Consistency Is Key: A Deep Dive To Reveal The Real Reason You Are Inconsistent.

If you’re being honest with yourself, you are inconsistent. Sure, you may perform at a high level occasionally, or even frequently, in one area of your life, but other than those instances, your performance, focus, and output are up-and-down. In other words, writ large, you are inconsistent and it’s absolutely destroying your ability to achieve big goals, drive your law firm and practice forward, and live the life you want.

It’s not talent that makes world-class attorneys, it is an outstanding and consistent performance.

The law is a competitive, intellectually demanding profession. Consistent, outstanding performance as a practitioner, practice manager, and leader isn’t just a goal—it is foundational to your success. Yet, despite the extraordinary skill displayed in courtrooms and contained in complex legal documents, a hidden challenge often undermines even the most experienced lawyers: an inconsistency in performance. While it's tempting to pin this on the usual suspects—overwhelming stress, burnout, or the inherently unpredictable nature of the practice of law—the true issue frequently goes unnoticed: inconsistent performance is grounded in a profound lack of clarity.

Clarity is the cornerstone of consistent performance. Heck, it’s the cornerstone of an outstanding life. Clarity is about having a crystal-clear vision of your objectives, strategies, and the way forward. Without clarity, you will find yourself lost amidst a thicket of statutes, case law, pressing client needs, and deadlines, struggling to deliver consistent results for your clients, staff, family, and community.

It’s not natural talent that separates those who are elite from those who are average. If it were, there would be a bunch more outstanding lawyers who were also world-class leaders and performers out there. There aren’t.

The reason, plain and simple, is inconsistency. If you’ve ever found yourself bemoaning the fact you aren’t performing at your best in your practice or life (yes, that is possible), read on.

The result of inconsistent performance leads to an average life.

Let's be real, if you're inconsistent in your law practice, where every detail counts, it's pretty much a disaster. When you don’t perform at an outstanding level in any area of your life or law practice, the impacts aren’t confined to a particular client matter or segment of your life. They affect everything. 

Inconsistent performance impacts client trust and satisfaction destroying your most profitable referral source.

The trust of a client is essential to any engagement; it’s at the heart of your profession. Inconsistent performance can severely erode this foundation. Clients seeking your help are often navigating some of the most challenging periods of their lives. They look for stability, reliability, and predictability in their lawyer. When you fail to deliver consistent performance, it not only jeopardizes individual cases but can also lead to a broader loss of confidence. Satisfied clients become evangelists for their lawyer. Dissatisfied clients are less likely to return or refer others, potentially leading to a significant loss of business over time.

Inconsistent performance influences case outcomes.

The stakes in the matters you handle high, especially to your client. Inconsistent performance, whether it be in the thoroughness of your preparation, research, or advocacy can directly influence the outcomes of matters. For instance, fluctuating levels of thoroughness in case research or variable commitment to case preparation or client communication leads to missed opportunities. (And, perhaps a bar complaint or, worse yet, a call to your malpractice carrier.) For litigators, the inability to show up day-in day-out in trial, despite the massive fatigue experienced, is readily seen by the jury and may result in adverse jury verdicts. Such failures of performance can result in unfavorable rulings, appeals, or even the loss of a case that might otherwise have been won.

Inconsistent performance tanks team dynamics and morale.

The practice of law is virtually always a team effort. Even if you count yourself as a proud solo lawyer, you’re likely leveraging human capital in the person of a legal assistant, bookkeeper, or contract counsel to help you. Inconsistency in performance from one team member can place additional burdens on others, disrupting workflows and increasing stress levels. This can lead to a toxic work environment where resentment builds, collaboration suffers, and overall morale dips; a sure recipe for burnout. Over time, such an environment can lead to high turnover rates, making it challenging to maintain a cohesive and effective team.

Inconsistent performance hinders your professional growth and development.

