarter, more trustworthy attorney.
“No one who conceals transgressions will prosper, but one who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”
John C. Maxwell
A source of great discomfort for many people, especially lawyers, is to admit error. As lawyers, we often look for someone to blame when something goes wrong. We work hard to find the root cause of the problem. We do this for several reasons, among them: (1) to assess responsibility and accountability (usually financial) so that the “wrong” can be made “right”; and, (2) to ensure that the same mistake is not repeated. But what happens when your investigation concludes that you caused the problem or made the mistake? How many of us are man or woman enough to step up to the plate and take our due, at whatever expense to our career or personal life?
We are not paid to make mistakes. We are paid to avoid them. Lawyers live in a grey world where there is usually no course of action that is 100 percent risk free. Rarely are we involved in a decision that gives us the option of “no risk” versus “certain risk.” Inherent in the practice of law is the possibility that a risk will be realized. In such cases, clients look for blame, and it is often the lawyer to whom they look first. This is a hazard of our profession and should be avoidable by fully informing our clients of the risks involved in taking certain actions over certain other actions, and of course, documenting that advice for later reference if needed.
However, what does one do if a real mistake is made and you are the cause? In my opinion, the best practice is to fess up and admit when you are wrong about an issue and move on. Being upfront and honest about how the mistake was made and the circumstances surrounding it gives you credibility and ensures your good reputation with your client. This is very practical, but difficult, advice to both give and to follow. However, there is terrific upside. The most important positive long term benefit is that your client will learn to trust you more. If you can admit that you made a mistake in a certain circumstance, your client will believe you and trust your judgment the next time because she knows that you are not trying to hide anything from her or to simply make yourself look good.
Another reason to be upfront is that the people with whom we work on a daily basis are very smart – smart enough to figure out if the intention driving your finger pointing is to focus attention everywhere but upon yourself. They will eventually figure out where the problem originated at which point you will either be immediately out of a job, on your way out of a job, or effectively distrusted to the point where you can no longer perform your job effectively. A friend of mine told me about an interview he had with the CEO of his company. The CEO told him that the company is very leanly staffed and if you make a mistake, own up to it and move on – but do not try to hide it because there is nowhere to hide and that it will be discovered sooner or later. This same friend told me that there have been a couple of times when he has gone to his boss and said, “I screwed up.” He said, “It isn’t easy to do but easier than I thought it would be before I started the job.” This lawyer has clearly established himself as a trusted advisor in the company and has developed a relationship with his supervisor that allows this to occur. Much is to be said for the supervisor who recognizes that people do make mistakes and that allowing them to come clean is a positive approach to dealing with errors and the steps necessary to correct them.
The first step in Maxwell’s advice is to admit the mistake, first to oneself and second to the people to whom you are responsible. A mistake usually leads to wisdom. A typical lawyer will then work very hard to correct the mistake (and no doubt succeed in correcting it). In the end, you will be a better, smarter, more trustworthy attorney.
“No one who conceals transgressions will prosper, but one who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”
Proverbs 28:13
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Listen
“We are given two ears, but only one mouth. This is because God knew that listening was twice as hard as talking.”
Lawyers are taught to listen. Good lawyers actually do listen. But many of us are too busy thinking about what we are going to say next to actually listen carefully to what our partner in conversation is saying and the meaning behind the words. Lawyers spend countless hours honing their writing and verbal skills. However, being an excellent lawyer and a great business leader require exceptional listening skills. People admire other people who listen to them, more so than the big talker in the room who believes that what he has to say is more important than what anyone else can possibly add to the conversation (or at least he acts this way). Becoming a good listener will help you advance your career. So what does it take to be a good listener?
Concentrate. Good listening requires the listener to put aside all distractions and focus on the language, words and non-verbal cues the speaker is giving to you. Focus on the words, the ideas and the feelings the speaker is expressing. Concentrate on the main ideas and points, try not to be distracted by off topic meanderings.
Pay attention. Pay attention to the speaker, let her know that you are listening by acting like a listener. All the while that you are assessing her communication with you (words, interpreting voice inflection and modulation, reading body language and facial expressions) she is doing the same. She is looking at you trying to determine if what she is saying resonates with you, if you understand it, if the words “touch” your emotions or break through to your intellect. Let her know that you are listening by maintaining eye contact, giving non-verbal cues such as nodding or leaning forward, look her in the eyes and let her feel that you “hear and you understand” what she is saying to you.
