A client recently called me, and I could hear the tension in his voice right away. Too many projects coming due at the same time (and thus, another long weekend in the office) combined with sheer exhaustion to make Rick an unhappy lawyer. “I just don’t know how I’m going to get it all done. [...]
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I noticed another lesson in the Olympics last night. I watched the 400m relays and saw the U.S. men’s and women’s teams disqualified for dropping the baton. The men quit running after the drop, but the women’s team anchor Lauryn Williams picked up the baton and ran the rest of the race. It was hard to [...]
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An anonymous email I received shortly after I began coaching haunts me. This person (I don’t know whether male or female, but I’ll assume male here) wanted desperately to leave the practice. He was responding to something I’d written, and he explained that he’d practiced law for nearly 20 years and hated it. He never liked [...]
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While describing an assessment I often use to a lawyer-client, I mentioned that it provides feedback about one’s natural tendencies and those tendences as adapted to work, explaining that almost everyone wears a “mask” of some sort at work.
“You got that right,” my client chuckled wryly.
We went on to discuss the discomfort this client feels in [...]
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It’s been a busy weekend at the Fleming-Brown household. One of my dogs, Jake, is the most cowardly animal I’ve ever met when it comes to thunderstorms — and the most wily. Both dogs sleep downstairs in crates, mostly because my cat would become a canape if they were allowed free reign at night. We’ve [...]
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My home office in Atlanta is on a two-lane primary road just a few blocks from Emory University’s law school. Today is graduation, and since about 6:30 AM, I’ve been watching cars full of well-dressed people, taxis, chartered buses, and even limos drive by. It’s quite the parade! And in fact, today marks the 15th [...]
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Lawyers who are or aspire to be leaders must learn to self-manage. Especially when stressed or under pressure (and who isn’t, at least part of the time?) it’s easy to let self-management slide in the face of provocation. Some attorneys I know offer a blanket apology to staff and colleagues — something like, “I’m feeling [...]
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Think back to elementary school. My guess is (depending on your generation), when the teacher called roll most students responded by saying, “Here!” And usually, especially by 5th grade or so, one wise guy (were there gunners in elementary school?!) would respond by answering, “Present!” The other kids would snicker and the teacher might look [...]
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September 05, 2008 