Inconsistency not only affects present performance but also has a knock-on effect on professional growth and development. Lawyers who struggle with inconsistency find it difficult to identify their strengths and areas for improvement, hindering their professional development. Furthermore, inconsistency can limit opportunities for more significant cases or roles within a firm, as reliability and predictability are often prerequisites for a world-class law practice.

Inconsistent performance tarnishes a firm’s reputation and market position.

As a lawyer, your reputation is your currency; it is everything. It takes years to build and only moments to stain. Inconsistent performance across a practice can quickly lead to a reputation for unreliability. Word of mouth in the legal community travels fast, and an attorney or firm known for inconsistency may find it challenging to attract high-quality clients or cases. Moreover, in a competitive market, attorneys and firms with a reputation for consistency and excellence will inevitably attract more business, pushing inconsistent performers further to the margins.

The ripple effects of inconsistent performance in a law practice underscore the importance of addressing the root causes of this issue head-on. By acknowledging and tackling the underlying factors contributing to inconsistency—starting with a lack of clarity—world-class attorneys can safeguard their client relationships, case outcomes, team dynamics, and, ultimately, their reputation in the legal marketplace. In doing so, they not only enhance their current standing but also secure a more stable and profitable future for their practice.

Five Keys to Developing Clarity.

Imagine you’re juggling a bunch of cases and each one is a ball you can’t afford to drop. That’s where rock-solid clarity comes in. If inconsistency is poison to your law practice, clarity is the antidote to inconsistency. In the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) and demanding world of legal practice, achieving clarity will be the difference between success and stagnation. Here are five crucial strategies for developing clarity, ensuring you and your law practice deliver consistently high performance and navigate the challenges of your profession with confidence.

1. Define clear goals and objectives.

The foundation of clarity in life and, certainly, your law practice, is the establishment of clear, concise, goals and objectives. When a case comes in the door, you evaluate the path forward and develop clear goals and objectives with the client’s input. Why wouldn’t you do the same for your law practice (or life, for that matter)? Goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Aspirational (please do not set achievable goals, they are boring and lead to mediocrity), Relevant, and Time-bound. This clarity in purpose directs focus, guides decision-making, and provides a benchmark against which performance can be measured. After all, what’s measured, improves. 

2. Implement structured planning and organization.

Once your goals are set, the next step is to implement structured planning and organization processes. This is where leadership and the CEO mindset comes into play. What human capital can be leveraged? How can you become a Level-4 delegator, where the person delegated to owns the result, which is continued excellence over time? What technology do you leverage to ensure the mundane is executed consistently with excellence? Building a structure is critical because when things get hectic, which inevitably will happen, you’ve got your systems and team to fall back on to calm the chaos. A structured approach ensures that all team members are aligned and that cases are progressing as planned, minimizing the chances of oversight and inconsistency.

3. Foster open communication.

Clarity is also about communication—ensuring that everyone involved, from clients to team members, understands the strategy, goals, and expectations. Regular, open lines of communication help preempt misunderstandings and misalignments that can lead to inconsistent performance. This includes being clear about roles, responsibilities, and the rationale behind decisions. Sharing the rationale is essential, after all, no one can read your mind.

4. Prioritize continuous learning and development.

The ground under the practice of law is is ever-shifting, with new laws, regulations, and precedents emerging regularly. Additionally, clients have access to the world at their fingertips, which means they have the ability to research on their own. A commitment to continuous learning and development ensures you and your practice remain at the forefront of legal knowledge and expertise. This involves not just keeping abreast of legal updates but also developing skills in areas such as negotiation, client communication, and technological tools. A culture of learning fosters adaptability, ensuring attorneys maintain clarity and consistency in their work, even as external conditions change.