Maintain a receptive body posture – do not cross arms and legs or sit turned away from the speaker. Rather, sit with arms gently to your side or slightly folded hands on your lap. Do not play with your personal communication device – if necessary, turn it off in front of the speaker, sending a message that nothing is more important than what she has to say to you right now.
Be open. Maybe, just maybe, the speaker will have something to say to you that you don’t already know. If you have an attitude of objective receptiveness, she might convince you of a different and better way of thinking about a particular topic or a novel (to you anyway) means to approach a problem. As lawyers, this can prove exceptionally difficult because we are often expected to have all the answers. So we start to act as if we do. It is amazing what we can learn when we accept that we do not have the answer for every problem and then listen carefully with an open mind to those who might have a deeper knowledge on a particular subject.
Restate the message the speaker gives you. In this manner, you show that you are listening very carefully and that you have a desire to know exactly what she is trying to communicate to you. Many times repeating the message in your own words gives rise to clarification or further development of the communication such that both parties benefit from a deeper dive into the subject matter. Also, ask questions. If you do not understand a point, or require further refinement, ask for clarification.
Do not interrupt. You may think you can say it better than the speaker, but interrupting sends a clear unequivocal message that you believe what you have to say is much more important, relevant or insightful than what the speaker is saying. Otherwise, why would you need to put an end to their message to get your own thoughts verbalized?
Put yourself in the speaker’s position so that you really have a better perspective as to where she is coming from. Context is extremely important in understanding a person’s message and the “why” behind the need for its expression.
Remember, a conversation takes at least two people – a speaker and a listener. Each party flips from one to the other in an instant. For productive, meaningful conversations to take place, we cannot be thinking only about what we are going to say next. We must exercise good listening skills to fully engage and learn the most we can from the conversation and hopefully, advance the cause of both the listener and the speaker.
“If you love to listen you will gain knowledge, and if you pay attention you will become wise.”
Unknown
Lawyers are taught to listen. Good lawyers actually do listen. But many of us are too busy thinking about what we are going to say next to actually listen carefully to what our partner in conversation is saying and the meaning behind the words. Lawyers spend countless hours honing their writing and verbal skills. However, being an excellent lawyer and a great business leader require exceptional listening skills. People admire other people who listen to them, more so than the big talker in the room who believes that what he has to say is more important than what anyone else can possibly add to the conversation (or at least he acts this way). Becoming a good listener will help you advance your career. So what does it take to be a good listener?
Concentrate. Good listening requires the listener to put aside all distractions and focus on the language, words and non-verbal cues the speaker is giving to you. Focus on the words, the ideas and the feelings the speaker is expressing. Concentrate on the main ideas and points, try not to be distracted by off topic meanderings.
Pay attention. Pay attention to the speaker, let her know that you are listening by acting like a listener. All the while that you are assessing her communication with you (words, interpreting voice inflection and modulation, reading body language and facial expressions) she is doing the same. She is looking at you trying to determine if what she is saying resonates with you, if you understand it, if the words “touch” your emotions or break through to your intellect. Let her know that you are listening by maintaining eye contact, giving non-verbal cues such as nodding or leaning forward, look her in the eyes and let her feel that you “hear and you understand” what she is saying to you.
Maintain a receptive body posture – do not cross arms and legs or sit turned away from the speaker. Rather, sit with arms gently to your side or slightly folded hands on your lap. Do not play with your personal communication device – if necessary, turn it off in front of the speaker, sending a message that nothing is more important than what she has to say to you right now.
Be open. Maybe, just maybe, the speaker will have something to say to you that you don’t already know. If you have an attitude of objective receptiveness, she might convince you of a different and better way of thinking about a particular topic or a novel (to you anyway) means to approach a problem. As lawyers, this can prove exceptionally difficult because we are often expected to have all the answers. So we start to act as if we do. It is amazing what we can learn when we accept that we do not have the answer for every problem and then listen carefully with an open mind to those who might have a deeper knowledge on a particular subject.
