How lawyers fool themselves

If you don't believe your head is in the sand, (click to read the article by Leadership Freak) you may want to ask yourself a few questions about your ability to focus ON your lawyer business vs. IN it:

Merri's Tips - Part 8

47. Take care of yourself. Instead of saying yes to everyone who needs assistance, decide in advance what type of things to say yes to, how many at one time, and then you'll learn the art of saying No. It can sound like this:
"I am already committed to 'x amount' of things and feel it would be irresponsible to commit to more."
"Thank you for thinking of me, but I am committed to "x" right now."

Understanding your commitment and time boundaries is one of the biggest ways to take care of yourself.

The evidence lawyers leave behind

Lawyers, you may not see it now, but there is evidence you're leaving behind. And it's crucial that you learn of it. It's the evidence of how well you are performing in the courtroom.

Not long ago, Ronda Muir wrote The Unique Psychological World of Lawyers, which demonstrates the "strikingly different" profile of lawyers as compared to that of the typical US public.  Based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Muir concludes that in 3 of 4 areas, lawyers are made up differently from non-lawyers. (see the article for details) They are thinkers, introverts and intuitors as opposed to feelers, extroverts and sensors - the later of which the general public can relate to. But most of us are judgers vs.  perceivers.

Merri's Tips - Part 7

43. Create SMART goals. You're a business owner, I presume, so identify goals that will help you build business. If they are SMART, they are specific, measureable, actionable, realistic and timely. Only then can you assess your progress and stay accountable to what you say you're going to do.

44. Constantly reach out to folks you already know in your industry and your network. Staying top of mind is tough unless you have good experiences with people. Make coffee dates, go for a walk around the building, do what it takes to stay in front of 8-10 or more folks each week.

Quick Tip for Lawyers who want to Build Business

Time is money. In the lawyer world, this doesn't only ring true for committing to the billable hour focus. This is true for working ON business as well as IN it.

If you were to look at your daily task list, somewhere near the bottom you would no doubt find things like - call Mike about having lunch to discuss some referral options, RSVP for the chamber after hours event, return a call/email to ABC prospect.

Why are these tasks at the bottom of the list?

Lawyer Communication: from Writing to Speaking

There's no doubt about it. Lawyers are great writers. Whether this is based on natural gifts or skills they've developed over the years, it serves them well to craft the content, the flow and the wordsmithing of their written messages.

Shift to speaking, and the circumstances can flip-flop from lawyers being confident to suddenly overwhelmed. Put many lawyers in front of a group for a public speaking event and the challenges they face include:

Merri's Tips - Part 6

40. Shape the voice in your head first thing in the morning. Otherwise, you will wine about getting out of bed, forget what you're so good at, procrastinate on using your abilities and forget why your life is so good. Shaping the voice in your head refers to remembering your value, what makes you unique and putting this focus and those skills into use. These are your intrapersonal skills, the communication skills that set the tone for the day and determine your ability to show up in life.

 Lawyers can use praise, encouragment as well as discipline, yet if they aren't willing to do these things for themselves, no amount of it from others will help.