5. Cultivate self-awareness and mindfulness.

Finally, clarity must also come from within (ignore this aspect at your own peril.) Lawyers are often subject to high levels of stress and pressure, which can cloud judgment and decision-making. Cultivating self-awareness and mindfulness empowers lawyers to remain centered and maintain a clear focus, even in high-pressure situations. In the parlance of the Energy Leadership system in which I am certified, cultivating self-awareness and mindfulness allows a lawyer to remain in an “anabolic” state and out of their “Energy Stress Reaction.” Practices such as meditation, reflective journaling, or even engaging in hobbies can help maintain mental and emotional equilibrium, fostering a clear state of mind that is conducive to consistent performance.

Achieving clarity is a dynamic and ongoing process. It requires deliberate effort and commitment but pays dividends in the form of enhanced performance, better client outcomes, and a more harmonious work environment. By defining clear goals, implementing structured planning, fostering open communication, prioritizing continuous learning, and cultivating self-awareness, you can overcome the challenges of inconsistency and navigate their career with confidence and precision.

Brené Brown says “clarity is kind.” That is true. I don’t think it goes far enough. Clarity is not only kind, it is essential for consistent peak performance.

My clients are the best attorneys, who do hard things and often make them look easy. They increase revenue, master their time and focus, and improve performance while enjoying more free time and suffering less burnout. You can too. Schedule a complementary 30-minute discovery session with me here, or send me an email.

Case Study: From Skeptic to Believer

I work 1:1 with world-class lawyers; it’s an extremely high bar to become a client because I understand the value of my unique brand of coaching for those who make the cut. Many of the attorneys who engage me begin from a place of skepticism; lawyers are, after all, risk averse and, thus, skeptical people. Time is one of the greatest areas of doubt in engaging me as a coach. “I’m so busy as it is, how will I have the time to meet with you or do any work in-between our sessions?” the story goes.

A recent in-house client for a well-known crypto-currency exchange had just such doubts. The company had engaged a number of highly-qualified coaches to team up with various C-suite and similar level high performers. I was chosen by one of their attorneys for a six-month engagement. During our first meeting, my client (I’ll refer to her as “Celeste”) expressed grave doubts about being able to have time to work with me. She was leading a six-attorney legal team which had just undergone a Reduction in Force (RIF), and she and her team were stretched thin. She was overwhelmed and stressed.

Of course, having owned and led a law firm for sixteen years, I knew exactly what she was talking about. I also knew that, if she did the work, at the end of our coaching relationship, she would actually create more time because of our work. 

As I predicted, at the end of our six-month coaching engagement, when I asked Celeste to reflect on what she had gained from our work together, she reminded me of her doubt at the beginning. Here’s what she said:

John, you know I was skeptical at the beginning. The biggest thing I worried about was time. In fact, I think I told you “who has time to sit and talk with someone for an hour twice a month?” I’m here to tell you now, I am transformed; I am a believer. I now know coaching with you was priceless.  

Why did Celeste go from skeptic to believer? She identified three ways coaching had increased her ability to focus and achieve greater success in less time.

Fear is a self-created mindset that kills your ability to focus. 

The first shift Celeste made thanks to coaching was understanding the negative effect fear had on her ability to focus. 

We’ve all been there. We’re thinking about a “difficult” or “tough” conversation we need to have. It consumes a ton of mental bandwidth before the conversation even occurs. From “how do I do this the right way,” to “I don’t want to upset them.” If you’ve ever occupied the role of a leader (📸newsflash: each and every one of you has), you’ve had similar thoughts or some other thought that resulted in your preoccupation. 

When she brought up a “difficult” conversation she was dreading in a coaching session, the first thing we talked about was the story she was telling herself about the conversation. We discussed all the ways the conversation could go off the rails, how the person she needed to speak with was “challenging” under optimum circumstances, which made this necessary interaction all that much more stressful. 

I asked how being in her head like she was affected her ability to focus on her current three biggest projects. After saying “that’s a great question,” she spent a few moments in silence. She had never thought of how fear affected her ability to focus on the most important things that moved the needle for her and the company forward.

