idealawg

Visual, auditory, kinesthetic: Let's not assume VAK is true

Ever since I learned of the Mehrabian myth (saying that communication is 55% body language, 38% tonal, and 7% words), I have looked for and evaluated the source of each piece of information generally accepted as true about how people communicate. In my searching, I sought credible underpinnings to what is being taught as preferred representational systems: visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. I was not able to find that credibility.

I would not be as cynical as Roy H. Williams was in the quote below taken from his Magical Worlds of the Wizard of Ads: Tools and Techniques for Profitable Persuasion. I will say that I no longer include VAK in any training or presentation I give. (Some of the research done on the validity and reliability of VAK is cited at this linked-to Wikipedia entry.)

Williams says . . .

Sooner or later, a person standing at a whiteboard is going to tell you there are three kinds of people" "visual, auditory, and kinesthetic."
. . .

Although this tidy little theory is taught from coast to coast, you will not find a molecule of scientific evidence to support it. In fact, the whole concept is utterly incongruent with all that is currrently known about the architecture and functions of the human brain.

A key to leading yourself and others: Take a close look at those stone cold habits

Habits can save time and energy by freeing your mind. Habits also can dehumanize you by cementing you in old ruts and grooves. The difference between conscious autonomy and groping enslavement is our power of choice. Stepping back and watching what we are doing is a necessary ingredient in making choices that are self-directing. I believe that self-direction is an elemental component of both leadership and professional practice.

Leadership enjoys much attention today and is an important skill in the 21st century. I am wondering why self-leadership does get not get as much air time? Do you think a person can be a good leader before he or she masters the art of self-leadership? Before he or she has learned to make choices that are self-directing? Can a person be a good leader acting only from habit? What do you think?

When we have a law practice or mediation practice we are able to expand our expertise partly because we grow in unconscious competence; we don't need to think much about many tasks because they become a part of us, they become well-worn pathways in our brains. Is there a possible danger in the unconscious part of the competence? What do you think?

Here's something I wrote back in 2002 about the benefits of awareness. I hope you like the story included and perhaps find it as good a reminder as I do. I need constant reminding to engage my mind; I guess I could say I need to remember to constantly re-mind. Okay, before I go off on a re-member and re-mind riff (it would be such Friday fun), let's get on with the story.

GOOD-BYE TO STONE COLD HABITS

Hot Rocks and Sizzling Stones

J. Martin Kohe retells a story in his book Your Greatest Power.

When the library of Alexandria burned down, all the books but one were destroyed. The single remaining book did not look like it had much value. A poor man was able to buy it for a very small amount of money. In the book, he found written the secret of the Touchstone.

This small Touchstone pebble was able to change any common metal into pure gold. The book explained that the pebble was on the shores of the Black Sea along with many thousands of identical pebbles. The Touchstone was different from all the other pebbles in only one way.

The Touchstone was warm while all the others were cold.

The man sold his meager possessions, bought some provisions, and headed for the Black Sea. When he got there, he began to feel each of the pebbles. So he would not have to feel the same pebble twice, he tossed each cold one into the sea.

Rocky Routine

For three years, he did this. Pick up a pebble, feel that it is cold, and throw it out into the sea. Over and over and over.

Increase people energy by decreasing snake consent

This is the second half of my post on energizing and de-energizing people, and on snake consent. You may read the first installation of this post on energy and snake consent here.

in his book Self-Esteem at Work: How Confident People Make Powerful Companies, Dr.Nathaniel Branden presents many positive implications for the workplace or firm with high self-esteem. Just imagine a law firm filled with people like this.Those we are not self-esteem-challenged

1. Do not need to make one’s self look big by making another look small.
2. Approach others with attitudes of benevolence, altruism and kindness.
3. Have the energy to listen to another because they are not distracted with anxieties or concerns about inadequacy.
4. Expect to be liked and accepted so behave in ways that make the expectation come true.
5. Expect to be taken seriously so behave in ways that insure it.
6. Are able to interact with others in a way that meets the needs of themselves and other parties.
7. Project a secure sense of their own worth which conveys a sense of respect and good will towards others.
8. Communicate openly, honestly and appropriately believing their thoughts have value.
9. Are disposed to form positive rather than toxic relationships as “like is drawn to like, and health is attracted to health.”
10. Focus on solutions rather than self-justification.

If a firm's people have these above-listed traits, snake consent would not be an issue. A person who did engage in behavior that might de-energize some people would be neutralized by the abundance of self-esteem. People with high self-esteem just smile (at least mentally) when they see such behavior, or they may experience a bit of sadness or pity for the bad actor.

