The leadership mindset is a common and emerging theme in my work with women lawyers. They often come to me at an inflection point in their careers where they need to make a big decision around their development, and it usually involves examining the role that leadership plays in their lives.

 

Whether you’re in a senior role and want to refine your leadership skills, or you’re earlier in your practice and don’t feel like you’ve quite found your footing as a leader yet, what would be different if you were to step into a leadership mindset? This is what I’m inviting you to reflect on this week as I help you embrace and embody the notion of becoming a leader.

 

The legal culture is often one of “yes.” There’s a tendency in law to attract individuals who are helpers, high-achievers, or predisposed to want to do more. If this resonates with you, setting and asserting boundaries might feel like going against the grain of your work culture and your own internal wiring.

 

What do you do when you’ve mustered up the courage to set a boundary, tried to have the hard conversation, and it hasn’t worked? Setting boundaries is uncomfortable enough as it is, but what can you do when you get pushback and feel like you don’t have the support you need? 

 

Did you know that at least 12.5% of lawyers have ADHD? From lawyers who have come to me for support around their ADHD diagnosis to learning of close family members who have it, this topic has sparked a deep desire in me to learn more about ADHD so I can better support those around me.

 

Whether you’re a lawyer who has ADHD, suspect you have it, or you’re someone who supports somebody in your life with ADHD, this week, I’m sharing some of what I’ve learned about how coaching can help. In furthering my coach training specific to ADHD, I’ve discovered ADHD-specific resources that I’ve found to be helpful in my understanding of it, and I’m sharing my insights with you this week.

 

As a lawyer, how you position, manipulate, and present words is everything. Both orally and in writing, communicating well is one of the most important skills you can cultivate. You might be the most brilliant lawyer full of wonderful ideas, but if you can’t transmit that to other people, it’s going to waste. That’s why writing well in the professional context matters, and I have the perfect guest on the show this week to dive into this topic.

 

Amanda Haverstick is a lawyer turned writing coach for lawyers. She has spent over 20 years in practice as a litigator in Big Law and in-house at a Fortune 500 company. As a writing coach, Amanda shares tips and strategies to help lawyers become better writers, and her book, Dear 1L: Notes to Nurture a New Legal Writer has been described as the ‘it’ book to read before law school.

 

How often do you find yourself feeling trapped by a decision? Maybe you call it analysis paralysis, sitting on the fence, or one foot in and one foot out. Regardless of how you describe it, the overarching characteristic here is a sense of anxiety around decision-making and the pressure to pick the perfect option.

 

The fear of making “bad” decisions is a topic that comes up often in my coaching conversations with lawyers. If you see decision-making as binary, where there are either good or bad ones you can make, you’re not alone. However, have you ever asked yourself if decisions can be inherently good or bad? And how is your fear of making “bad” decisions keeping you paralyzed? 

 

In celebration of Mother’s Day, this episode is dedicated to all of you lawyer moms out there. Navigating your roles as both lawyer and parent is objectively tough. Not only are you showing up in your professional work for your colleagues and clients, but you’re doing so much behind the scenes in your home life too, and you are doing a fabulous job.

 

If balancing your roles as mother and lawyer feels somewhat precarious, my hope is this episode acknowledges your experience and offers some guidance in finding the peace, harmony, and balance you’re seeking. You love both your children and your work, and there are real challenges that come with finding work-life balance. So the question is, how can you reduce the conflict in your roles and feel more in control of your overall experience?

 

What comes to mind when you think about self-care?

 

Maybe you imagine being in a spa with a towel wrapped around your head, mud mask on, listening to gentle spa music. Perhaps you picture a silent retreat and being on a raw food diet. Whatever you envisage, my guess is you aren’t engaging in those practices every day. And if self-care is something you shy away from or something you think you need to reserve a weekend or special occasion for, you’re in the right place. 

 

Do you feel stuck at work? Maybe your job feels like it no longer fits, but you don’t know how to move forward. Perhaps it’s where you live, your relationships, health goals, or other areas in your life that are making you feel trapped or like you’ve hit a dead end. And maybe this seems like a huge problem.

 

If you find that what was working is no longer working for you, and you catch yourself complaining about the same things over and over again or wishing things were different, this episode is for you. While it’s normal to assume feeling stuck is a problem, I’m inviting you to see how where you are right now could just be Eigenzeit.

 

There are a whole host of factors that can make living with ADHD extremely challenging, and there are most certainly certain practice areas or law firm environments that can negatively impact how someone with ADHD experiences their life. However, my guest believes that with greater awareness and knowledge, not only does managing an ADHD diagnosis become easier, but success is inevitable.

 

Erin Peters is a psychotherapist, registered therapeutic counsellor, and former lawyer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She provides therapy-related services to lawyers and adults with ADHD, and she’s here this week to take a deep dive into ADHD among lawyers and proactive steps you can take to deal with some of the most common challenges that arise.

 

Are you consciously choosing the words you say? How is the language you’re using sending the wrong message or undermining your confidence? What does it take to gain control of your speech patterns? And how can you communicate with greater clarity, confidence, authority, and power?

 

We’re at the very beginning of spring, which means it’s time for spring cleaning for many of us. Your mind might immediately turn to decluttering your physical space, whether that’s your house, office space, or wardrobe, and experiencing the satisfaction that comes from the visual effect of before-and-after. However, while less tangible, I’m inviting you to spring-clean your speech this week.