We created a system for her to recognize when fear was affecting her ability to perform so, for the rest of her life, she had the skill to conquer it and focus on the things she needed to focus on to best perform and lead her team.

Becoming a world-class communicator saves time.

When I practiced law, I had often heard the joke “oh, my practice would be great, if only for the clients!” Whenever you bring other human beings into the mix, with their quirks, emotions, and unique way of approaching things, the degree of difficulty is increased, at times exponentially. Celeste was no different when we began working together; by the end, well…

Celeste led a team of diverse, high-achieving lawyers, in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complicated, and ambiguous) environment. She needed to not only communicate with her team effectively, but she needed to also ensure her team communicated with the necessary stakeholders in ways that empowered win-win relationships and situations. And, of course, because of her position, she was also tasked with leading those more senior to her.

Working together, Celeste came to understand the “Golden Rule” is not the be-all-end-all when it comes to communication. In fact, it often results in miscommunication. Not only did she learn this new way of communicating, she specifically identified it as one of the top three things which gave her back time.

Celeste learned a communication method that seems simple yet is wildly effective among top performers and elite leaders: communicate with others in the way they need. If you don’t, your message won’t get across, you’ll be unable to lead effectively, i.e. have others achieve your goals, and you spend more time than is necessary communicating because you’ll be forced to repeat yourself.

Building solid relationships improves performance.

The third and final thing Celeste pointed to as a game-changer for her built on the first two. She understood the need to lead her team effectively; through coaching, she came to build the tools to be able to create a different mindset for it.

Celeste put it in a nutshell: “By working closely with you and doing the work on my action steps between our sessions, I was better able to leverage the human capital necessary to achieve big things in a challenging environment.”

My clients are the best attorneys, who do hard things and often make them look easy. They increase revenue, master their time and focus, and improve performance while enjoying more free time and suffering less burnout. You can too. Schedule a complementary 30-minute discovery session with me here, or send me an email.

Why I Pivoted From Lawyer and Law Firm Leader To Lawyer who Coaches Lawyers.

If you know anything about me (a big presumption on my part, to be certain), you know I transitioned out of the active practice of law to a full-time career of being a lawyer who coaches other lawyers in the areas of peak performance and leadership. Constantly am asked about the “why” of the transition, am challenged as someone who “bailed” on his practice, or left my practice because I either couldn’t hack it (i.e. was burnt out) or was unsuccessful. Even in those situations where those questions and challenges weren’t voiced, my fear is they are playing in the background. I’m writing this post to put the questions and issues to bed once and for all. As the reader, you get to decide whether to believe what follows or not. That decision is out of my control. What is in my control, always, is my story, which I own 100%. It is not “Instagram-perfect,” because, frankly, nothing in life is. It is, however, mine.

Debunking Myths: The Real Reasons Behind My Career Pivot.

The short of it is: I didn’t leave the law because I was burnt out, stressed out, or failing. Instead, I did the work of defining what I wanted my life to look like in, at that time 20 years. After taking that, for for me was a first-in-my-life, step, I was faced with a decision. Would I continue to practice law, a profession I excelled at, was well respected in, and made a damn good living with, or would I pivot to a course which would set me on the road to creating that 20-year vision; a road where my future was uncertain and one on which I could satisfy my core values of service, adventure, and success? The answer is apparent, I pivoted. 

If you’re at all interested in the more detailed story of why I pivoted from being a lawyer and law firm leader to a lawyer who coaches lawyers, I invite you to read on.

From Healthcare to Law: The Unconventional Path Driven By My Core Values.

