There used to be a time when I would have to explain the work that I did as a coach to lawyers. This was the educational phase of my business.
I remember my first day of practice. I got up early and made myself a hearty breakfast. My suit had already been pressed from the night before.
The students coming through law school nowadays are highly accomplished. They work abroad, start charities, develop apps. They are big thinkers, innovators.
This is the time of year when articling students go into panic mode. I understand what it’s like. Very few don’t want to be hired back. I wasn’t hired back myself.
“Coffees from hell” is what lawyer Erin Cowling calls this popular form of networking. Cowling’s article in Precedent magazine (Winter 2017, p. 39) describes the types of people she regrets meeting for coffee.
Last time, I wrote about personal branding as a career tool for the 21st Century Lawyer. This time, I’m sharing my secrets for developing a personal brand.
Success as a lawyer is often defined by the ability to adapt to change – whether planned or not. My clients prefer to be in the driver’s seat when managing change, especially if it relates to their career.
There is one struggle that transcends my coaching clients – both seasoned and new lawyers: how to relate to a prospective client on a human level in an initial interview.
There are only 24 hours in a day. Time is a finite resource. While it’s possible to squeeze out a few more hours of work, we need to trade that time in for something else.
When preparing a client for an interview, I’m always looking for that X-factor… the thing that will set them apart from the crowd. This can show up in many ways.
