Many lawyers are hiring their own personal coach for one-on-one business and personal support because they like the idea of creating their own plan to reach their goals. A coach takes a different approach from a consultant. A consultant tells the client what to do to improve the situation and lawyers like most people do not like to be told what to do. A coach works with the client to draw out the client's own ideas and inclinations to help design a plan based on what they are willing to do in the future to improve their situation.
The use of coaches for professional development is growing in use in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia. Coaching uses a style of conversation that acts as a catalyst to encourage action based on increased self-awareness. The coach uses mindful listening and other appropriate skills, to create a synergy so the client reaches solutions exponentially greater than they would on their own.
The International Coach Federation is a non-profit, professional organization of personal and business coaches created to build, support, and preserve the integrity of the Coaching Profession. Visit their web site for more information on coaching and coach referrals: www.coachfederation.com.
The coaching philosophy is based on the key premise that the person being coached actually has the answers but needs a safe forum to discuss them or a sounding board to test them. The person being coached rather than the coach is responsible for their motivation and to change their performance or actions.
These examples are based on true coaching stories but the details are combined or altered to protect confidentiality. In all cases, the lawyer determined coaching is the method that will work for them to achieve their practice, professional, and life goals.
Marie hired her coach because she wanted to improve her marketing skills. She trusted her intuition that this was the way for her to achieve her partnership goals. She uses her weekly coaching calls to check in on how she is doing in developing the practice she wants. She brainstorms new ideas. She gets an opportunity to put her week in perspective and confirm she has made progress on her goals. That concern is common with all coaching clients, not just lawyers - they don't believe they are doing enough to achieve their goals. So they get an opportunity to notice and relish their accomplishments. That in itself is very satisfying for the coaching client: Realizing they are actually making progress toward their goal.
Through weekly coaching conversations that are reflective and probing Marie comes up with ways that will enhance her marketing efforts. Work with a coach has given her the support, motivation and ideas to take on marketing activities that she had not attempted before. Part of what has resulted in her working with a coach is her willingness to spend time on developing her practice not just the work of her practice. She has learned even a little amount of time on the activities she is comfortable with can result in positive returns to her practice.
Drew hired a coach to help him build his solo practice. Drew insisted that he could not do any marketing. He was just not comfortable with the idea of selling himself. One of the benefits he received from working with his coach was he noticed he was already doing a number of key marketing activities, but that he had been using a different definition of marketing. Meanwhile, he was developing relationships with his clients and other lawyers that resulted in more work for him.
Wayne used his coaching calls to reassure himself he is a good lawyer. One of his coach's roles was to remind him of the successes he had achieved in his practice when he was in the thick of a difficult case that did not seem to be going well. The end result of this difficult case was better than he ever imagined it could be. He used his coaching sessions to strategize the moves he would make in the case - to his significant success. His coach was a trusted sounding board.
Alex uses his coach as a weekly means to check in on his practice, to keep him on track, and to act as a trusted sounding board. Keeping on track means keeping his billable hours at the level he wants, engaging in continuous marketing activities, reducing non-billable hours, and including time for personal matters.
Michael hired a coach so he could improve the income stream from his practice. He achieved more than a 70% increase in gross income within 12 months. He then needed to deal with the real issue in his practice, which was how to reduce the hours he was spending at the office. He had been spending too many hours every day handling the administrative details of his small firm's practice. He has learned to say "no" to handling administrative matters that he can delegate, so he spends more time on his billable work and can leave at a reasonable time of the day.
Roxanne hired her coach to improve her marketing skills, but as these developed she began working on improving her delegation and management skills. Within a year her marketing efforts resulted in such an increase in the work that she needed more help. Now she is working on the skills that will make her more effective in dealing with the increased workload. She is learning to turn the work around to her associates faster and to trust they will get the work done (because she is giving clear instructions and willing to train). She is letting go of having to do everything her self, and is learning how to be more effective in asking for what she wants from her staff, other associates, and partners.
Mary had been practicing for 20 years and wanted to do something other than practice law, but knew she needed a plan before she could leave. After she hired a coach to help her focus her values and desires for the future, she realized there were aspects of her practice that she enjoyed and she began changing the focus of her practice. She now works only with clients whose legal matters interest her.
Many lawyers who hire a coach to consider leaving the practice of law end up deciding to change how they practice rather than leave law entirely. They realize there are aspects of their practice they like and they choose to work towards creating a practice full of the enjoyable aspects.
There are also lawyers like Alice who was clear it was time for a change, but she did not have the courage to take up the unusual career she really wanted. She decided that working with a coach would give her perspective, insight, and support in coming up with the plan and the means to stay on track with her plan. She is no longer practicing law and is happy with her new career.
Ruth took time out from law to raise her children. She felt it was time to re-enter the work force but she did not want to practice law nor did she know what she wanted to do. Working with a coach, she decided to follow her dream to be a writer. She came up with a long-term plan to achieve that dream and believes her life was profoundly changed for the better. Today she is a published author.
Ross wanted to improve his practice. He was aware that his clients and partners were not happy with him even though he was extremely service-oriented. Working with his coach he realized that his desire to please was the cause of his problem. He was promising more than he could deliver. He was agreeing to things that he would not have the time, in his busy practice, to deliver. Now he delivers on his promises in a satisfactory manner as a result of coaching.
Mathew hired his coach to prepare for a job interview. He finished the coaching session saying "I've never been happier to write a check for a service. The coaching fee was the best investment I could make."
Amy hired her coach to get unstuck on a significant matter that was holding her back from developing her practice. Within three coaching sessions (a quarter of the time she allocated) she was unstuck and progressing toward getting the matter resolved.
There are many other reasons lawyers hire coaches including, to get more focused in their practice, to determine how their values fit into their practice, to prepare for retirement, to get off a derailment path, and to implement strategic plans. Lawyers notice that some area of their practice or life is not how they want it to be. They don't feel they have all the answers on how to make the necessary changes, or if they do have answers they are not following through, and they believe it will be more productive and easier if they work with someone. Especially if that someone is trained in ways that can help them get beyond their limitations.
By Irene Leonard King, lawyer and business and personal coach to lawyers and other professionals. Irene is the author of Create the Practice You Want: Law Practice Development Workbook. For more information including CLE approved classes visit her web site www.CoachingForChange.com or call at (206) 723 9900.
Published in the Volume 10, Summer 2001 Number 2 Law Practice Management & Technology Section of the Washington State Bar Association Newsletter.
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