In order for you to understand my “why,” of what I’ll call “the pivot,” it may be important you know I did not grow up dreaming of becoming an attorney. In fact, in high school, I dreamt of becoming a veterinarian. That is until some I’m now certain disavowed aptitude test allegedly informed my high school guidance counselor to unceremoniously inform me I was either not smart enough or driven enough to achieve that dream. (Writing that, something I’ve never connected with the journey which led me to today, is evidence of the power of writing, by the way.) Of course, even if becoming an attorney had been my dream then, I’m all but certain that same test would have lead that same counselor to tell me the same; “don’t bother trying.” But I digress…

My first career was as a respiratory therapist; first as a Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT) then as a Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT). Looking at this choice, with the benefit of hindsight, it’s not surprising and is evidence of my core value of service. Why was it not surprising? My mother was a registered nurse. I suppose I have her to thank for the nurture part of my “service” core value. If it wasn’t for what I refer to as my “second” (but, honestly no less important) core value of adventure, I probably would have stayed in New Jersey, settling into a life of routine and comfort. I did not. Instead, after visiting southern California on vacation in August of 1986, I packed up my car on Halloween of that same year, and moved to San Diego. I didn’t have a job, but was certain I would get one as a Respiratory Therapist (uncertified at the time), didn’t have a place to live, and didn’t know a soul, although I talked a friend into moving across the country with me (thanks Derrick!). I not only got a job and an apartment, I met Michelle, a wonderful Registered Nurse, and we were married on September 15, 1990.

One day, after a tough day at the hospital, Michelle and I were eating dinner while our newborn daughter Allie slept in her bassinet, and I said “I want to go to law school.” Although I loved being a healthcare professional, it was taking a toll on me psychologically and emotionally. I was on the road to significant burnout. Becoming an attorney seemed like a natural fit as I’d always been told I could argue with the best of them and I didn’t have any ideas at the time. Michelle looked at me, then around the house we had recently purchased, then at our sleeping daughter, and said something along the lines of “Okay…just don’t screw it up.” (She might have used stronger language than that; in fact, I know she did.)

“Screw it up,” I did not. Prior to law school, for the first time in my life I can remember, I set a concrete goal for my performance, not that I told anyone. My goal was to finish in the top 10% of my graduating class from California Western School of Law. Here’s the thing about goals, especially big ones, they can be motivating and paralyzing. At turns, my goal was those things to me. At the end of law school, I did not achieve my goal of graduating in the top 10%; instead, I was ranked number 5 overall. That’s what lead us to move from San Diego, California, to Boise, Idaho, in 1998. I became a law clerk at the Idaho Court of Appeals. It was a fantastic opportunity to be mentored by Judge Darrel Perry. 

My legal career was fulfilling, first as a law clerk, then as a Deputy Attorney General, then as an associate at a mid-sized law firm, then as a partner at the same firm. Beginning in 2004, I began conversations with two wonderful friends, Guy Hallam and Brad Sneed, about starting our own firm. The three of us knew we could “build a better mousetrap” and our law firm would be different than anything that was out there. As you probably know, lawyers are a risk-averse bunch; it took us two years to pull the trigger and open Kormanik Hallam & Sneed LLP.

Building a Law Firm: Lessons in Leadership and Innovation.

During the first year of Kormanik Hallam & Sneed LLP, if I had a dollar for each time I questioned my sanity for wanting to open a firm, wondered whether I was cut out for law firm leadership, or doubted my business acumen, I would have retired long ago. Today, I look back on that period quite fondly, when I was in it…not so much.

I became the de facto managing partner, not through some form of formal process but simply because I was drawn to it and its activities; my partners weren’t. Through the ups and downs of the great recession, the firm not only survived, it thrived. In 2011, based on my persistent encouragement, the partners created a real estate holding company and invested in the purchase of an office building. It was a brilliant strategic move.

A New Chapter: Embracing Coaching to Create a Vision of Impact and Independence.

