Better Law Practice Through Better People Management
In the May 2013 Harvard Business Review, researchers reported on companies led by CEOs who have large signatures–an indicator, the authors of the study contend, of narcissism, usually characterized as being dominating, vain and self-centered. The trait is named after the Greek myth of Narcissus, who fell in love with his own image.
According…
Speaking of China, while touring a job fair in Tianjin last week, China’s President Xi Jiping answered his own question to a local official as to what the critical ingredients of good Communist leaders are.
“Intelligence quotient and emotional quotient – which is more important?” the president evidently asked. When the official answered “both,”…
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…
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…
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…
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…
One of the more interesting client assignments we have had involved a small practice group in a middle-sized firm on the West Coast. The firm charged us to find out what was "wrong" with the group and "fix"it or, if it couldn’t be fixed, the firm was going to dump the whole group.
When we arrived…
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…
The rate of depression among lawyers is widely recognized as a multiple–in some studies a double-digit multiple–of the rate of depression in the general population and also in other professions. This rate is high by the second semester of law school and only escalates over time.
There has been speculation as to whether depression in lawyers is a condition…
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…