idealawg

A leader is more than an action hero, more than a pretty face: Let's move away from facelift leadership

In his classic book Psycho-Cybernetics, plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz wrote that many of his patients were not helped by his surgery because what was getting in their way of happiness was "more than skin deep."

It was as if personality itself had a "face." . . . If it remained scarred, distorted, "ugly," or inferior, the person himself acted out this role in his behavior regardless of the changes in physcial appearance. If this "face of personality" could be reconstructed, if old emotional scars could be removed; then the person himself changed, even without facial plastic surgery. Once I began to explore this area, I found more and more phenomena which confirmed the fact that ‘self-image’, the individual’s mental and spiritual picture of himself, is the real key to personality and behavior. ...

Dr. Maltz explained why he changed his professional direction.

These observations led me into a new career. ...I became convinced that the people who consult a plastic surgeon need more than surgery and that some of them do not need

Narcissists Look Like Good Leaders—But They Aren’t!

News release from Association for Psychological Science:

Narcissists rise to the top. That’s because other people think their qualities—confidence, dominance, authority, and self-esteem—make them good leaders.

Is that true? “Our research shows that the opposite seems to be true,” says Barbora Nevicka, a PhD candidate in organizational psychology, describing a new study she undertook with University of Amsterdam colleagues Femke Ten Velden, Annebel De Hoogh, and Annelies Van Vianen. The study found that the narcissists’ preoccupation with their own brilliance inhibits a crucial element of successful group decision-making and performance: the free and creative exchange of information and ideas. The findings will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The study recruited 150 participants and divided them into groups of three. One person was randomly assigned to be the group’s leader; all were told they could contribute advice, but that the leader was responsible for making the decision. Then they undertook a group task: choosing a job candidate.  Of 45 items of information about the candidate, some were given to all three, and some to only one of the participants.

The experiment was designed so that using only the information all three were privy to, the group would opt for a lesser candidate. Sharing all the information, including what each possessed

"There's Gold in Them There Social Sciences": Nuggets from psychology for law firms

Here's an article I wrote a very long time ago for Lawyer Hiring & Training Report. It covers such topics as theory of attribution, just-world phenomenon, and groupthink. (This is the kind of discovery one makes when cleaning out old, old files: old, old articles. It's helpful to see that how much I have learned since 1993. The article would be different if rewritten today.)

Excerpt:

Those responsible for the training of lawyers can benefit greatly by borrowing from various disciplines of social science. In fact, in this increasingly specialized world, it is the responsibility of trainers to delve into other disciplines and bring back from them information and skills that will assist and enhance the professional development of the lawyers in his or her firm. Cognitive psychology and adult learning theory are gold mines in which to find the best methods to help lawyers learn most efficiently and with the most retention.

The fields of intercultural communication and cultural anthropology teach one how to analyze the culture of the firm in order to best adapt training; it also helps one to analyze the culture of the client's organization to help adapt services and communication. (A good book to read is Communicating with Strangers by W.B. Gudykunst and Y.Y Kim, McGraw-Hill, 1992.) Theories of intelligence point the way to understanding the kinds of skills a firm seeks in its associates and how to strengthen these skills. (One eye-opening article for both recruiters and trainers is "Three Heads are Better than One" by Robert J. Trotter in Psychology Today, August, 1986.)

The interdisciplinary attitude and ability of training personnel can significantly improve a firm's

"Gratitude for Aptitudes" (and one more reason why goal setting is very individual

Below is an article I wrote nearly a decade ago. Over the last many years since writing it, I have learned much more about why goal setting is not one-size-fits-all. (A great new book was just published on personalizing your goal setting for maximum effectiveness.) In the article, I mention an aptitude Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation calls "foresight" or, as Highlands Ability Battery labels it, "Time Frame Orientation".

Some people have short or immediate Time Frame Orientation, others have long-range Time Frame Orientation, and many have something in the middle. A person with each Orientation has his or her own way of best and most effectively setting goals.

What's all that mean?

From the Highlands Training Manual:

Time Frame Orientation is a measure of the ability to naturally consider the impact of present actions on future plans. It reflects an orientation towards planning, goal setting, and accomplishing tasks.

Your Time Frame Orientation indicates the most natural frame of reference for making plans, thinking about your future, or considering the impact of what you are doing now in your life. Time Frame Orientation tends to fall into three ranges:

Immediate—today up to one year
Intermediate—one to five years
Long-range—five to twenty years

As an example, I test long-range in both the Highlands and Johnson O'Connor assessments. That Orientation has some advantages, including the ability to stay focused on a distant goal. On the other hand, I may procrastinate because, well, there's always tomorrow!

In working with clients, I have found that it is extraordinarily helpful, if not necessary, for people to know their Orientation if they want to set goals they will reach.

Now that article . . .

Blog Glob-Chicago Trib: "Outsourcing gaining standing in legal profession"

Excerpt:

Two recent mergers in the legal industry speak volumes about the forces reshaping the business of law at its highest levels. What's also notable is that neither deal involved large law firms.

Thomson Reuters, a media and information-services company, acquired Pangea3, a legal-process outsourcing firm with most of its lawyers in India, in November. A month earlier, Axiom Global Inc., which provides lawyers-for-hire to big corporations, bought another legal staffing company, Chicago-based LawyerLink LLC.

The deals are not large; Axiom and LawyerLink didn't even bother issuing press releases. Yet the transactions reflect how alternatives to the traditional law firm are becoming increasingly attractive to buyers of sophisticated legal services in the post-financial-meltdown era.