Restate the message the speaker gives you. In this manner, you show that you are listening very carefully and that you have a desire to know exactly what she is trying to communicate to you. Many times repeating the message in your own words gives rise to clarification or further development of the communication such that both parties benefit from a deeper dive into the subject matter. Also, ask questions. If you do not understand a point, or require further refinement, ask for clarification.
Do not interrupt. You may think you can say it better than the speaker, but interrupting sends a clear unequivocal message that you believe what you have to say is much more important, relevant or insightful than what the speaker is saying. Otherwise, why would you need to put an end to their message to get your own thoughts verbalized?
Put yourself in the speaker’s position so that you really have a better perspective as to where she is coming from. Context is extremely important in understanding a person’s message and the “why” behind the need for its expression.
Remember, a conversation takes at least two people – a speaker and a listener. Each party flips from one to the other in an instant. For productive, meaningful conversations to take place, we cannot be thinking only about what we are going to say next. We must exercise good listening skills to fully engage and learn the most we can from the conversation and hopefully, advance the cause of both the listener and the speaker.
“If you love to listen you will gain knowledge, and if you pay attention you will become wise.”
Sirach 6:33
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Mentoring: The Key to a Bright Future*
Mentor: a wise and trusted counselor or teacher; an influential senior sponsor or supporter.
The definition of mentor certainly lends itself to my perception of what a good lawyer should be — wise (of course), a counselor and certainly influential. So then, as lawyers in positions of influence, should we not devote some amount of our precious time to mentoring young people who express an interest in the law? How do we create a pipeline of good, honest, ethical, smart and intelligent lawyers to take our place when our time is done? We take advantage of our position today to ensure a future for our profession tomorrow. We teach. We mold students. We take advantage of opportunities to show them what lawyering is all about and guide them as they make decisions about their futures. According to Socrates, “The right way to begin is to pay attention to the young, and make them just as good as possible.”
Lawyers from ACC’s Chicago Chapter participated in a mentoring opportunity this summer with the ACC Chicago Chapter Minority Law Student Summer Internship Program. The program, just completing its eighth year, serves the legal community in several ways: For one, the program places rising 2Ls in internship positions at top notch legal departments in the Chicago metro area, providing students with an invaluable, unique perspective into in-house practice that typically takes years to develop before one enters the coveted offices of the in-house world. Further, the program presents intense personal mentoring to each student regarding all aspects of what it means to be a professional — from interview skills, resume writing, proper attire and interpersonal skills (eye to eye contact, firm handshake, etc.). The students receive feedback and advice worth many years of real-world trial and error, because it comes from experienced people who have already made the mistakes. It also opens the eyes of many people to some of the challenges faced by minority students — challenges that they would not understand but for the relationship with the students. So, in that vein, the mentors may actually become more enlightened than the students as a result of their interactions. Lastly, it creates deep, lasting and meaningful relationships between mentors and mentees, and enhances the reputation of ACC and its members in the legal community.
I think we can all agree that mentoring young people is good for the legal community and the community at large, but what personal benefit will you receive as the result of your mentoring efforts?
First and foremost, you will be making the legal profession better, one person at a time. Mentoring provides you the opportunity to share your values with those entering the profession. We all have a responsibility to ensure our profession continues to maintain the highest ethical standards. Answers to questions the legal professional faces are often not clearly black or white — there is much more gray. Therefore, guidance based on one’s personal experience will help the uninitiated navigate the unknown, avoid mistakes that have been made by the mentor, and answer those questions with a much higher degree of confidence.
Mentoring is a wonderful way to build your own personal network while creating a lasting legacy that will exist beyond your professional life and that of your mentee’s. Part of mentoring is imbuing the mentee with a sense of responsibility to give back to the community. So, as your values are passed to your mentee, she too will pass those values on to her mentee, and so on down the line. Today’s mentees are tomorrow’s leaders, so not only will you have a higher degree of exposure to an emerging talent pool, but you will also be helping people who may one day be hiring people like you!
Mentoring enables you to practice your leadership skills and to receive honest feedback. The mentoring process should include the mentee providing feedback to you. Is she receiving your advice loud and clear? Are there any miscues in the way that you approach the process? How does your style fit with a younger generation of professional? How can you tailor your message or methodology to better communicate core values that are not generationally limited?
