Gain a Competitive Advantage through Emotional Intelligence
by our guest Law Firm Behaviour Expert, Grant Herbert from People Builders
Increasing the level of social and emotional intelligence in law firms is vital if we are to reduce bullying, stress and workplace conflict.
It is widely reported that workplace stress is epidemic in today’s fast paced, always “on” society. The legal profession still comes out on top of all the surveys and statistics relating to this problem with the Law Society reporting that 33% of lawyers suffer to the point of distress .
What is it about legal work that makes it so stressful? Why are lawyers seemingly more susceptible to workplace pressures? Is all this stress just making lawyers unhappy or does it hamper their ability to produce the best results possible for their clients and firm?
The changes we need to make are on 2 levels:
- We must empower individuals and
- We must change the overall culture .
None of this will happen overnight, however incremental change will see the tide turn and we will have happier lawyers and more productive law firms. I am sure there is not a managing partner out there that wouldn’t want this for their firm.
The first problem I see is found in the statistics themselves. When there is documented evidence that says a “lawyer” is more stressed than anyone else, someone who identifies himself or herself as a “lawyer” will take on those statistics as their expected norm. This is why I challenge lawyers that they are in fact people like everyone else and law is just what they do for a career.
When we take this first step we can focus on why all people suffer stress and then teach lawyers to manage themselves with the same set of tools as everyone else.
The competencies of social and emotional intelligence are learned skills that everyone needs in order to thrive and survive in the fascinating arena called “people”. Contrary to the often used term “soft skills”, my experience in working with hundreds of lawyers indicates that a lack of skills that allow you to work well with others are the ones that frustrate the most.
Daniel Goleman said “Out of control emotions make smart people stupid ”. It may take a higher IQ level to get into law but it is my belief that it takes a higher EQ to really enjoy it.
Social and Emotional Intelligence is the ability to be aware of our own emotions and those of others, in the moment , and to use that information to manage ourselves and manage our relationships. As it‘s an ability, the good news is that everyone is on an equal playing field when it comes to learning the competencies of SEI. They fall into 4 areas as seen below.
| SELF AWARENESS |
SELF MANAGEMENT |
| OTHERS AWARENESS |
RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT |
Some of the main competencies relating to stress are Accurate Self-Assessment, Behavioural Self Control, Stress Management, Resilience, Building Trust and Empathy.
The key is to start with awareness. Those firms who take the next step and introduce SEI training into their CLE program will definitely have a competitive advantage over those who focus only on technical skill.
For more information, visit our website to watch a short video detailing the entire 26 competencies or email me at [email protected] with your questions on how you can start your journey.
