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Reprinted from C I N C I N N A T I B A R A S S O C I A T I O N J U N E 2 0 0 1Finding Your Field Of Dreams ... Considering a Coach to Help Your Practiceby Marilyn P. Westerfield">
Reprinted from C I N C I N N A T I B A R A S S O C I A T I O N Finding Your Field Of Dreams
... Considering a Coach by Marilyn P. Westerfield,
Esq. C B A REPORT At the age of 41,Carol G. would be considered by most people to be successful. Happily
married with three children, a beautiful home on the coast of Maine, a lucrative legal
practice with a great partner, Carol has a life many would envy. So what ’s the problem?
Carol says she feels so overwhelmed in trying to keep everyone happy and everything in her
life moving along that she ’s not enjoying her life anymore. She feels anxious Coaching is a new resource available to attorneys who want to have an edge. Whether you If you haven ’t heard of coaching, you may be in the minority. Coaching has exploded
onto the business scene in recent years. Linda Hill of Harvard Business School says that
"Coaching is becoming something of a heavy industry." Personal or life coaching is also a growing trend. The International Coach Federation
(ICF),
the regulating body which sets the standards for coaches who want to be certified, has an
online coach referral service and estimates that the service get about 2,600 hits a month
from people or companies searching for a coach. Articles about coaching or written by
coaches are appearing regularly in the popular press, including So what does that have to do with the practice of law? Coaching can be an extremely
useful tool for lawyers, Although people often compare coaching with older models of personal and professional
development such as mentoring and consulting, coaching is really something quite different
from both. Unlike mentoring, the coach has no personal agenda for the client he or she is
coaching. The coach ’s basic objective is helping the client design a life that is in
line with the client ’s true values, goals and dreams. Unlike consulting, the coach is
not an "expert " who will tell the client what to do. Coaching views the client
as the expert in determining what are the most important things to the client and then
supports the client in staying true to what he or she really wants. And unlike therapy,
coaching is not concerned with resolving past issues. The coaching model is forward
looking and action oriented. The objectives are to identify what the client wants,
determine the steps needed to get there, and act on it. Louise M. has been a lawyer since 1974 and practices law in Cleveland. Coaching is not a "one size fits all " proposition. Coaches hail from every
type of professional background, including business, psychology, sales, medicine and
technology. Most coaches participate in some type of training program for coaches. There
are many types of training programs, although not all are accredited by the ICF, which
also enforces the standards for the practice of coaching. One of the oldest and probably best known programs is the one offered by Coach U, a
virtual coaching college that offers more than 50 teleclasses via conference call to
students located all over the world. Completing an accredited program is necessary to
become certified by the ICF. The practice of coaching is not regulated by law at this time
and so, consequently, anyone can call himself or herself a coach. It ’s important to
verify the qualifications of the coach you ’re considering. Because of their diverse
backgrounds, many coaches have a particular niche in which they practice. Examples include
coaches who specialize in ADD, newly divorced, practice building, health and .fitness,
small business development, e-business, spiritual growth, teen-agers —you name it. If you prefer someone who understands the pressures attorneys face, coaches are
available who specialize in coaching lawyers. What ’s more, you can also .find coaches
who are themselves lawyers as well as coaches. While it ’s not essential to have a coach
who is intimately acquainted with a particular .field, some professionals clearly prefer
it. J. Kim Wright, an Oregon-based coach who practiced family law in North Carolina, states
that most busy lawyers don ’t have time to reflect on their lives and how they ’re
working. A coach lets them reflect. Wright believes that creating a vision statement and
identifying core values are essential for attorneys because doing so allows them to make
decisions with less internal conflict by checking decisions against their values and what
they ultimately want for their lives. Wright notes that many lawyers are deeply unsettled
with the way law is currently practiced. Many lawyers want to find a way to work
cooperatively with other lawyers to solve conflicts. According to Wright, "the adversarial system is rooted in fear and separateness.
It calls for us to focus on our differences and polarize." Many lawyers are looking
for a new model for law practice but feel like they are alone in this struggle. Dolly Garlo, a nurse-attorney who has been coaching since 1997,agrees that many lawyers
want to be strong advocates but don ’t enjoy confrontation or aggressive tactics. Garlo
finds in her work that most lawyers want to be lawyers — they just don ’t want to be
consumed by it. One of the most important things Garlo teaches her clients is how to say
no and how to schedule their time more efficiently. Many lawyers over-promise, Some lawyers who choose to work with a coach are doing so for purely business reasons.
Maria Talamini is a Los Angeles-based coach who works with law firms and individual
lawyers on practice development. She has an MBA and a business/human resources background.
Eventually, Talamini got into the area of training those she calls "reluctant sellers
"— people who have to sell but don ’t want to. It became evident to her that one
group that needed to sell its services, but traditionally had no model to do this, was
attorneys. From her encounters with dozens of lawyers, Talamini notes that many lawyers
hate "selling " and feel that it is demeaning and unprofessional to have to do
it, although they acknowledge that in today ’s competitive market, it must be done. Talamini says that the hardest thing about coaching lawyers is getting to the source of
what they really want. Conversations with clients may start with "I want to grow my
practice " and eventually progress to "I don ’t know if I even want to be a
lawyer anymore." Getting past the façade of "successful lawyer " to the
person inside is difficult. Robert H., a business and real estate lawyer from California, first contacted a coach
because he felt that his practice "wasn't going anywhere " and he wanted help
building his practice. Over time, Robert and his coach have worked on various issues,
including caseload management, better billing practices, clearer client communications,
ending client relationships that weren’t working and personal/life issues such as
freeing up time for family and outside interests. Robert says that, with a coach, he has
been able to set realistic, achievable goals for his practice and compare how the things
he ’s doing match the vision he created. He says that he is clearer about the types of
clients he wants to attract and how to build on these relationships. According to Robert,
"Anyone who wants to maximize the use of his or her time, feel more fulfilled and
efficient doing the job of lawyering, and have more personal/family time " would
benefit from coaching. Talamini generally coaches her clients in person and often in groups; however, the most
common model for the coaching relationship is one to one, over the phone. The client calls
the coach at an agreed upon time and they talk together for 30 minutes to an hour, usually
once a week. For busy attorneys and other professionals, this makes coaching easy and
convenient. The coach and client don ’t even have to live in the same part of the
country and may, in fact, never meet. There are several aspects of coaching that make it particularly effective. People that society tends to view as "successful " often have no one to
really talk to about their insecurities, unrealized dreams and guilt over not really
wanting what they ’ve been fortunate enough to get in life. But what good is a corner
office, making a lot of money or sitting on the boards of numerous organizations if it
doesn't really make you happy or if you really aren't having fun? Coaching isn't for everyone. Some individuals believe that people should be able
to manage their lives on their own. Maybe, but Kristi Yamaguchi knows how to skate and she
has a coach. If you feel stuck, think your life is good but could be better, or just want
to shake things up a little or a lot, a coach might be just the thing you need. Marilyn |