In addition to generational differences, you may also benefit from exposure to a young professional that may have a richly diverse background from your own (e.g., a different race, religion, personality style, economic background, national origin, citizenship, etc.). They are also excellent teachers in new media and technology trends, and they can help you improve your skill set.
“Mentoring brings us together — across generation, class, and often race — in a manner that forces us to acknowledge our interdependence, to appreciate, in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words, that ‘we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny.’ In this way, mentoring enables us to participate in the essential but unfinished drama of reinventing community, while reaffirming that there is an important role for each of us in it.”
Marc Freedman, author of The Kindness of Strangers: Adult Mentors, Urban Youth, and the New Voluntarism
Let’s be honest, you will also feel good about yourself because you are helping someone else be successful. With relatively little investment on your part, you will have imparted a great deal of wisdom (presumably) and experience to a less sophisticated, but equally passionate, new or soon-to-be lawyer.
If you have an intern or mentee, legal or otherwise, take advantage of the opportunity to enhance the intern’s experience by giving her meaningful face time, and truly serving as a trusted guide and counselor. If you do not mentor someone, then start now. You will provide that person with knowledge drawn from valuable real-world experience that simply cannot be obtained in the classroom.
Finally, as in-house counsel, it is important that our communities know we are hard working, ethical, caring, responsible, enlightened and decent people. Tell your friends and neighbors about your mentoring activities. Let people know that lawyers continue to work hard to make the world a better place to live. You have another fine tangible example of good work to cite in the ACC Program, of how the legal profession reaches out to the community to improve it. It is a demonstrable example of the value system that we in-house lawyers hold true — opportunity, professionalism, ethics and mentoring. Through this program, ACC Chicago is helping to make great lawyers who will be noticed. The community deserves to know that we are doing our part!
“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.” -Plato
*Note: this post first appeared on the Association of Corporate Counsel "In-house ACCess" webpage. Click on the title to see original.
The definition of mentor certainly lends itself to my perception of what a good lawyer should be — wise (of course), a counselor and certainly influential. So then, as lawyers in positions of influence, should we not devote some amount of our precious time to mentoring young people who express an interest in the law? How do we create a pipeline of good, honest, ethical, smart and intelligent lawyers to take our place when our time is done? We take advantage of our position today to ensure a future for our profession tomorrow. We teach. We mold students. We take advantage of opportunities to show them what lawyering is all about and guide them as they make decisions about their futures. According to Socrates, “The right way to begin is to pay attention to the young, and make them just as good as possible.”
Lawyers from ACC’s Chicago Chapter participated in a mentoring opportunity this summer with the ACC Chicago Chapter Minority Law Student Summer Internship Program. The program, just completing its eighth year, serves the legal community in several ways: For one, the program places rising 2Ls in internship positions at top notch legal departments in the Chicago metro area, providing students with an invaluable, unique perspective into in-house practice that typically takes years to develop before one enters the coveted offices of the in-house world. Further, the program presents intense personal mentoring to each student regarding all aspects of what it means to be a professional — from interview skills, resume writing, proper attire and interpersonal skills (eye to eye contact, firm handshake, etc.). The students receive feedback and advice worth many years of real-world trial and error, because it comes from experienced people who have already made the mistakes. It also opens the eyes of many people to some of the challenges faced by minority students — challenges that they would not understand but for the relationship with the students. So, in that vein, the mentors may actually become more enlightened than the students as a result of their interactions. Lastly, it creates deep, lasting and meaningful relationships between mentors and mentees, and enhances the reputation of ACC and its members in the legal community.
I think we can all agree that mentoring young people is good for the legal community and the community at large, but what personal benefit will you receive as the result of your mentoring efforts?
First and foremost, you will be making the legal profession better, one person at a time. Mentoring provides you the opportunity to share your values with those entering the profession. We all have a responsibility to ensure our profession continues to maintain the highest ethical standards. Answers to questions the legal professional faces are often not clearly black or white — there is much more gray. Therefore, guidance based on one’s personal experience will help the uninitiated navigate the unknown, avoid mistakes that have been made by the mentor, and answer those questions with a much higher degree of confidence.