Fast forward to 2018. I was working with a coach for the first time in my life. Sure, I’d had a few mentors in the past, but this was the first time I’d invested in myself this way. One of the first things my coach had me do was to, in his words, “pick your damn eyes up off the paper, step off the hamster wheel, and define the future you want.” Put more succinctly, he challenged me to create a 20-year vision. I’d never done such a thing before. I didn’t realize I had the ability to take that level of autonomy over my life. He assured me I not only had that ability but it was my moral obligation to do so lest I lead a life which, at the end, was filled with regret for all the things I wished I’d done. I’ll be honest, my first three attempts at my vision were small, safe, and boring. My coach didn’t allow me to get away with that and challenged me to think big, dig deep, and write what I really wanted, not what I thought the world expected me to want. I did so.

The two things that came out of the vision work I did were I wanted to life a future life which was more impactful than the one I was living as a criminal defense attorney, albeit a death penalty qualified one, and to be geographically independent (Boise is a great place, but the world is a big place filled with wonderful people). The work lead me to a second professional pivot; the decision between continuing my legal career or moving on to something else. More work with my coach lead me to identify coaching as that potential next thing. Of course, lawyers are my people and, so, the niche I would fill was, to me, obvious.

It would have been so simple, easy, and comfortable to continue with my law career. Honestly. And, it would have resulted in me settling, putting my desire for greater impact and geographic independence on the back burner. Those would have been a “someday” thought in the back of my mind as I continued perfecting (if there is such a thing) my criminal defense practice. 

After building up the courage to have “that” conversation with Michelle again, I let her know what I was thinking. This time her response was quite different from the law school conversation. Here’s why I think it was different: First, I had built a track record of success over the prior 30 years. Second, this pivot was much more intentional than my law school pivot. Finally, because of the intentionality and clear definition of my “why,” I was a much better communicator.

Being an attorney, though, I wanted to do it the “right” way. I wanted to be trained by some of the best coaches in the world, using a framework I believed in, and that would result in me being the best in the world at coaching lawyers. I identified the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) as the training ground for me. I completed my training in June 2020; wrapped up my legal practice, and settled into the world of full time coaching as soon as the Covid 19 pandemic allowed.

Why Coach Lawyers? Understanding My Unique Viewpoint.

I am a lawyer who coaches lawyers because this profession allows me to fulfill my vision of impact and independence. I am a lawyer who coaches lawyers because they are my people, I relate to their unique challenges and struggles and know I am the best coach for them to team with to create the law practices and lives they want. I am a lawyer who coaches lawyers because I have walked, while not necessarily in their shoes, a path they are generally on and, thus, have unique insight and empathy for them. Finally, I am world class coach for world class attorneys because I know the law is a noble profession, filled with noble people, who have the ability to change the world for their staff, clients, families, and communities.

Conclusion: Living My Core Values Through Coaching. 

I pivoted because of my deep need to live up to my core values of service, adventure, and success. 

I pivoted because, I want to live as Mohican Chief Aupumt said we ought to live: 

When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes, they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home. 

My clients are the best attorneys in their field. They increase revenue, master their time and focus, and improve performance while enjoying more free time and suffering less burnout. You can too. Schedule a complementary 30-minute discovery session with me here, or send me an email.

Case Study: From Fight/Flight Reaction to Strategic Thinker.

Every coaching relationship has a beginning, middle, and end. Each phase has its unique challenges for my clients. Overall, though, the coaching journey is one of evolution, insight, and growth.

A recent client, I’ll call her “Sarah,” as all coaching relationships are confidential, is senior legal counsel at a tech company based outside of the United States (yes, I coach attorneys all around the world). When we first began our coaching relationship, she was experiencing a significant amount of stress. Her biggest struggles were in the areas of leadership, executive presence, and navigating wearing multiple hats as legal counsel and empowering the company’s leadership team to take steps to move forward in the face of risk.

Mastering Effective Communication in a VUCA World: Essential Skills for Business Lawyers.

