Taking Your Leadership Skills To The Next Level

// Most people think that someone must be intelligent and articulate to be a good leader. However, while those qualities are certainly helpful, they’re not essential. In fact, there are other traits that are far more important.

Leadership is not about having all the answers; it’s about being able to find them and helping others do the same. As a lawyer, you are often in charge of teams. Whether you’re working with associates at your law firm or an opposing counsel team on a high-stakes litigation case, to succeed in this role, you need to be able to effectively lead your team in achieving common goals.

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Here are some tips for enhancing your leadership skills as a lawyer:

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Encourage And Inspire Others

As a leader, it’s important to inspire and motivate those around you. This means being passionate about your work and being able to communicate that passion to others. When you feel strongly about what you do, it inspires others to feel the same way. And, when your team feels inspired, you’re more likely to achieve success.

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Listen Carefully And Respond Thoughtfully

In order to lead team members effectively, you need to consider their needs and concerns. This means listening carefully to what people have to say and responding in a way that shows you’ve considered their input. Often, the best leaders are those who are able to see both sides of an issue and find common ground.

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Be Decisive

As a leader, you can’t afford to second-guess yourself. When it’s time to make a decision, you need to be able to do so quickly and confidently. While this doesn’t mean that you should never change your mind, it’s important to stand by a decision once you’ve made it.

Be Open To New Ideas

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No matter how successful you are, there’s always room to learn and grow. As a leader, it’s important to be open to new ideas and feedback from your team. This will help you hone your leadership skills and improve as a professional.

Be Willing To Take Risks

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As a lawyer, you’re used to taking calculated risks and making decisions based on facts and evidence. When it comes to leading a team, though, it’s also important to take some risks — for example, by trying new approaches or allowing your team members more autonomy in their work. This can help you foster a more dynamic and innovative work environment.

Effective team leadership requires a combination of different skills and traits. As a lawyer, you need to be able to inspire and motivate others, listen carefully and respond thoughtfully, make decisions quickly and confidently, and take risks when necessary. By focusing on these key areas, not only can you become a stronger leader, you will also become a more successful lawyer.

For more information on how lawyers can lead teams better, be sure to watch Season 4, Episode 10 of Notes to My (Legal) Self with Anirma Gupta, It’s All About the People.

Olga V. Mack is the CEO of Parley Pro, a next-generation contract management company that has pioneered online negotiation technology. Olga embraces legal innovation and had dedicated her career to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive than before by embracing technology. Olga is also an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. She founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to participate on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat and Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security. You can follow Olga on Twitter @olgavmack.

Topics

In-House Counsel, Olga V. Mack, Technology