IS THINKING "LIKE A LAWYER" HOLDING YOU BACK?
'Reality' is frequently used as an excuse for not
exploring a wide range of options to reach goals.
Linda Austin, M.D.
What's Holding You Back?
Everything can be taken from a man or a woman
but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to
choose one's attitude in any given set of
circumstances, to choose one's own way.
Victor Frankl
Man's Search for Meaning
If you've had a rough time deposing a witness and the
partner with whom you're working was harshly critical,
are you likely to think, "I'm just not cut out for this; I can't
see how I'm ever going to be a successful litigator."?
Sitting around the conference table, do you sometimes
stifle your comments, thinking, "If I say something wrong,
they'll think I'm stupid. Besides, they'll never listen to
me anyway." ?
Have you wanted to reduce your hours but decided not
to risk it, thinking "They'll think I'm not really committed.
This will ruin my career." ?
If you find yourself thinking like this, then odds are you're
an excellent attorney. These "pessimistic" ways of thinking
are just what's called for when your job is risk management.
In fact, law may be the only profession in which pessimism is
rewarded. Pessimistic law students outperform their more
optimistic peers, both in terms of grades and law journal
success. [1]
"Pessimism" here means a tendency to view negative
events as pervasive, permanent and uncontrollable.
In the face of adversity, the pessimist thinks, "It's going
to last forever; it's going to undermine everything;
it's all my fault." A realistic optimist would look for
ways to view the same situation as temporary and
changeable. Unless the event and its consequences
were entirely out of the optimist's control, she would
be likely to focus on ways she can overcome it and
bounce back.
Your prudent perspective is necessary in your role as
risk manager. In law, you need to anticipate every
potential disaster in any litigation or transaction. A
good lawyer anticipates problems and reduces risks.
Caution is essential.
Limiting your pessimistic thinking to your legal work is
fine; in fact it's an advantage.
Unfortunately, many lawyers bring this same perspective
to other aspects of their careers and their lives.
THE PROBLEM WITH PESSIMISTIC THINKING
The worst thing about a pessimistic outlook is that
it makes you feel helpless and powerless. Unable
to see realistic options and perceiving obstacles to
be unchangeable, it's easy to abandon all hope of
succeeding and to give up.
Jill, an attorney looking to change jobs, found herself
with three very different offers. She could join the
well-established practice of a large, international
firm; transition to a more recently formed firm
committed to growing her practice area; or accept
a position in the legal department of a dynamic and
profitable corporation.
As pleased as she was to have these offers, Jill
felt unable to decide among them. All she could
see was what she stood to lose: she might not
get sufficient support in a traditional large firm
environment. What if the newer firm wasn't successful,
or failed to devote resources to her practice area?
The in-house position looked very secure, but she feared
that it would prevent her from every returning to
private practice.
Jill's focus on potential losses had her paralyzed: she
felt unable to decide. As her coach, I advised her
to make a list of what she stood to gain by choosing
each of her options. Doing this completely shifted
her response to her situation. Not only was she
able to see the advantages of each option, but
she also began to consider how she might thrive
in one of those situations. She was able to envision a
path where she could form both internal and external
alliances that would help her grow her practice,
even if the newer firm provided fewer resources
than it had promised. She began to see the difficulties
she might encounter as solvable problems rather than
as insurmountable obstacles. She accepted the position
at the new firm and hit the ground running.
PESSIMISM IN THE ATTORNEY EVALUATION PROCESS
Karl had been a partner in a 900-attorney firm for eight
years. When we began our coaching work, he was discouraged
about the state of his practice. He loved working with clients
on strategic planning issues, but consistently found himself
without enough associates to help him with day-to-day
matters. His work life was consumed with putting out fires,
and there never seemed to be enough time to address the
long-term planning that was the source of satisfaction
in his work.
In one of our coaching sessions, we discussed his problem
with associates. Recently he'd felt very disappointed with
two very promising associates. Given their track record at
their former firms, Karl had expected them to be able to
handle many of the matters that he wanted to delegate.
He'd given each of them an assignment and had been
shocked and disillusioned by what these associates had
produced. The work was filled with errors and poor writing.
Karl concluded that associates these days don't share his
work ethic and that he would just have to do the work
himself.
Karl's pessimistic thinking was making him blind to a number
of alternatives. He explained the associates'
disappointing performance as due to permanent and
pervasive causes. What else was there to do except to
abandon his hope for help and plod on doing work that
he found neither engaging nor meaningful?
I asked Karl to try to come up with some possible
explanations for his associates' work that were
more time-limited and specific to the situation.
He considered the possibility that being new to the firm
and the project, their performance might not yet be up
to par. Perhaps he hadn't given them sufficient background
to understand the "big-picture" issues. Maybe he'd failed
to clarify that he wanted a polished product and not a
cursory first draft. Could it be that these lawyers had
other strengths and expertise and were less sophisticated
about the particular issue he'd assigned them first?
If any of these were the case, then what could he do? He
could discuss the work with them and listen to their
perspective. This might clarify their training needs.
Maybe they just needed him to coach them a bit - to show
them what he had in mind, ask them what they'd need in
order to reach that criterion and suggest ways in which
they could fill in the gaps in their skills and experience.
Of course this would take some time - but compared to the
time it would take him to go on indefinitely doing
everything himself, it seemed like a small sacrifice.
Karl and I also discussed what might have happened had this
situation occurred at associate evaluation time. He
recognized that he would have taken one bad experience
with these young attorneys and generalized that to "always"
and "everything" conclusions about their potential. And since
initial negative evaluations tend to bias the perceptions of
other partners, these young lawyers' careers at the firm might
be compromised regardless of the quality of work they did
in the future.