For in house counsel like Sarah or, really, any attorney who advises business clients, being able to communicate effectively with their clients in a way that not only recognizes the risks involved in conducting business in the current VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) regulatory and business environment is one of the greatest challenges. The absolute worst communication style for Sarah to have adopted would have been one where the legal department became known as “the department of no” or, worse yet, “dream killers.” The thing is, attorneys are trained to be risk averse and attempt to create conditions where the risks are recognized and avoided at all costs. In the business context, doing so has the result of killing great ideas, stifling innovation, and an almost adversarial relationship between the entrepreneur/business person and legal counsel. Not an effective place to be for a lawyer.

I learned this lesson years ago when I was advising a client about the risks of their proposed course of action. As we sat around the conference table at my law office, I was listing the steps the client ought to take to reduce the risk to my risk tolerance. Three minutes into the presentation, the client held up their hand and said: “You know, John; if we took your advice, our business would shut down! There’s no such things as zero risk.” After a beat, I realized my error: my risk tolerance as a lawyer and the client’s risk tolerance as a business person were different. Speaking to them from my risk tolerance was the absolutely wrong way to go. 

Having had this experience as a practicing attorney, I paired my knowledge with my coaching training and worked with Sarah to shift the focus from an attorney’s risk tolerance to that of her company’s leadership and to speak in a different way.  By doing so, Sarah was able to approach, what had previously been viewed as “challenging” conversations which were somewhat adversarial in nature, in a way which encouraged her client to effectively evaluate the risk acceptable to them on a scale and to move the business forward based on the range of risks associated with any particular action based on sound legal advice.

Overcoming Burnout with Strategic Delegation: Essential Skills for High-Achievers. 

The second area Sarah identified as a potential growth opportunity was her ability to delegate. Having worked as an associate in a large law firm prior to joining her current company, Sarah recognized her natural tendency towards ownership over everything, whether it was, in fact, her ultimate responsibility or not. This “the buck stops here” mindset, while lauded by society in general, is an absolute killer when it comes to the ability to focus on what matters, to maintain an acceptable life/work balance (yes, I meant to write “life” first…who the hell decided “work” comes first in that construct?), and to foster positive relationships free of doubt and resentment. 

I introduced the framework of the four levels of delegation (Level 1 - assign a task; Level 2 - assign responsibility for the task; Level 3 - ask the person to own the results of the project; and Level 4 - ask the person to own the outcome of any delegated task, which is consistent and continuous excellence over time). Doing the deep work involved in becoming a world class Level 4 delegator, Sarah was able to begin the journey of becoming a Level 4 delegator and to release ownership over things which she, in fact, own. By doing so, she increased her understanding of other’s struggles, was able to re-set her view of a fair expectation for performance of others, and, most importantly, battle burn out.

Building Resilience: Techniques to Stay Focused and Avoid Fight or Flight Responses.

Finally, and, in my view, most importantly for continued personal evolution, Sarah addressed her tendency to too easily trigger her sympathetic nervous system and drop into what my coach training classifies as a “catabolic” state. When our sympathetic nervous system is engaged, and we’re in a catabolic state, our fight or flight mechanism it triggered, adrenaline and cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine, are released and our minds, which haven’t evolved all that much over the millennia, truly believe we’re in a life-or-death situation. The result is an inability to be strategic, to see all options available, to think through not only the immediate consequences of any action, but the secondary and tertiary consequences as well (of course those secondary and tertiary consequences are often not only unwanted, but contrary to our ultimate goals). 

By doing the deep work necessary to identify the thoughts which had Sarah’s mind believing it was in an epic life-and-death struggle akin to being chased by a lion on the Savannah, a new framework was created. That framework transformed Sarah from a reactive leader to something quite different, a responsive partner. Sarah became, if not a master, then a person on the road to being better able to identify the patterns and habits which caused their fight or flight reactions. Sarah was empowered with a framework to catch themselves before going catabolic or, just as importantly, recognize when they were and take steps to engage their parasympathetic system to create the conditions to be a more strategic thinker and world class leader.

