Law firms may well be missing out on hiring smart people who nevertheless are not to high-ranking on the EQ level, according to a a high profile Australian coach and ‘people development’ expert.
Wendy Jocum has wide corporate experience in the people coaching business and has explained to
Wendy JocumWW
LawyersWeekly magazine that many law firms having staff leaving their emotions at the door when they arrive at work, but that can be a major mistake.
High emotional intelligence is associated with assertiveness, self-confidence, trustworthiness, conscientiousness, conflict and stress management, teamwork skills, empathy and social awareness. All of them are skills that law firms could use for the benefit of their clients, themselves and their bottom lines.
Legal training can create an atmosphere that contributes to the erosion of emotional thinking, focused as it is upon competitiven3ess and rational, often negative thinking.
In the United States, low EI has also been connected to higher risks of malpractice liability for law firms, she says.
Ms Jocum said EI unlike IQ, is relatively easy to improve.
“It is like changing any habit,” she said. “It is very easy to learn, but to put into action one has to have the commitment and desire and the skills to do that. That takes three weeks at a minimum.”
But, while providing lawyers with the raw knowledge needed to bump up EQ is easy, creating a work environment where those gains are valued is more challenging.
“It probably is that the culture needs to change first,” Ms Jocum said.
Emotional intelligence has a number of different definitions, but broadly speaking, includes awareness, recognition, regulation and management of one’s emotions and those of other people.
EI is important for lawyers at all levels as it improves client relationships and increases staff well-being and productivity, according to Ms Jocum.
The most ‘coachable’ element of EI, and the starting point for all training, is self-awareness, according to Ms Jocum.
“The first step for anybody – but particularly considering the stressful environment that the lawyers work in – would be that self-awareness piece,” she said.
“Once we are aware of our own actions and the impact of our behaviour on others, we can then improve our relationship with others.”
However, the most difficult people to coach are “those that value IQ over EQ”, she continued.
“In other words, people who say ‘we only care about technical competence, results, tasks, getting the job done but we don’t care about relationships and impacts on others’ – people that think they don’t have time for the people skills.
“I find this particularly in the legal industry where they work crazy, long hours not realising the negative impact this might be having on productivity.”
While IQ is relatively high among lawyers, there is some evidence that lawyers have lower EQ scores than the general population.
Moreover, law students with greater emotional sensitivity and awareness tend to drop out of law school and lawyers with higher empathy and sociability are more likely to leave practice.
The American Bar Association has tied this EI deficiency to the negative perception of lawyers in the community, as well as high rates of mental illness and job dissatisfaction among lawyers.
Source: Lawyers Weekly
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