Building business development cultures that thrive.
Hello S-Curvers,
Emotions wield considerable influence in the workplace, and they can impact the success of business development initiatives when left unaddressed. While I don't advocate indulging in prolonged emotional introspection akin to a Freudian therapy session, it's important to recognise and manage the emotional undercurrents inherent in law firm business development.
The high stakes and competitive atmosphere prevalent in law firms inevitably evokes both positive and negative emotional responses among people, often operating beneath the surface. Despite this, acknowledging these emotional dynamics remains a blind spot for many — a realisation that has dawned on me over time is that understanding emotional dynamics is vital to achieving success in business development.
Recently, I had a conversation with Katie Gray, former Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills and founder of Principals of Practice: a personal, professional and organisational development practice that transforms leaders to create a better future at work and beyond. Katie’s insights highlighted the need to understand and harness emotions for effective business development, because like it or not "law firms are full of humans, and wherever there are humans there will be emotions."
In our discussion, Katie pointed out that attempting to suppress emotions is futile because they will inevitably manifest somewhere. "Even if people try to squash them down, they're going somewhere -spilling out the sides - so there's no way we can really remove that unless there's a room of inanimate objects."
The first step is to acknowledge the impact of emotions on organisational dynamics when it comes to business development. Once acknowledged it's possible to shift the focus towards cultivating emotions that are conducive to sustainability, creativity, and innovation, while mitigating those based in fear or scarcity.
As we navigate through the months of June and July, characterised by the announcement of promotions and the spectrum of emotions that ensue—from elation to disappointment—law firms become particularly susceptible to emotional turbulence.
I've found the emotions wheel to be a valuable tool in teams, particularly in times of rapid or unexpected change. Encouraging team members to collectively, or privately, reflect and identify the emotion they are feeling can foster greater understanding and diffuse tension.
In essence, acknowledging and managing emotions is not a sign of weakness but a strategy for building a strong culture for sustainable business development in law firms.
THANK YOU
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