Moving outside your comfort zone and embracing a new challenge

This is the first of a new series of Managing Partner columns on how law firm leaders can improve their personal effectiveness.

It is possible that your pathway to leadership has prepared you well for whatever lies ahead. But, leadership often brings many first-time experiences.

Some take these in their stride. And, provided their confidence is not wildly misplaced, this psychological front foot forward may serve them well. Others find themselves on the back foot, with quiet self-talk in their heads telling them 'I have never had to do this before' or 'it's going to destroy my credibility if I handle this badly'.

Although we have to be realistic about our capabilities, we also need to be conscious that fear of the task can lead to unsatisfactory outcomes.

Meet Rena: Recently persuaded to join the executive committee as client development partner, Rena was due to speak at the firm's client conference. This was a high-profile annual event typically attended by many of the firm's clients and fee earners, as well as local journalists. It was always the client development partner's role to give the keynote speech.

Rena had previously given internal presentations as head of the property practice group. However, she was feeling daunted by the recollection of her predecessor's highly amusing speech last year, which received a great write-up in the local press. So, Rena approached the challenge full of self doubt.

Meet Geoff: Newly-hired CEO Geoff had received an email from a legal journal inviting him to chair a roundtable debate on the future of the legal profession. Geoff was flattered, having not had a public profile at his previous firm. But, he was concerned that he was not an expert on the new regulatory proposals or recent market developments.

Geoff mulled it over. Various reasons for declining came to mind: he was very busy in the new role and needed to keep his mind on the job; there may be a conflicting internal meeting which he might need to attend; and the engagement would involve some travelling to the venue.

What ensued?

Rena made her presentation and got through it. She was visibly nervous, quite tense and spoke very fast. There were also a few minutes at the start of the presentation when she seemed unable to stop coughing. But, her feedback was fine and she did manage to raise a few smiles with her jokes.

Geoff declined the invitation, saying
that he was really too busy. He mentioned this to the firm's senior partner, who understood Geoff's reasoning, but commented that it was a shame to miss
a good PR opportunity.

We might surmise here that unhelpful self-talk magnified both of their challenges and undermined their belief in their capabilities. In Rena's case, heightened fears and anxieties led to a physiological response which had an adverse impact on her presentation. For Geoff, his response was not only a missed PR opportunity for the firm, but also a missed career opportunity; his reasons were actually excuses borne out of fear.

Psychological advantage

Clearly, we should not recklessly believe in our ability to do anything at any time. But, we learn and move forward in our careers by embracing first-time opportunities. Personal psychology is a key factor. This can affect our willingness to embrace a challenge and our perseverance when working outside of our comfort zones.

You can maintain a psychological advantage in two ways.

1. Be objective

A task can seem less daunting upon closer consideration or when it is broken down into its constituent parts. Perhaps Rena was too quick to use her predecessor's performance as her benchmark. She might have been less intimidated going
for 'topical and interesting' rather than 'highly amusing'. And, perhaps Geoff did not actually need to be an expert on the future of the legal profession. His strong chairing skills could well have carried him through comfortably.

2. Consider your perspective

Remind yourself of all of the strengths and skills that you do have (rather than focusing on those you don't). Recall comparable tasks when you have performed well. Then, build a strategy to meet the challenge. Rena could have found opportunities to practise in a safe environment and seek constructive feedback. Geoff could have identified the key issues that were likely to inform the debate. Both could have considered obtaining coaching support.

Learning curve

Clearly, we can never guarantee any outcome and we need to reflect and learn on the lessons, whatever happens, to move further along the learning curve. But, we also need to create a positive self-efficacy spiral by celebrating our successes on completion of another 'first'. This too makes us stronger as we build our readiness to embrace the next challenge.

Colin Dworkin is a former corporate
lawyer and now business psychology consultant at Talaspect Talent Development
(https://talaspect.com). He gratefully acknowledges the contributions of Dr Karen Lindall (karen.lindall@roodlane.co.uk) to this article.