...

LawyerLink, Pangea3 and other alternatives to law firms have been around for several years, but their business models have gained momentum since the recession because they have found ways to cut costs out of basic legal tasks.

Click to read the rest of "Outsourcing gaining standing in legal profession" (Chicago Tribune).

My article "Rules of Engagement: Generation Y" in new edition of ABA's LAW PRACTICE

The September/October issue of Law Practice is now online. Click to read my article "Rules of Engagement: Generation Y."

They’ve been called high-maintenance and self-centered, lacking in many of the skills older generations take for granted. Yet they’re also noted for being creative, energetic, resourceful and collaborative. They are your new lawyers, and they cannot be ignored. In fact, if you manage things right, they’ll be an impetus for positive change throughout your firm. So how can you tap into their better traits?

Th theme of this edition is Professional Development: Building Talent. Other feature articles include:

• "Building a Better Talent Game Plan: Best Practices for Training and Developing Lawyers" Putting a strong focus on developing your firm’s bench strength today can provide the edge you need to compete in the future. Here’s advice on thinking strategically about your talent needs.
• "Leadership Development: Should Your Firm Invest in Growing Its Leaders?" The painful law firm failures of the past few years have placed the issue of leadership squarely in the spotlight. Now firm leaders must seriously consider these questions: Should we invest in developing leadership skills in our lawyers? If no, why not? If yes, what, who, when and how?
• "Turning the Tables: How Young Lawyers Can Educate Your Firm" While you’re spending time enlightening newbie lawyers on the daily practice of law, consider these five tips for mining the golden insights that young lawyers have to offer in return.
• "Step by Step: Tips for Working with a Professional Development Coach" Here’s advice to help lawyers get the biggest return on a coaching investment, complete with hands-on tips gathered from professional development coaches on what to expect and how much you’ll spend.
• "No Lawyer Left Behind" A modest proposal for improving practice management education.

Blog Glob: "Adjunct Law Prof Hits Schools’ Preoccupation with ‘Impractical Scholarship’"

Excerpt:

Top law schools hire professors with fewer years of real-world experience than lower-tier schools, according to an adjunct who questions schools’ “preoccupation with impractical scholarship” in a law review article.

Georgetown University adjunct law professor Brent Evan Newton told the National Law Journal that he was inspired to write his article because of his students’ fears that they won’t be able to land a job after graduation. They worried that law school had not prepared them to make a living as a practicing lawyer.

His article, slated for publication in the South Carolina Law Review, is called "Preaching What They Don't Practice: Why Law Faculties' Preoccupation with Impractical Scholarship and Devaluation of Practical Competencies Obstruct Reform in the Legal Academy."

Newton contends that law schools hire professors with little practice experience and then emphasize scholarship more than teaching. ...

Click to read the rest of "Adjunct Law Prof Hits Schools’ Preoccupation with ‘Impractical Scholarship’" (ABA Journal).

A conversation between Boomers and Gen Y might be: "Want My Advice? Um, Not Really"

Inter-generational advice is the topic of a Wall Street Journal blog post. From Want My Advice? Um, Not Really:

"The older generations totally mean well," [a a 28-year-old woman] says, "but they're giving advice based on things they did in the past, when times were different."

Older people have always offered advice to younger people, with words of wisdom culled from their memories of youth. And, of course, in every era, young people have found advice from elders to be outdated and ineffectual. These days, however, given how fast the world is changing, there's been a clear widening of the advice gap.

It's rooted in a devaluation of accumulated wisdom, a leveling of the relationships between old and young. On many fronts, people from Generation Y—now ages 16 to 32—assume their peers know best. They doubt those of us who are older can truly understand their needs and concerns.

In a profession based on precedent and client relationships,and, dare I say, wisdom, how would inter-generational advice between older and younger lawyers best serve clients? Your thoughts?

Blog Glob: Technology helps small law firms emerge, thrive

Excerpt:

Many large firms have been slow to invest in legal software, which helps streamline and expedite case work, because individual programs can be both expensive and too field-specific for generalist practices.
Boutiques, however, which concentrate on only a few legal aspects, can justify investment in a handful of such programs because they are more likely to use them repeatedly. This has allowed the boutiques to become far more efficient in their chosen fields than their larger rivals, according to Barron Henley, a legal technologist with Affinity Consulting Group in Columbus.

This efficiency is translating into increased earnings, as many boutiques have abandoned hourly rates, for flat rates, which encourage faster case completions. Large firms have been slow to make this transition because they are more bureaucratic and cumbersome than the tiny upstarts, ...  .

Click to read the rest of "Technology helps small law firms emerge, thrive" (Dayton Daily News).

Blog Glob: "Irresistible Force Meets Immovable Object: Generational Conflict in the Legal Profession"

Excerpt:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” So begins A Tale of Two Cities, the story of English barrister Sydney Carton, swept up in the currents of the French Revolution. Carton makes the ultimate sacrifice for his client, a French aristocrat, when he switches identities with him and loses his own head to the blade of the guillotine. Both the French and the American revolutionaries rejected traditional values based on monarchy and rule by divine right, which they replaced with values based on democracy and self-determination. The legal profession is experiencing its own version of generational conflict. Lawyers and law firms that want to continue to succeed will need to adopt new styles of communication, accommodate alternative career tracks, and expand mentor programs.

...

When Ulysses went off to fight in the Trojan War, he left his trusted friend Mentor in charge of his son’s education. Thus “mentoring” came to mean