Karl decided to follow up on some of the options he'd
considered and was delighted with the results. Over time,
both associates demonstrated the motivation, initiative
and skill which provided Karl with the freedom to focus
on the work he loved. And he was deeply relieved that he
hadn't shared his initial conclusions on a written
evaluation which might have deprived both the firm and
these talented attorneys of a bright future together.
PESSIMISM AND LEADERSHIP
There are many reasons for the well-documented
gender disparity in leadership in the legal profession.
Inflexible workplace structures, gender stereotypes,
and inadequate access to informal networks and mentors
certainly present women lawyers with a "glass ceiling."
But the belief in this glass ceiling can in itself lead to
pessimism. Women lawyers can too easily conclude that
they'll never be able to advance to positions of power and
influence - and give up trying. And if women are to achieve
full parity in the profession, it is essential that they focus
more on the things they can control, than on those they can't
If the "glass ceiling" is the only "reality" you can see,
are you likely to take the kinds of risks necessary to
to reach positions of leadership?
A pessimistic cognitive bias can make you so focused
on the risks in a situation, you are likely to be blinded
to the opportunities. You are also more likely to
overestimate the risks.
Many of the women lawyers with whom I work express
fears of job loss if they don't "fly under the radar." They feel certain
that asking to be spoken to respectfully or persistently pursuing the kind
of work
that interests
them will result in career suicide. There may be some
justification for these concerns, but how likely are these
catastrophic outcomes?
Try writing down all the worst-case scenarios. How
likely is each to occur? Write out the evidence you
have about the unlikelihood of these catastrophes.
Now write out the most likely outcomes and some
possible ways you might cope with each.
Unless you challenge your fears by evaluating the
probability that they'll actually occur - and the evidence
that they probably won't - you're bound to see many steps
to leadership as too risky to try.
Women like Mary Cranston, Chair of Pillsbury Winthrop;
Christine Lagarde, Managing Partner of Baker & McKenzie;
Regina Pisa, Managing Partner of Goodwin & Procter and
Marina Park, Managing Partner of Pillsbury Winthrop are
living proof that the glass ceiling has cracks.
Don't let "reality" blind you to your options and
opportunities.
THE RISKS OF PESSIMISM
Psychological research indicates that a pessimistic
cognitive bias makes you vulnerable to feelings of
helplessness and depression. In fact, the risk of
depression is two to eight times greater for pessimists
than for optimists. [2]
Thinking "like a lawyer" may have something to do
with the finding that lawyers have the highest rates of
depression of 101 professional groups measured, and
rates that are three times greater than that of the general
population.
Pessimism appears to compromise the immune system -
optimists have been shown to have better-functioning
immune systems and better health overall. Pessimists
are significantly more likely to have a second heart attack
than are their more optimistic counterparts.
In fact, optimists generally live 8-9 years longer than do
pessimists. That means that a pessimistic cognitive style
shortens life span even more than does cigarette smoking.
THE OPTIMIST'S ADVANTAGE
Besides reducing the risks of depression, physical
illness, and early death, optimism has other benefits
of immediate relevance for attorneys.
Research indicates that an optimistic cognitive bias is
also associated with sales success. A pessimistic
salesperson views a rejection or failure to make a sale
as evidence that she's lousy at sales and won't be
successful. In contrast, an optimistic salesman chalks up
the failure to a bad day, not making the right pitch to
this particular client or having selected the wrong
prospect. Psychologist Martin Seligman found that sales
agents who scored in the top 10% for optimism sold 88%
more than those in the most pessimistic 10%.
The implications for your business development
goals are obvious.
The greatest advantage conferred by optimism
is resilience. Optimists bounce back better from adversity
and try harder when the going gets tough. Optimistic
Olympic swimmers improve their speed after losing a race;
optimistic NBA teams win the next game after a defeat; and
the findings are similar for professional baseball pitchers and
hitters.
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR OPTIMISM
Certainly you need to maintain your prudent perspective
when it comes to your legal work. But it might be helpful
to deliberately change your mental state when thinking
about things other than the law.
Pay attention to your how you're thinking when you're
reacting to being dismissed at a meeting, were not
selected in a "beauty contest," had a difficult encounter
with someone to whom you report, or someone who
reports to you. Examine your thoughts for permanent
(always) and pervasive (everything) assumptions when
you're given a work assignment as you're headed out
of the office for your child's soccer game or when your
spouse or partner forgets to run a promised errand.
Work at developing more optimistic explanations.
Challenge your knee-jerk thought that this person " always" behaves this way and that "everything" will
be ruined.
REALITY VS. POLLYANNA
It's important to be realistic. In fact, research indicates that
optimists are better able to detect when a situation is truly
beyond repair and out of their control. Under these
circumstances, an optimist will re-channel her energies
into a situation more easily affected by her efforts.
As a lawyer, you're well trained to test the reality of the
alternatives you're generating. Marshal all the evidence
for and against all the explanations you've considered -
both the pessimistic and the optimistic ones.
Examine the facts indicating that the dire outcomes
that you are anticipating are unlikely to materialize.
The more likely results may still seem risky - but far less
than the catastrophes you'd initially imagined.
Resilient people do everything they can to achieve their goals.
They take control where they can, recognizing that not
everything is within their control. And they know that
unless they're entirely satisfied with the current situation,
calculated risk-taking is absolutely necessary.
Notes:
Sidereal Designs