Mentoring is a wonderful way to build your own personal network while creating a lasting legacy that will exist beyond your professional life and that of your mentee’s. Part of mentoring is imbuing the mentee with a sense of responsibility to give back to the community. So, as your values are passed to your mentee, she too will pass those values on to her mentee, and so on down the line. Today’s mentees are tomorrow’s leaders, so not only will you have a higher degree of exposure to an emerging talent pool, but you will also be helping people who may one day be hiring people like you!
Mentoring enables you to practice your leadership skills and to receive honest feedback. The mentoring process should include the mentee providing feedback to you. Is she receiving your advice loud and clear? Are there any miscues in the way that you approach the process? How does your style fit with a younger generation of professional? How can you tailor your message or methodology to better communicate core values that are not generationally limited?
In addition to generational differences, you may also benefit from exposure to a young professional that may have a richly diverse background from your own (e.g., a different race, religion, personality style, economic background, national origin, citizenship, etc.). They are also excellent teachers in new media and technology trends, and they can help you improve your skill set.
“Mentoring brings us together — across generation, class, and often race — in a manner that forces us to acknowledge our interdependence, to appreciate, in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words, that ‘we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny.’ In this way, mentoring enables us to participate in the essential but unfinished drama of reinventing community, while reaffirming that there is an important role for each of us in it.”
Marc Freedman, author of The Kindness of Strangers: Adult Mentors, Urban Youth, and the New Voluntarism
Let’s be honest, you will also feel good about yourself because you are helping someone else be successful. With relatively little investment on your part, you will have imparted a great deal of wisdom (presumably) and experience to a less sophisticated, but equally passionate, new or soon-to-be lawyer.
If you have an intern or mentee, legal or otherwise, take advantage of the opportunity to enhance the intern’s experience by giving her meaningful face time, and truly serving as a trusted guide and counselor. If you do not mentor someone, then start now. You will provide that person with knowledge drawn from valuable real-world experience that simply cannot be obtained in the classroom.
Finally, as in-house counsel, it is important that our communities know we are hard working, ethical, caring, responsible, enlightened and decent people. Tell your friends and neighbors about your mentoring activities. Let people know that lawyers continue to work hard to make the world a better place to live. You have another fine tangible example of good work to cite in the ACC Program, of how the legal profession reaches out to the community to improve it. It is a demonstrable example of the value system that we in-house lawyers hold true — opportunity, professionalism, ethics and mentoring. Through this program, ACC Chicago is helping to make great lawyers who will be noticed. The community deserves to know that we are doing our part!
“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.” -Plato
*Note: this post first appeared on the Association of Corporate Counsel "In-house ACCess" webpage. Click on the title to see original.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
On the lighter side — time to take a break
“It is our best work that God wants, not the dregs of our exhaustion. I think He must prefer quality to quantity”
Every once on a while, we need to take a break from the pressure cooker at the office, take time to relax and refresh the mind. Every good craftsman takes care of the tools in his tool box. Just as the piano must be tuned to strike the right key and create the perfect tone and the lab instrument calibrated to take accurate measurements, so too must we take time to “recalibrate” our intellect. The in-house lawyer’s tool is our brain. A rested mind is essential to the fresh thinking required to solve problems for our clients and address our daily tasks with a smile.
Our mind has physical needs as well as psychological. We must feed and rest our brain like we do for the other organs in our bodies. A healthy diet is good for the body and spirit. I concern myself here with the psychological care and feeding of the mind as it is not at all difficult for me to ensure that it is well fed physically!
Sometimes the mind itself resists the notion of downtime. It is often difficult to find time to take rest. We are busy people with “important” things to do. We make good faith commitments to help others, only to find that we are overcommitted. We have little time for our families and friends, let alone ourselves. We work, we serve our communities on boards or service organizations, we mentor, we coach, we volunteer for this committee or that committee. We often do so much that when we finally get home at the end of the day we fall exhausted onto the couch, motionless. This is not healthy, nor does it allow us to perform at our highest level at any of these activities.
