Parker's Points
September 2008
10 Tips for Managing Yourself (Self Leadership)
In the business world it is very important that you manage yourself well. Those that do will have the opportunity to become the leaders of tomorrow. Managing yourself means learning how to work with others in a productive and profitable way. It also means being focused on the profitability of your law practice. The more you know about yourself the easier it will be to manage the work you do and the people you work with. Here are 10 tips for self management.
- Be self-aware. Self-awareness is essential to understanding
what leadership style works for you. As you come to understand where your
strengths are, what you enjoy doing, and where your passions are, you
are better able to develop an authentic leadership style. The first person
you will lead is yourself!
- Be accountable for yourself. Install an advisory board
or executive team to help you make good strategic decisions and give you
feedback on your own performance. Make a decision on what is important
to do and then make sure you do it. Ask board to review what you have
done and provide more feedback.
- Be trustworthy and extend trust to your employees.
(This means you must have good hiring practices!) When you are trustworthy
and trust your employees you earn their loyalty and strengthen your practice.
- Take a time-out each day. Put a "Power Hour"
sign on your door and don't let anyone disturb you. Meet with your staff
prior to doing this so they know what you are doing and how to address
client and other calls. You need uninterrupted time to get your work done
well and in a timely way.
- Recognize when you've outrun your abilities. When one
lawyer I worked with saw that her skills were not adequate to manage the
cash flow of her company, she hired an accountant and bookkeeper to create
meaningful reports for her to review each week.
- Open yourself to being transformed. Listen, really
listen, to employees. Let go of old notions of leadership (managing by
fear, for example).
- Be a servant leader. Consider it your responsibility
to serve employees and customers. Just thinking this way will make you
a different person!
- Pursue hobbies and interests outside your business.
They'll provide relaxation and may inspire creative ideas that you can
feed back into the business.
- Take a vacation or a sabbatical. (But first, make sure
you leave the practice in good hands!) Too many people skip vacation time.
It along with hobbies and other interests provides relaxation time. You
will find that creativity comes during this down time.
- Get a coach. Coaches are skilled at helping you to
understand what works for you, where what your strengths are and how to
move yourself and your practice to the next level.
To write this list I used some material at the SCORE website. While this is a website for people who have a business there is lots of great material for those working in a practice, the government or a nonprofit. As many of you know I am a SCORE Business Counselor. SCORE is an organization in the United States that is part of the Small Business Administration and counsels small businesses at no charge.