By beginning the journey to mastery in these three critical areas, Sara his firmly on the path towards mastery and becoming the type of person who can empower herself, the company, and those around her, to perform at their best.

My clients are the best attorneys in their field. They increase revenue, master their time and focus, and improve performance while enjoying more free time and suffering less burnout. You can too. Schedule a complementary 30-minute discovery session with me here, or send me an email.

Want to Reach Your Full Potential? Stop Setting “Achievable” or “Attainable” Goals!

Setting achievable or attainable goals will set you on the path to mediocracy, nothing more and nothing less. You won’t evolve, excel, or feel the thrill of doing something above of your current skill set. Setting achievable or attainable goals is a recipe for average. If you’re reading this, I know you’re not average!

No one in the history of humankind has achieved their full potential by setting achievable or attainable goals. You are an outstanding attorney, why in the world would you settle for a goal which will land you in the middle of the pack? If you believe, as I do, each of us was put on this earth to do great things, and you’re going to achieve your full potential and do great things in your law practice as an attorney and leader, you must (trust me, I don’t use words like “must” or their equivalent very often) stop setting “achievable” or “attainable” goals.

We’ve all heard of them…SMART goals. The framework was birthed in a 1981 article by George T. Doran. As originally proposed, I know Doran got one of the letters completely wrong. Of course, like a bad game of telephone, Doran’s original framework was further bastardized beyond recognition. The worst modification of the goal-setting framework surrounds the A in SMART. This bastardization has lead a generation (or two) down a path of mediocracy and regret.

As originally suggested, Doran used the acronym SMART to mean Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, Time-related. If you’ve been paying attention (and why would you have gotten this far in the post without doing so), you can guess where I believe know Doran originally got it wrong. Yes, that’s right, he blew it when he suggested management goals be Realistic. (For my clients and me, I’ve altered Doran’s R to stand for Relevant. In other words, why the is goal important.)

Now to the game of telephone. Doran’s original A, which he defined as Assignable has been improperly altered to mean Achievable or Attainable! Can you imagine? I mean, if you stick with Doran’s original R (Realistic), why in the world would you also have to set a goal which is Attainable or Achievable. The A and R become redundant with the change. If you adopt the altered version of Doran’s framework, it will keep you playing a small game until your final breath. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?

Attainable, Achievable, Realistic. Yuck.

When I looked into my then five-year-old daughter’s eyes, do you believe I told her “Allie, don’t listen to people who tell you you can be anything you want to be, instead, you’ve got to be realistic.”? If you’re a parent, do you say such things to your child(ren)? I certainly hope not.

Goal setting is the key to your growth; you’ve got to get the basic framework right. Performing the solemn (yes, solemn) act of putting pen to paper (yes, pen to paper, there’s neuroscience behind it) and defining your goals, whether for the next 90 days or 3 years, requires (yes, requires) more from you if you’re going to get close to achieving your full potential. It requires more from you if you’re going to be the person your law firm, clients, family, and community need. It will require you to ditch “attainable” “achievable” or “realistic” goals.

If you are a practicing lawyer, you went to law school, graduated, took and passed the bar exam. Before you began, even if you were at the top of your undergrad class (I wasn’t), setting the goal of completing law school and passing the bar exam was not “achievable” or “attainable” when you first began. If you think it was, you’re kidding yourself. This means you have the power to think big; it is in you.

Ditch attainable, achievable, and/or realistic goals. Such goals are for people who love settling for average, for being “okay.” Instead, set goals so that when you’re writing them, you feel that pit in your stomach, your palms get a bit sweaty, you’re a bit embarrassed to share them with those closest to you for fear of sounding, well, unrealistic. You question whether you can achieve them. Doing so will empower you with a sense of awe and wonder. Doing so is the only way you’ll leave an average existence behind and begin on the path to achieving your full potential.

After all, isn’t that why you’re here?

I believe it is.