We published an entry on “That Old Crying Feeling” in 2011 that won the BlawgWorld Pick of the Week, and generated a lot of hits and discussion about displaying emotions in the office. We noted, among other things, that Michael Page International had found that mounting stress of all sorts leads one in three lawyers … Continue Reading
The Center for the Study of the Legal Profession at Georgetown University Law Center and TAGLaw recently published a survey showing the value of their culture to the growth strategies of mid-sized law firms. First, these high-culture awareness firms view culture as a key factor in attracting laterals, with 70% of the firms ranking it … Continue Reading
Above the Law columnist Susan Moon, an in-house lawyer at Wyndham Worldwide, gave our The Unique Psychological World of Lawyers a nice plug last week, just hours after much of the data in it was discussed at a presentation at Yale Law School. An older article (since updated) and a "bit on the dry side," … Continue Reading
Ronda Muir, Esq., will present a seminar at Yale Law School on March 13, 2013 on "The Unique Psychological World of Lawyers–Strategies for a Successful and Satisfying Career." She will review data from research with respect to personality assessments, positive psychology, conflict management, the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator and emotional intelligence showing the particular characteristics of lawyers that … Continue Reading
Speaking of doctors in white coats, one has identified an attribute that may not rub off onto you when you don your own white coat. According to Peter Ubel, a physician and behavioral scientist at Duke University, Starbucks employees have better training and are more effective in acting emotionally intelligent than doctors are. In his book Critical … Continue Reading
Most of us have very high standards for the work we deliver our clients. We demand from ourselves and those on our team the best possible product. "Performance at whatever price" might be our mantra, even if it requires nagging and criticizing or even bullying. Yet confrontational environments feel uncomfortable to most people and over the long run are in fact not conducive … Continue Reading
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Recent reporting happened to recount within days of each other three instances of fraud in the legal world that bear some reflection. In New York in late July, after a short deliberation by the jury, two attorneys were convicted of 10 felony counts of perpetuating for over almost a decade mortgage fraud, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud … Continue Reading
LPM’s Muir is honored to be cited twice in the June 2012 newsletter of the National Association of State Judicial Educators (NASJE), entitled "Judicial Balance: Lessons for Life and Law." The newsletter "helps you navigate the sometimes exhilarating and sometimes treacherous waters of being a judge, and makes it easier to find and enhance your fulfillment in serving … Continue Reading
The Dalai Lama proclaimed at the Vancouver Peace Summit a few years back that "the Western woman will save the world." Of course, he might have been a little heady over the company he was keeping there– Nobel peace laureates Mairead Maguire, Jody Williams and Betty Williams, Mary Robinson, the beloved Irish president and tireless human rights … Continue Reading
Ronda Muir of Law People Management LLC, Randall Kiser of DecisionSet, and Daniel S. Bowling III of Duke Law School will be co-presenting a Center for Competitive Management audio presentation on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 2pm EDT entitled "Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence." The presentation will cover the relatively new science of emotional intelligence, its relationship to … Continue Reading
As another pundit among many slowing down to rubber neck the wreckage strewn from the Dewey & LeBoeuf crash, it’s hard to know where to start. The question that hovered on everyone’s minds since earlier in the year, as the media dissected every move there, was whether we were watching the disintegration, again, of a major law firm: one which … Continue Reading
Ronda Muir of Law People Management LLC, Randall Kiser of DecisionSet, and Daniel S. Bowling III of Duke Law School will be co-presenting a Center for Competitive Management audio presentation on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 2pm EDT entitled "Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence." The presentation will cover the relatively new science of emotional intelligence, its relationship to … Continue Reading
Are women really worth a damn as leaders? Or is the diversification effort–from those cozy women’s initiatives to the hard-headed firm strategies to avoid sexual harassment suits–simply political correctness writ large? There’s been a lot said from both sides of the aisle recently. And from some surprising corners. The Hay Group recently announced that, from a series of in-depth interviews … Continue Reading
Speaking of hospitality, during the 6th Annual HR in Hospitality Conference & Expo in San Francisco last month,Chip Conley, the founder of the hotel chain Joie de Vivre, said that most leaders have strong IQs, but far fewer have EQs—emotional intelligence—to match, and that can be detrimental to business. Why? 1) Emotions are more contagious than viruses, so … Continue Reading
The American Lawyer has just issued its Report on Laterals 2012, in which it found that in the 12 months ending September 30, 2011, 2,454 partners left or joined Am Law 200 firms, for a 22% increase over 2010, when there was the lowest number of moves since 2000. "This year’s figure was consistent with the annual average of 2,458 partner moves … Continue Reading
Much space here is devoted to building professional and profitable relationships at work. But there are also work relationships that should end and some that end in any event. While not minimizing the trauma and suffering often associated with divorce and other relationship losses outside of the office, the end of work relationships pose unique difficulties with potentially damaging repercussions … Continue Reading
Ronda Muir of Law People Management has concluded a contract with the ABA to write a seminal book on emotional intelligence and lawyering. Before everyone scatters, could you please send your reactions to the juxtapositions of those two topics and any anecdotes that might be informative to info@LawPeopleManagement.com. All responses will be acknowledged and a select few will … Continue Reading
In honor of the endings and beginnings at this time of the year and the personal and professional resolutions that each of us aspire to for the future, it is fascinating to look to the life of the founder of modern psychology, Sigmund Freud. A recent entry in "The People’s Therapist," a blog by a … Continue Reading
Lawyers suffer from a high rate of depression–the highest of all professions–and the peak time for depression to hit is around the holidays. Add to that the stress that many are feeling now over the economy and whether they will have a job come the first of the year, and you have a recipe for poor … Continue Reading
Goleman Clarifies In the emotional intelligence ring, there have long been two theories—those who think that EI counts for 80% of success and those who don’t. Daniel Goleman’s 1995 blockbuster book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ is the source of much of this scrapping—he asserted in the original edition that IQ … Continue Reading
The following entry won the BlawgWorld Pick of the Week. BlawgWorld is a free weekly email newsletter that links to the best articles on the Web for lawyers and law firm administrators. House Speaker John Boehner teared up when introducing two newly elected Republican congressmen during a closed party meeting on September 15th, … Continue Reading
In a new CareerBuilder survey of more than 2600 hiring managers and human resource professionals nationwide, 71% said they value emotional intelligence in an employee more than IQ and 34% said they are placing even greater emphasis on emotional intelligence when hiring and promoting employees post-recession. And 59% said they would not hire someone who has a high IQ … Continue Reading
One of the more interesting findings in emotional intelligence research is that people who read emotional cues in others are generally good at reading their own emotional states and vice-verse—those who read themselves well are likely to read others well also. Conversely, an inability to read either oneself or others signals the corresponding inability. These findings are … Continue Reading
