Longer hours – the only way to get ahead?

Longer hours – the only way to get ahead?

Despite the considerable efforts of HR departments to change the culture, and some significant inroads to a more flexible work environment, the billable hour model has the tendency to disincentivise efficiency and encourage a culture of being married to your work.

While different business models and increased fixed price agreements are being flirted with, negotiating the reality of clocking up the hours is an essential part of any successful career.

Leadership for lawyers: Short on time? Make your conversations count

Leadership for lawyers: Short on time? Make your conversations count

One of the great challenges senior lawyers face is being a leader while also ‘on the tools’. Time is at a premium. This can mean that developing your team, or even having a team meeting, can get de-prioritized, and pushed out until you can get your head above the affray – an occasion which just never seems to eventuate!

When it comes to promotion the emphasis tends to be on your technical and business development ability not necessarily on your leadership skills, and yet it’s the leadership skills that can really get your team humming.

Can being grateful improve your performance?

Can being grateful improve your performance?

In every career there are going to be periods when it is a grind, when you are just going through the motions, and work is pretty much about paying the bills and not much more. That’s life, right? Ups and downs, swings and roundabouts, and all that…

Sometimes it picks up on its own, you get your mojo back and it’s all good. Other times, to get back on track you have to change the way you work, how you interact with colleagues and clients, or take a break to reassess career goals. You may even have to make some big changes: new employer, new location or even a complete career shift.

How to get the most out of your Executive Coach

How to get the most out of your Executive Coach

The use of executive coaching to enhance leadership, interpersonal skills and business strategy has proliferated in recent years. No longer is it a sign of trouble but rather a sign of the continual pursuit of improvement. In a recent blogpost, Marshall Goldsmith  - recognized as one of the top ten Most-Influential Business Thinkers in the World - observed:  “I have seen the perception of coaching shift over the last three decades: Instead of a punishment, it’s now a mark of prestige to have a coach. It means you’re probably going places in your career.”

The disrupted lawyer: 5 steps to prepare for change

The disrupted lawyer: 5 steps to prepare for change

Disruption is the word de jour, and law firms are not immune.

There is talk of new non-pyramid structures, more fixed price agreements, shifting away from billable hours, the rise of general counsel and in-house teams, the encroachment of the big accountancy firms, artificial intelligence, out-sourcing, and the list goes on.

Beyond Partnership: 3 steps to reinvigorate your career

Beyond Partnership: 3 steps to reinvigorate your career

If partnership is the pinnacle of a professional services career, what comes next?

It’s a question that is not always easy to answer. There isn’t really a natural career progression after partnership, apart from moving up the ranks to equity partner (where that option is still available).

Perspective. Fresh out, I take it?

Perspective. Fresh out, I take it?

You can’t always control your circumstances, but you can control your perspective.

We are all brilliant at seeing things our own way – it’s part of what makes us unique.  When we face challenges or circumstances outside our control, however, we can very quickly come up against the limits of our own perspective.