Lawyer Learnings Log No. 6: Smooth Seas Don’t Make Skillful Sailors

⚖ Learnings from the happenstance of my life as a lawyer ⚖

Recently I was asked a pithy career question by an intern: “What is leadership? What makes a good leader & do you think it can be learned?”

💥Boom!

The same theme came up this week from a C-suite: “My manager’s really sick. I’ve taken on his job. How can I do that as well as lead the company & 20 direct reports?”

I gave the same response I gave the intern: “You are a sailor at the helm of the boat. Anyone can step up to steer the ship; but it takes a leader to chart the course; to make things appear easy; and be the center of calm in turbulence. Rough seas reveal the true character of a person.”

For me, the “jury is still out” if leadership is a skill that can be learnt, or if we are born with it. Leadership comes up strong in personality tests for me now, yet I consider I was a dismal leader in my former corporate manager role. Maybe that is partly due to the gap between what we are taught in law school compared to what the business world expects of us, so us legal beagles go into battle largely unprepared?

While I ponder that for another day, my 4️⃣ #lawyerlearnings from these 2 experiences are below.👇

1️⃣A good leader is built with a spine of calmness ✅

2️⃣Skillful sailors show up in roughest of seas; not when the ocean is like a clear sheet of glass✅

3️⃣Leaders visualize themselves more as the front boat in a flotilla of all kinds of sizes of boats, rather than one huge aircraft carrier creating huge waves behind it sinking boats in its wake✅

4️⃣Leaders embrace the power of the whole crew on board. Especially, their radar is up looking out for the “tugboats” – an idea from a subordinate or new employee can be the winning solution to pull the boar and crew to dock safely in port✅

Let me know your thoughts!