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BEYOND THE BILLABLE HOUR ™ - Making the Hours of Your
Life Worth More ™
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Issue # 22 - BECOME THE "GO-TO" LAWYER
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ARTICLE SUMMARY: The power to negotiate a successful
balanced hours schedule with full
opportunity for advancement increases
when you demonstrate your value to your
firm or organization. A seven-step plan
for becoming the "go-to" lawyer in your
area of expertise is described.
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Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., Editor
Ellen is the founder of LawyersLifeCoach.com ™
Personal and Career Coaching for Lawyers Determined
to Achieve Professional Success AND
a Fulfilling Life
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OUR PERSPECTIVE
Most attorneys -- especially women -- live impossibly busy lives.
Finding a balance between work and life without sacrificing
professional success, deciding on the best practice area or
work setting, and making career transitions can be a daunting
task, even for the most gifted and accomplished lawyer.
Just as every person deserves the best possible legal
counsel, every attorney deserves professional, dedicated
support in accomplishing her most important goals.
You know how hard you've worked to get where you are --
you serve others, both personally and professionally.
You've earned the right to both career success and
a fulfilling life.
This newsletter is intended to help you create a
satisfying life -- within, or outside of -- legal practice.
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Become the "Go-To" Lawyer
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets
opportunity."
-- Brian Tracy
It's common knowledge that for most women lawyers,
success is hard won. Typically, women face double standards:
if they're assertive, they're labeled as overaggressive;
if they demure, they're seen as "not tough enough". Research
consistently documents that women's work products are devalued
in relation to those of their male counterparts due to unconscious
bias. In most legal workplaces, the "ideal worker" is still
someone who can devote unlimited and uninterrupted time to
his or her career (1). Since childbirth requires a work
interruption, and since most women still have primary
care-taking responsibilities at home, the reality of women's
bodies and lives is incompatible with this "ideal."
Although reduced hours is offered as an option at many legal
workplaces, most women fear that exercising this option will
destroy their careers. Concerns about being seen as less committed,
receiving poor quality assignments, and losing opportunities for
advancement often lead talented women attorneys to conclude that
they have no future at their firms, or even in the profession.
Many women lawyers are under the impression that only
"superstars" can achieve career success while working
reduced hours. Often firms will tout their "superstars" as
evidence of an effective work-life balance policy. To most
women attorneys, these "superstars" appear to be impossible
to emulate. Their success seems to be due to some kind of
unattainable "magic." The women lawyers I coach frequently
assume that the "superstars" possess incomparable paper
credentials, incredible genius, remarkable persuasive power,
or other characteristics they believe they can never possess.
The fact is that any committed attorney has the potential
to be a "superstar." It does not require extraordinary
brilliance or a particular kind of personality. Rather,
success requires certain behaviors which demonstrate the
attorney's value to her organization. In order to
achieve the success you desire, you must first accept
that you cannot depend upon the traditional management
structure to put you on the path to achievement.
Instead, you'll need to take control of your career yourself.
Essentially, this means understanding your
organization's goals and bottom line and demonstrating
that you can contribute to the success of your workplace.
Taking responsibility for your career success means looking
for opportunities to demonstrate your competence and value -
both to your employer and your clients.
Especially if you want to work a balanced hours schedule,
you need to understand that retention, per se, is not
necessarily a priority in most firms, especially in today's
slow economy. However, retention of TALENT is.
In order to make the business case for balanced hours,
you'll need to demonstrate that you are the kind of lawyer
your firm or organization would want to retain - that to
lose you would be costly.
One of the most effective ways to do this is to become
the "go-to" lawyer in your area of practice. You want to
be seen as the attorney who has the answers, who is on
top of the latest information, who is eager to help
co-workers and clients, who cares about the success
of the organization and its clients and will go above and
beyond in order to promote this success.
Here are seven steps to becoming the "go-to" lawyer:
1. Define An Area of Expertise
Ask yourself what kind of work you most enjoy. What
issues hold your attention? What gives you the
greatest sense of pride and accomplishment?
Also consider what kind of expertise would meet the
needs of your workplace.
The area of expertise you choose should be something
that truly interests you and is also of value to
your market or organization.
Remember that applied knowledge is power - and
you're trying to empower yourself to succeed in your
chosen career without compromising the non-work
commitments you value. The more knowledge you
have relative to the needs of your organization and
clients, the more able you will be to enable them
to achieve their own goals. This will make you too
valuable to lose.
Also keep in mind that developing an area of expertise
doesn't mean you need to know everything. Select
a defined issue that grabs your attention and learn
everything you can about it. Keep abreast of the
latest information. This will make you the "in-house"
expert.
2. Take Initiative in Continuous Learning
Establishing and maintaining expertise requires
making a commitment to learning. When you're clear
about your professional goals, you can identify
the knowledge and skills you need to acquire in
order to develop and maintain your status as expert.
Clarify what you need to learn and make a plan to
acquire the knowledge. You can do this through
reading, attending continuing education programs, and
seeking out mentors. Read the trade publications your
clients read and attend trade association meetings
held by your target market. Listening to their
presentations will keep you informed about their most
current needs and concerns.
3. Develop a Knowledge Network
Build and maintain a network of relationships with
people who are willing to share knowledge for mutual
benefit. No matter how expert you become, there's
always new knowledge developing. Proactively develop
dependable pathways to knowledge. Maintaining this
kind of network allows you to volunteer to help even
when you know your own personal knowledge is incomplete.
You can turn to network members to close your knowledge
gaps. In this way, you'll be responsive to requests
for assistance and learn in the process.
Don't forget that these are mutual, reciprocal
relationships. Nurture them.
4. Share Your Expertise
Your knowledge is only useful if others identify you
as knowledgeable. It's up to you to create your own
reputation. Find subtle ways to make others aware
of your expertise.
TEACH A CLASS
Consider teaching a class on the subject at a nearby law
school. Course preparation is a great way to become
an expert. Teaching will build your confidence to
present the material in other formats.
OFFER AN INFORMAL BROWN-BAG
Offering to share information you've learned with
interested colleagues in an informal setting will
increase awareness of your expertise.
Be sure to first touch base with colleagues who
have similar areas of expertise to avoid turf
battles. Invite them to contribute at the meeting,
recognize their expertise, and make clear you are
interested in working together, rather than competing.
SEND INFORMATION TO YOUR MAILING LIST
Having a data base organized according to the
information needs of clients and colleagues is
a powerful tool for demonstrating your expertise.
You can pass along tips on a "need-to-know" basis.
In-depth articles on topics of interest will
establish you as a generous supplier of expert
information.
BE VISIBLE
Depending upon your talents and preferences, you can:
* Publish Articles
* Present Seminars
* Speak at Conferences
Keep the following in mind:
* Articles and presentations showcase your expertise.
* Sponsorship by a trade organization is an endorsement
of your qualifications.
* Target your audience --
If your expertise would be most helpful to
other attorneys, write for bar publications.
To reach your target market directly, write
for their trade publications.
Speak in a language your audience will
understand.
Tailor your remarks to the information needs
of your audience. Many lawyers lose "beauty
contests" by focusing on what they want to say
instead of what clients want to hear.
* Don't be afraid to give away too much information.
Clients will still need your counsel and
representation.
* Don't tell people that you know something -
demonstrate it.
5. Give of Yourself Without Expectations of Return
Understand the needs of your clients as well as
your organization - know what each will define as
"help."
Share your knowledge simply to help others succeed.
Take the initiative to offer solutions to problems.
Be proactive - take action when you see something
that needs to be done.
Offer a piece of news or information to someone you
think might find it useful.
Sit on boards; use your expertise to serve your
community.
Remember, you're developing a reputation. Giving
generously will come back to you in ways you can't
anticipate or engineer.
6. Be Savvy About Your Organization
Plot the most direct essential route from where you
are now to your goals and align them with the mission of
your organization.
Take the initiative to seek out assignments that
will advance you toward your own goals and demonstrate
your value and competence to your organization.
If you're going to take the initiative in seeking
good assignments and offering solutions to problems,
you'll need to have a clear understanding of what
constitutes "initiative" in your workplace. What
is seen as "doing your job" vs. going above and beyond?
Keep in mind that your manager is your internal
client. Manage your relationship with your superiors
as you do with your clients. Understand their goals,
work to give them peace of mind, and shape their
expectations.
Your goal is to "superplease" both your internal and
external clients without compromising your life or
your integrity.
7. Strive for Excellence
Always do excellent work. Regardless of your feelings
about your firm or organization at any moment in time,
remember your professionalism.
Keep in mind the difference between excellence and
perfection. If you're human, you'll make mistakes.
Excellence means doing your best, striving for the
highest quality of which you are capable, and seeking
needed information and assistance to make the work
product the best you can.
It's difficult to strive for excellence unless you're
doing what you love. True success and happiness is
easiest to achieve when your commit yourself whole-
heartedly to doing what you most love to do.
Being technically excellent is no longer enough to
ensure your success in your firm or organization.
You need to demonstrate your value. Establishing a
reputation for having expertise in an area, and
a willingness to share your knowledge and experience
will make your value evident.
When you're viewed as the attorney whose counsel clients
seek when they have a question or a problem, you'll be
tough to replace. Becoming the "go-to" lawyer will
empower you to negotiate for what you want - balanced
hours, advancement opportunities, equity in compensation
and bonuses.
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1. Williams, Joan (2000). "Unbending gender: Why family
and work conflict and what to do about it."
New York: Oxford University Press.
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BEYOND THE BILLABLE HOUR ™ is published monthly by
Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., founder of LawyersLifeCoach.com.
She brings 20 years of experience assisting women
attorneys to her work in Lawyers Life Coach ™.
LawyersLifeCoach.com is a professional and personal
coaching firm specializing in working virtually (by
phone with email and fax backup) with women attorneys
interested in developing strategies to find greater
satisfaction in their careers within the law or
in exploring career alternatives for lawyers.
Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D. established Lawyerslifecoach.com
to coach busy lawyers who might benefit from the
insights gained from 20 years as a psychologist
combined with her experience and familiarity with
the legal profession.
Ellen holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology
from the University of Rochester and is a managing
member of Metropolitan Behavioral Health Care, LLC.,
a multispecialty, multidisciplinary psychotherapy
practice in Washington, D.C. and suburban Maryland.
She is a member of the International Coach Federation
and a graduate of the Mentor Coach Program ™.
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NOTE: BEYOND THE BILLABLE HOUR ™ is intended
for informational and educational purposes only.
It is not a substitute for a personal consultation
with a mental health professional and should not
be construed as a form of, or substitute for,
counseling, psychotherapy, or other psychological
service.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D.
LawyersLifeCoach.com
Phone: (301) 578-8686
email: Ellen@LawyersLifeCoach.com
Web: http://LawyersLifeCoach.com
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(c)Copyright 1998 - 2007 Ellen Ostrow. All rights reserved.
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