The firm of high self-esteem is a place where honesty, fairness and respect are the norms for how people treat each other. Unfortunately it is a rare workplace, law firm or other, that is filled with individuals of high self-esteem.

Is it possible to raise one's self-esteem?

New issue of LAW PRACTICE now online

The March 2007 issue of Law Practice is online. Some of the articles you will find . . .

"How to Ask for Business" by Patrick J. McKenna

"Advertising on the Internet:  How to Build Online Awareness for Your Law Practice" by by Richard P. Klau, Deborah McMurray and Gregory H. Siskind

"Smoke and Mirrors: Fabrication and Alteration of Electronic Evidence" by Sharon Nelson and John Simek

This edition's case study looks at technology planning.

Having grown to an eight-lawyer firm, were they spending too much or too little on technology? Their systems were a few years old now. Tom, the partner who had more or less been looking after technology for the firm, had become very busy with his own practice.

Steve wondered what new technologies they should be looking at and what they needed to emphasize for their hardware and software dollars. He had read something about practice management software, but he also knew that networking and security for the firm's data were important... They weren't big enough to hire someone to look after their technology needs full-time—or were they? His thoughts turned to the other firm members and how he would persuade them to even try any new technologies, assuming the cost could be justified. There were so many things to consider and he wasn't even sure where to start.

Read what the experts tell Steve.

The above articles and the others in this LP edition are only available to non-subscribers until the next edition goes up.

Blog Glob: The dangers of ignoring your brand

Excerpt from Lucy Kellaway's "Wanted: branding agent for self-googling job at Me, Inc" . . .

I look at what is happening to some of my friends - clever, hard-working people of a certain age - who are stubbornly refusing to unleash Brand Them. They do no self-promotion at all, and are finding that, like cold, congealed baked beans, they are being left at the edge of the plate as a prelude to being put in the bin.

Read the rest of the branding article.

Legal Highlight #10: Joseph E. Mockus

Joe Mockus is our tenth Legal Highlight. Mockus is a criminal defense attorney in northern California and a poet.

Please click back to the first of the Legal Highlights to learn about the Legal Highlights process and the reason behind this feature which focuses on what is right and working well in the legal profession. Here are all the Legal Highlight interviews.

And now read on the see what this Legal Highlight has to say in response to the seven questions . . .

1) Think about your recent experience in the legal profession and of a specific incident or event that made you feel extremely satisfied or proud. Give a brief description of the incident or event. The reasons I felt satisfied or proud were . . .

While much of the practice of criminal defense involves heartbreak, disappointment, and ferrying people through tragedy, it definitely provides days where one feels that you can actually help someone in need.  In my office we deal with dozens of cases every day, but this week at a sentencing where we had done a substantial amount of work, a case where state prison seemed inevitable resulted in a probationary sentence with a condition of drug treatment.  Knowing that only years of experience and “reading the room” correctly led to the result, I was pleased, and my client’s family was overjoyed.  Ten minutes later, on to the next case.

2) I attended law school because . . . 

I wanted to be a writer, and had traveled and worked at various jobs throughout my twenties until finally I felt I should explore a field where I could use some of my talents (without wearing out my body).   I went to law school in my early thirties, and had several friends who had gone before me, so it seemed “doable” and interesting.  I hedged my bets though, and went to grad school in literature at the same time during second year.

3) I would recommend the practice of law because . . .

idealawg turns one: Some of the great people out there blogging

A whole year and a day have passed since this blog was born; yesterday idealawg celebrated its first birthday. I truly appreciate all the people I have met in the blogosphere. With some I have e-mailed and with others I have talked on the phone. Still others I have met. Some of the terrific people I have encountered because of the blogosphere . . .

Diane J. Levin of Online Guide to Mediation
Rees Morrison of Law Department Management
Roger Dooley of Neuromarketing
Shari Caudron of Storylines
Arnie Herz of Legal Sanity
Rob Millard of Adventure of Strategy
Victoria Pynchon of Settle It Now Negotiation Blog
Julie Fleming Brown of Life at the Bar
Phil Gerbyshak of Make It Great!
Susan Cartier Liebel of Build a Solo Practice, LLC
Kevin O'Keefe of Real Lawyers Have Blogs
Lisa Haneberg of Management Craft
Dennis Kennedy of Dennis Kennedy.com
Penelope Trunk of Brazen Careerist
Bruce MacEwen of Adam Smith, Esq.
Grant Griffiths of Kansas Family & Divorce Lawyer
Alvaro Fernandez of SharpBrains
Monica Parker of Leaving the Law
David Giacalone of f/k/a
Guy Kawasaki of How to Change the World
Ed. of Blawg Review
Ellen Weber of Brain Based Business
Colin Samuels of Infamy or Praise
David Lorenzo of Career Intensity
Dan Pink of A Whole New Mind . . . and more
Michelle Golden of Golden Practices
Anastasia Pryanikova of Lawsagna
Susan Bernstein of Work from Within
Bob Sutton of Work Matters
Benjamin Yoskovitz of Instigator Blog
Delany Dean of crimlawdoc at Avila University
Gini Nelson of Engaging Conflicts
Lyman Reed of StumbleUpon
Allison Wolf of The Lawyer Coach Blog
Jane Genova of Law and More
Adam Kolber of Neuroethics  & Law Blog

