Associates take to the field…

By David J Bilinsky

Oh, put me in, Coach – I’m ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach – I’m ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield.…
Words and music by John Fogerty

In a perfect world, all junior lawyers and associates would have senior mentors who would take the time to instil all their stored knowledge and experience into the junior lawyer. Indeed, many lawyers have lamented that senior lawyers rarely today have juniors carry their briefcase to court or to a major closing to witness, learn and grow. Unfortunately, the growing economic pressures of practice have all but eliminated this stage in a lawyer’s career.

However, in response to the loss of the mentorship has been the growth of professional coaches. All professional and most amateur sports teams have coaches. Such teams also have managers, marketers, publicity people, accountants and others. What “exactly” then does the coach do for the team or team members that is distinct from all the other professional staff? How does a coach make a difference? More importantly, how can a good, qualified coach take a collection of talented individuals and turn them into a winning team?

Some people are lucky enough to find a mentor in their firm or in their life – an individual who seems to know how to draw the best out of someone and lead them on to greatness. For the rest of us though, we either go through life making the best of it on our own, or increasingly, some of us find assistance in the growing business coaching movement.

Business coaching is in the formative stages of becoming a profession. They have formed associations, adopted codes of ethics, established levels of proficiency, standards of professional conduct and examinations and established a level of self-governance. None of this would happen if the business coaching industry and coaches did not see the benefit of taking such steps and marketing them to the world.

What can a good business coach do for a busy lawyer? They act like a magical mirror, allowing you to see the qualities hidden inside yourself and giving you the opportunity to see how those qualities can be brought to the surface and used to best advantage in the future. Coaches can bring fresh perspectives to the table and enhance skills and effectiveness. They can help develop new approaches to personal challenges and develop decision-making skills, personal confidence and personal effectiveness. They can assist in increasing productivity, personal satisfaction, goal-attainment and aid in developing leadership.

How can you determine if a coach is right for you? One of the better indicators is that you have a clearly defined goal in mind – i.e. you wish to increase your productivity by 15 per cent (as measured by billable time or collected billings) or expand your clients in a certain area of practice by 25 per cent. Or it could be that your work/life balance has become too one-sided and you are looking for ways to correct this before it is too late. Or it could be that you wish to become more adept at going out and meeting with new clients and learning how to work at business development.

How does coaching work? Typically, a coaching relationship will begin with a personal interview. At this first meeting, the coach and the client would scope out their personal environment including all opportunities and challenges seen by the client. Together the coach and the client would develop the desired outcomes, the scope of the relationship, the priorities for action and the timeline for the coaching relationship. Subsequent meetings may take place in person but more frequently, take place by telephone at pre-arranged dates/times. The coaching programme is customized to the needs of the clients and their desired outcomes. It may include reading resources, assignments, assessments (testing) and other tools. It is certainly designed to be proactive and nurturing.

What should you look for in a coach? Like any professional relationship, the personalities of the individuals involved can have a strong influence on the final outcome. As such, it would be important to ask yourself if this person is someone in whom you can establish trust and confidence? Other areas that you can investigate are: What are their professional qualifications, training and experience? What is their coaching experience? Can they provide references? What area(s) are they comfortable in coaching (i.e. finance, business development, personal satisfaction, etc.) and what have been their results to date in these areas? What is the coach’s philosophy and vision for coaching and how do they see the two of you working together? What is their process for coaching (in-person meetings? Telephone calls? Assignments?) Do they have any experience in working with lawyers in a private practice environment?

How long should the coaching period last? Can the coach provide a timeline with measured results that would provide meaningful feedback to the client on the progress being achieved as a result of the coaching? How would you raise concerns about the coaching and the results being achieved? Are you comfortable being fairly direct with the coach in terms of your needs, goals and desired outcomes?

How can you measure success? There are two ways to measure success, internally and externally. Internal measures of success would involve changes in the client’s self-awareness and thinking, changes in the thinking of others, changes in the client’s emotional state and changes in the client’s self-confidence. External measures would involve metrics such as increased revenues, positive career evaluations and increased business performance as measured by the client’s law firm metrics. In all cases, the metrics chosen to evaluate the success of the coaching should be related to matters that are within the client’s control and influence.

The reason that coaching has emerged as a force today is simply because “it works.” The personal care and attention that coaching can deliver is rare today outside of the coaching environment. Moreover, it offers the possibility of making a real and positive impact on a lawyer’s career. After a successful and rewarding period of coaching, you should be straining to be put in the game, ready to play with an increased self-image of what you can do and achieve.

David J. Bilinsky is the Practice Management Advisor at the Law Society of B.C. E-mail: daveb@lsbc.org. The views expressed herein are strictly those of the author and may not be shared by the author’s employer, the Law Society of B.C.

This article originally appeared in the June 2007 issue of BarTalk and is reproduced here with permission of both the author and the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch.