What Skills You Need to Set Yourself Apart
I have the chance to work with outstanding lawyers. They seem to be always focused on learning. Some time ago I read a book by Josh Waitzkin titled: "The Art of Learning
Have you played chess? I actually was a serious player during law school, playing almost every weekend. Like many others, I bought books and memorized every possible opening. Unlike me, when he was first learning chess, Waitzkin's coach focused on endings not openings. Waitzkin says:
Children who begin their chess education by memorizing openings tend to internalize an entity theory of intelligence. Their dialogues with teachers, parents and other children are all about results, not effort. They consider themselves winners because so far they have won. In school they focus on what comes easy to them and ignore the subjects that are harder. On the playground, they use the famous: 'I wasn't trying' after missing a shot or striking out.
These children grow up and go to law school. In law school they learn what is necessary to do well on the exams. Then they learn what is necessary to pass the bar. They are great at left brain thinking, but have not exercised the right side of their brain. As young associates in law firms they do not think beyond the assignment.
In his book "A Whole New Mind
Daniel Pink suggests that one of the best ways to develop this skill is to learn how to draw. Pink went to a class based on Betty Edwards book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain." It turns out that drawing classes are not about learning to draw but rather about learning to see relationships.
So, what do you want to learn in 2010? What will you do to exercise the right side of your brain? Write down a list and have fun learning new things.
ure out why I fell short and either set the goal again or adjust it to make it more reasonable and achievable. I remind myself of how good it feels to achieve the goals I set and give myself a fresh start and let go of my past shortcoming.
I know that some people find it very useful to break their yearly plans down by hours, quarters, weeks, and so on. That doesn’t do very much for me. With two small kids, a wife who works, an old house, and a busy job, yearly planning beyond the “big rocks” is just too ambitious right now. If something is important, I will get it done. If not, there’s no sense in planning for it, anyway. As the year progresses, I do plan my activities on a weekly basis and review my goals quarterly. That probably mitigates the lack of precision in my up-front planning. But trying to sit down right now and figure that I have x hours of investment time, to be divided across y activities over z weeks would likely only set me up for failure. It would also drive me nuts.
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Charlie Miller is a close friend of mine here in Dallas. Last year he conducted a webinar for lawyers I coach titled: "
. After I collected my ideas and wrote this post, I went back to the chapter and read what he said about cruisers. First he indicated that we all cruise at sometime in our career. Then, he said: “Cruising means working at what you are already good at, and in consequence usually means a low-stress comfortable work live.” Finally he wrote: “The difference between Dynamos and Cruisers is rarely one of ability. Rather, it is one of attitude.” If you have a copy of the book or can get a copy of the book, I urge you to read this chapter.
. It is a great book you should consider reading. One of his new rules is the importance of focusing on your customer (client) persona and creating content on your webpage that addresses their needs. Scott frequently 
. I found it could have been a lawyer’s guide to inner excellence because the points he made reminded me of what I see in the most outstanding lawyers I coach.
, James Kouzes and Barry Posner reported the results of 1500 interviews with managers across the United States. When asked to identify the characteristics and attitudes they believed to be most important for effective leadership, the number one response was: integrity (leaders are truthful, are trustworthy, have character, have convictions).
Built to Last define purpose as “the set of fundamental reasons for a company’s existence beyond just making money.”
, Jay Lorsch and Tom Tierney describe culture as “a system of beliefs that members of an organization share about the goals and values that are important to them and about the behavior that is appropriate to attain those goals and live those values.”
.” The point of the book is that 29 percent of us are connected. I understand that the book has a 52-week program to help readers become part of the 29 percent. You might be surprised to learn that Dr. Misner believes introverts are better at networking than extroverts.
My advice on getting the most out of Cordell’s program is to be patient and persistent. I am a 5th year litigation associate. When I first started the program, I had an unrealistic expectation Cordell was going to give me a bag of pixy dust to sprinkle around town, and the next day I would be generating a million in business and praised by the partners as the second coming of Clarence Darrow. Unfortunately, it does not work that way.
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” by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. I found an interesting idea in the book. Early in 2007, Crédit Mutuel, a French bank, began an ad campaign directing viewers to a website titled: “If I were a banker.” The authors describe that the website has a French voice who says: “If I were a banker, I would give my customers a say in things and together we would build the bank of tomorrow.” From there the visitor can either enter a suggestion or see what others have suggested..png)
.” I haven’t read the book yet, but I found his book “
” interesting and I 
." He talked about it in this video. He says the only way to win is to be talked about. People do not talk about average companies or average law firms..jpg)
One of my larger clients is a national wine/spirits distributor. In the course of working on a case for this client, I've gotten to know some management level employees pretty well, including the head Master Sommelier.
" by Stephen Covey, A. Roger Merrill and Rebecca Merrill. It is filled with many suggestions I know will help you, including planning your life around your roles. I particularly enjoy Dr. Covey's story about the "big rocks."
Dave shared his ideas with other lawyers I coach in a .png)
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Many years ago, but after the photo was taken, I read Steven Covey’s book: “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Habit 2 is to begin with the end in mind. I liked that habit because it encouraged me to quit thinking about just what I was doing today and to start thinking about what I wanted to become.
by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. I urge you to read the book or listen to the CDs. The authors point out the importance of the energy we bring to any task. Interestingly, we have two problems. First we do not have enough energy to meet the demands we are placing on our energy, and second, we do not renew our energy very well. What can we do to change? First, we need to focus on the four aspects our life: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Next, we need to change our thinking from the idea that we are running a marathon to the idea that we are running a series of sprints. Balancing stress and recovery is critical to managing our energy..png)
, an article and later a book by 
When professional video first gained acceptance, I decided to create a video for contractors. I spent days creating the script and two days in front of the camera with Dr. Michael Vorster at Virginia Tech. I was confident I had created a masterpiece and I decided to market the tape along with a book on linear scheduling at a price of $495. I believe I sold at most 20 sets of the tape and most of those were to my mother and her friends. (I still have boxes of tapes in my garage.)
