Blog Posts: Law Blog

We all have stress. I picture an empty room where challenges keep coming at me from straight in front of me, the top left corner, the middle right corner, or wherever. You get the idea. The point is that challenges keep coming at us from all angles as if we are in a video game trying to move forward. Some challenges are exciting and invigorating while others are ha...

During the first decade of my career, I had one formal mentor and several informal mentors. Most of my mentors were attorneys or judges, which makes sense given my chosen profession. Others were in different professions or businesses. The string running through all those relationships was the professional and life lessons I learned from each one, many of which I fo...

Success comes from constantly assessing the results from actions you take and adjusting, depending on what is or is not working. If something you’re doing is not successful, you need to change it or try something new. The funny thing is that the flip side is the same: if something you’re doing is successful, it helps to tweak or change it to see if it can be ev...

You may not think it, but it is good to be the dumbest person in the room.  Knowing and acknowledging it to others lets you learn. This allows you an opportunity to learn what otherwise would be lost. The room may be full of people or just one other person. The point is all of us can learn no matter whether you view yourself as a leader or not. You know we all ar...

Recently I was speaking with a young attorney who was lamenting the workload and hours the partners at his firm expected of him and talking about his time at night and on the weekends being his time, not theirs. This struck me.  When I was a young attorney, I expected to work hard and do whatever was asked of me as I learned a profession. I think that attitude and...

Each of us is a part of a group in relation to our work. You are a part of the company where you work.  And you are probably part of smaller formal groups comprised of you and co-workers, as well as part of other professional, industry, or similar groups outside of your company. In every group there is a dynamic of those who speak and those who generally don’t. ...

If you compare your life with others, especially those you believe to be more successful or happier than you are, you will be unhappy in your life. Teddy Roosevelt said “Comparison is the thief of joy” more than a century ago and it still rings true today. The point is to not be envious of others or, more accurately, of what you perceive the success or happines...

Many people sugarcoat what they say to save another’s feelings. I think this is because most people shy away from potentially confrontational conversations or don’t know how to effectively communicate something negative or that is constructive criticism. If you are unable or unwilling to have honest, hard conversations with your peers and employees, it’s detr...

Many attorneys (and I assume others) have this somewhat canned response when someone asks them how it’s going. It’s generally some version of “It’s another day” or “Different day, same stuff.” The message being communicated is that the day and stuff is the same, is a slog, and what they’re saying is negative in tone. They focus on the negative and n...

Inspiration can hit you anytime. When it does, you know it instantly. Many times, the timing is inconvenient. When this happens, you have to take steps to not lose that inspiration. It happens to me frequently and at different times! It can be in the middle of the night, when I’m at my desk working, when I’m in a conversation, or at what is likely a very incon...