 

And I am very glad that these people urged me to start blogging . . .

Mark Beese of Leadership for Lawyers
Merrilyn Astin Tarlton of Blank Sheet of Paper
Gerry Riskin of Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices

idealawg is looking forward to this next year of blogging. As someone told me when I became a blogger, "Your life will never be the same." How right he was. Thanks.

Note (added March 28, 2007, 8:33 PM Mountain): Christine Kane recently celebrated her blog's first year by posting "18 Stupid Mistakes Bloggers Make in their First Year". (I learned of her post at Working Solo's hosting of Carnival of Entrepreneurs 16th Edition.) Kane begins her post about 18 first-year mistakes:

I’m no longer a blogling. I have matured. Pretty soon my blog will need Botox. Or Viagra. Or both.

I’ve learned more this year about websites, blogs and the internet than I ever thought I’d want to learn. Lots of what I’ve learned, I’ve learned through my mistakes. Some of what I’ve learned, I’ve learned from other people’s mistakes.
 

Decrease snake consent: Soon those workplace jerks will look kind of silly

I do not like snakes, whether reptilian or human. When I read that the venomous snake count is rising dramatically, I felt "a tighter breathing and zero at the bone." Fortunately I have more control over the possibility of a snake gliding up to me than I do of a human serpent sidling into my presence. I have much control over how I react to either; I am not at the mercy of any snake.

I have been pondering human snakes, those champion brutes, for several months now. I wrote about them in my post on the workplace perils of being a jerk. And I wrote about them (calling them dragons) in my post "Tough the tragic dragon;" in the latter post I give some tips for snake control. Since my post on energizing and de-energizing people, I continue to hear Eleanor Roosevelt whispering these words in my head:  "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

I am reminded that snake consent is a choice each of us can make or choose against. There is an inverse relationship between snake consent and self-esteem. Examining that relationship gives us valuable insight.  First, let's look at self-esteem. It has enjoyed so much media attention in the last few years that it perhaps has become trivialized. If we look back several years, we can find some definitions more multi-faceted and thoughtful than heard on Oprah.

Free strategy+business webinar tomorrow: Innovation and problem-solving with Barry Nalebuff

You may sign up now for tomorrow's one-hour webinar IGNITE INNOVATION AND SOLVE PROBLEMS; as is true with all the webinars sponsored by strategy+business, there is no fee. The description from the site:

Are you playing the right game? Yale economist -- and Honest Tea founder -- Barry Nalebuff discusses how to tap Game Theory to gain the competitive edge.

The event begins at 1 PM Eastern, 11 AM Mountain, et cetera.

Some of you may be acquainted with one or more of Dr. Nalebuff's books. They include

Co-Opetition : A Revolution Mindset That Combines Competition and Cooperation : The Game Theory Strategy That's Changing the Game of Business

and

Why Not?: How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big And Small

New edition of THE COMPLETE LAWYER now online: The focus is diversity

The Fast Changing Face of Diversity is the focus of the new edition of The Complete Lawyer. (Click on the first link as it looks like the generic link has a temporary glitch; I am sure it will be fixed soon.) It includes articles by some well-known writers. Their contributions are:

• "From Them to Us" by Daniel Goleman
• "Change or Die" by Alan Deutschman
• "Change the Focus" by Ray Haines

I have read their books and benefited much from each and every one so am happy to see these authors included in the lineup.

In addition you will find many other articles for your reading pleasure. A sampling:

• "The Biggest Negative with Diversity Initiatives?" by Arnita M. Dula
• Organic Networking" by Debby Stone and Laura Biering
• Age: Another Dimension of Diversity" by Lucy Whelcel

As of this afternoon, still another eclectic edition of TCL is online with a large assortment of articles from which to pick and choose.