Fall is fast approaching and with it a less relaxed atmosphere around the office. Fall is budget time and the approach of year-end. School starts for the kids. Fall seems to be the start of a myriad of activities that take us away from ourselves, it is a time when all those commitments start coming due. So, if you have not yet taken some time off from the office this summer, do it soon. Take a day here or there and relax on the porch, lay in the hammock, read that book that has been sitting on the nightstand for months. Take some time for yourself to recharge and reenergize your mind. You will think clearer, be more productive and just outright do a better job. Your fresh approach to your job will make you happy and your positive attitude will rub off on your clients.
And don’t feel guilty about taking a little time for yourself. Remember, even God rested on the seventh day!
“And on the seventh day God finished the work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all the work He had done.”
Scottish Novelist George MacDonald
Our mind has physical needs as well as psychological. We must feed and rest our brain like we do for the other organs in our bodies. A healthy diet is good for the body and spirit. I concern myself here with the psychological care and feeding of the mind as it is not at all difficult for me to ensure that it is well fed physically!
Sometimes the mind itself resists the notion of downtime. It is often difficult to find time to take rest. We are busy people with “important” things to do. We make good faith commitments to help others, only to find that we are overcommitted. We have little time for our families and friends, let alone ourselves. We work, we serve our communities on boards or service organizations, we mentor, we coach, we volunteer for this committee or that committee. We often do so much that when we finally get home at the end of the day we fall exhausted onto the couch, motionless. This is not healthy, nor does it allow us to perform at our highest level at any of these activities.
Fall is fast approaching and with it a less relaxed atmosphere around the office. Fall is budget time and the approach of year-end. School starts for the kids. Fall seems to be the start of a myriad of activities that take us away from ourselves, it is a time when all those commitments start coming due. So, if you have not yet taken some time off from the office this summer, do it soon. Take a day here or there and relax on the porch, lay in the hammock, read that book that has been sitting on the nightstand for months. Take some time for yourself to recharge and reenergize your mind. You will think clearer, be more productive and just outright do a better job. Your fresh approach to your job will make you happy and your positive attitude will rub off on your clients.
And don’t feel guilty about taking a little time for yourself. Remember, even God rested on the seventh day!
“And on the seventh day God finished the work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all the work He had done.”
Genesis 2:2
An Honorable Calling
“It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”
– Benjamin Franklin
– Benjamin Franklin
Practicing law is an honorable calling. Never ever forget that. We are professionals duty bound to zealously represent our clients to the utmost of our ability. Sometimes non-lawyers view lawyers as shifty characters who will go to any lengths to win a case. I think this is because they don’t really understand how we work. We make arguments that clients might not always understand. We present the facts in a light most reasonable to the position that is favorable to our clients. We posture. We cajole. We threaten. We tear into people in search of the truth. We often deal in unpleasantries.
It is true - not many people are fond of lawyers as a group, until they need one. We sometimes then get the wink and knowing nod from the client, to demonstrate that they “understand” how we operate, they’ll play along and assume that we will take care of the dirty stuff outside of their presence.
Many clients do not understand that it is our sworn ethical obligation to represent them zealously, honestly and ethically. I remember when I passed the bar some years back. Someone sent me an article likening a new lawyer’s integrity to a brand spanking new shiny suit of armor. The suit protects the lawyer’s untarnished reputation. Each time the lawyer compromises his or her integrity, the armor is nicked, rust appears corrupting the protective coating worn by the lawyer and eventually lays bare the vulnerable flesh beneath it. This is an apt analogy don’t you think?
How many times have you encountered a lawyer that rarely does what he says he will do, cuts corners on advice, pads the bill a tad or fudges “just a little” on document production? How do you view that lawyer when you next cross paths? On the other hand, how many times have you encountered an adversary who behaves as the ultimate professional, who can be trusted not to take pot shots at you or use underhanded tactics to gain an edge? At the end of the day, in which case does the client fare better?
Our jobs and our lives are complicated enough without having to negotiate the day (or the deal) worrying about whether or not the people with whom we are dealing can be trusted. Whether with our adversaries or with our own clients, we have a responsibility to ourselves, to our clients and to our profession to be honest, to say what we mean, to do what we say, honor the profession, respect the law, do what is right and win. How pleasant our professional lives are when we practice these principles and have them practiced on us.
So, polish up your suit of armor, strap it on for battle. Shine for your clients and your profession. Do the right thing. Most of all protect your integrity, for at the end what does any one of us have left but our good name?
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