legal sanity

My friend and business associate Keith Ferrazzi emailed me about his goals for 2008. He shared his belief that, “to be a successful goal-getter,” we need to take a few preliminary steps.

First, we have to define our goals. Keith believes that goals usually fall into one of seven categories (he calls them the “seven aspects” of our “personal success wheel”):

• health + wellness

• spirituality

• job + career

• intellectual + cultural

• financial

• deep relationships

• giving back

Step two is to make sure that the goals we define are SMART, which stands for:

• specific

• measurable

• attainable

• relevant

• time-bound

The third step in Keith’s goal-getting approach is a crucial one. We need to get some positive reinforcement by asking three friends to be our “accountability buddies.” The idea is to create a vibrant support network so that no one has to go it alone and everyone stays accountable.

To help us take these steps, Keith and his team have created an application called Goal Post that’s housed at Facebook, the social networking site. According to Keith, Goal Post is “an easy and visual way to set your goals, choose your accountability buddies and keep track of your progress.”

If 2007 found you questioning your job or career path, you can find some guidance and inspiration for the coming year in Curt Rosengren’s new book, 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work.

I was fortunate enough to receive and review an advance copy of the book. Curt offers a lot of practical insight and action points for reenergizing our current work or reorienting towards a different job or career that rewards us on many levels – financial, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. There’s a hefty helping of material here. But, Curt makes it very easy to consume by breaking it down into bite-sized tips, ideas and inspirational perspectives.

I wish you all a happy, healthy and meaningful 2008.

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Environmental sustainability. In recent years, it’s become a big wheel of an issue with multiple spokes - from climate change and fossil fuels to the greening of Wal-Mart and the upside of buying local.

Many businesses are pursuing policies, programs and initiatives that help them operate in environmentally responsible ways. But, there’s another kind of sustainability problem that remains largely unrecognized and untreated, especially in law firms. It’s the environmental threat that comes from having a disgruntled and disengaged workforce.

I’ve addressed this point before in posts on:

• the new law firm environmentalists 
• toxic law firms 
• organizational disrespect in the law 
• dealing with difficult people
  

The nexus between business sustainability and employee engagement is brilliantly illustrated in this video from McDaniel Partners (tipped at Be Excellent).

Law firm leaders can also gain insight into managing the employee experience from reader questions and expert answers shared at Office-Politics. I’m an advisor to the site, which was recently featured in the New York Times.

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Some of the topics I regularly cover here are:

• Lawyer attrition
  
• Lawyer discontent
  
• Employee engagement
  

When I’m on the road delivering my learning programs, law firm partners and managers often share how these related issues are not easy to parse through and address in the real world of law. Their frustration is palpable and understandable.

On Wednesday, December 19, 2007, Joshua Fruchter and I will give a live, 90-minute webcast entitled: Attorney Retention: Preventing an Exodus of Talent. Presented by West Legalworks, the program is CLE-accredited in a number of states.

Among other practical tips and strategies for redressing the related problems of attorney attrition and retention, participants will learn how to:

• Recognize telltale signs of lawyer unhappiness
• Energize attorney productivity
• Foster meaningful communication between lawyers and management
  

If you’d like to register for the webcast or learn more about the presenters, content or CLE credits, please visit this details page. When you use this link to register, you’ll receive a 15% discount on the price of the program.

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Like many lawyers – solos and others – I often emerge from the whirlwind that’s work and life to find that I’ve fallen out of touch with people in my business network. Especially at this time of year, when closing out the old and ringing in the new, I’m pulled to fix these broken connections.

I know that many professionals send out holiday cards and gifts as means to this end. While these offerings certainly can connect us with clients and business associates we’ve lost touch with, they’re largely one-way lines of communication.

A better route to re-connection runs two ways. It’s an organic dialogue that lends a human dimension to our business relationships.

Curt Rosengren illustrated this point when he invited me to be part of his Reconnection Revolution. Noting that “there's something about that real time ear-to-ear interaction that just takes the connection to the next level,” Curt pledged to have “30 conversations in 30 days with people I've never actually spoken with (as in voice) before. No particular agenda to the conversations – just seeing what I learn, how I’m inspired, and what new ideas pop up.”

I “know” Curt from the blogosphere and regularly link to his work from legal sanity. Still, ours was an arms-length association at best. We reduced a good bit of that distance during our hour-long phone conversation. We discussed our personal and professional backgrounds, goals and challenges and offered one another advice and support.

Reflecting on his 30-day mission, Curt said: “People start talking, building relationships, exchanging ideas, even finding ways to collaborate. Next thing you know – hey presto! – the positive potential has just grown exponentially.”

Lawyers and other service providers can use Curt’s model to repair the broken connections in our business network. As he points out, we don’t have to follow his 30-in-30 formula. We can customize it to make it workable for us: think 5-in-5 or even 5-in-10 and see what happens over time.

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