Change. Introduction 10/21/16. Practicing Law at the Speed of Light: The Psychology of Coping with Change.

Transcription

1 Practicing Law at the Speed of Light: The Psychology of Coping with Change Presented by Dr. Larry Richard, Founder & Principal Consultant, LawyerBrain LLC 20 th Annual E.D. Texas Bench Bar Conference Plano Marriott, Legacy Town Center Plano, TX October 20 th, 2016 Introduction 2 Change 3 1

2 We don t like change 4 Change has serious psychological consequences 5 Change à Uncertainty à S-T-R-E-S-S 6 2

3 Psychological Effects of Change Mood disturbances & increased negative emotions (anxiety, depression, fear, irritability, etc.) Increased distractibility Increase in errors of omission Pushes people to behave at the lesser end of their normal spectrum of behavior Passivity Disconnection 7 Depression 8 Change has an even stronger adverse impact on lawyers. WHY? 9 3

4 Why are lawyers more vulnerable to the effects of change? 1. Negativity: an amplifier 2. Personality: Can further amplify 3. We re under-trained in coping skills 10 Negativity Negativity is built into the job description ü What s wrong? ü What could go wrong in the future? ü Who s at fault? Who made a mistake? ü What exceptions are there to the proposition? 11 What kind of person would be attracted to such a profession? What kind of person could thrive on such a steady diet of negativity? 12 4

5 2. Personality 13 Impact of Personality Personality Everything else But this is mostly onesies & twosies 14 The normal lawyer personality People who become lawyers are outliers Let s look at data Caliper Profile 52 years 5 million+ college-educated subjects Over 5000 lawyers, including 225+ law firm leaders 15 5

6 The Percentile Curve 50% 40% 60% 16 0% 2/3 score here 100% Lawyers: Outliers on 6 of the 18 traits! 17 Really High Autonomy Lawyers General Public 6

7 100 Very High Abstract Reasoning Lawyers General Public Pretty High Urgency Lawyers General Public Really Low Resilience 90% of lawyers score below the 50th percentile! Lawyers General Public 7

8 # of Lawyers Average for Lawyers Average for Public Low RESILIENCE High 22 Stress 23 Low Resilience Personality and Resilience High Resilience: a) Realistic Optimism (optimistic explanatory style ) b) Good social connection We have lots of data about how lawyers score on these. 24 8

9 High Skepticism (Low Optimism) Really high Lawyers General Public 100 Low Sociability (Connecting is awkward) Really low Lawyers General Public You can t control change. But you can control your response to change And that makes all the difference. 27 9

10 3 Things You Can Do To Build Psychological Resilience 28 Think Different. Connect More. 29 Increase Positive Emotions. Decrease Negative Emotions

11 Principle #1: Increase Positivity (the mega-principle) 31 The most significant breakthrough in psychology in the past 100 years Thoughts à Feelings à Behavior 33 11

12 If you change your thoughts You change your feelings 35 Positive Emotions Strategy: Reduce negative emotions. Increase positive emotions. Offsets lawyer negativity 3:1 (and 5:1) Negative is essential it s just that we need to offset it with even more positive Dosage effect 36 12

13 Dosage Effect 37 Three Good Things Same time each night Write down 3 good things Need not be things you caused to happen 60 seconds to savor Repeat, but with new items the next day Do for at least two weeks... or longer 38 Principle #2: Cultivate Strengths 39 13

14 Ask yourself... Do you have any scientific evidence showing a direct link between your associate development practices and performance on the job? Longevity/tenure? Profitability? 40 The science of strengths 41 Payoffs for Focusing on Strengths Higher levels of employee engagement Reduces active disengagement from 21% to less than 1%!!! People operating from strengths learn new roles more quickly and adapt more readily They re more productive, and produce higher quality They re more loyal, stay longer, miss less work, and build stronger client relationships 42 14

15 Speed Reading Study Study in Nebraska school districts 1950 s, University of Nebraska tenth-graders Teaching speed reading 2 groups: Average & Fast Readers Started the Strengths movement 43 Teaching to Strengths 3000 Improving Reading Average Readers Fast Readers Pre Post Pre Post Teaching to Strengths 3000 Improving Reading Average Readers Fast Readers Pre Post Pre Post 15

16 How Strengths Build Positivity 1. Just knowing your strengths matters 2. Aligning one s strengths with the task that one does at work especially one s greatest strengths produces high levels of work satisfaction 3. Leveraging strengths getting better at the stuff you already do well produces high levels of work satisfaction and a sense of mastery 4. Using your strengths in a creative new way on a regular basis provides increased levels of work satisfaction and a reduction in depressive thinking 46 Principle #3: Foster Social Connection 47 Human beings want Increased life satisfaction (happiness, meaning) 2. Increase work satisfaction (mastery, impact) 3. Increased relationship satisfaction 4. Longevity 5. Good health Source: Triumphs of Experience, by George Vaillant (2013) 48 16

17 Strongest predictor? Social Connection 49 3 Tools to Foster Social Connection 1. Increase oxytocin 2. Increase presence 3. Harness the secret weapon 50 #1 Increase Oxytocin 51 17

18 Oxytocin Triggers 52 #2 Increase Presence 53 Presence : Attention Matters 54 18

19 The Champion 55 The Challenger 56 Colgate #

20 Colgate #2 58 Colgate #3 59 De-Brief 60 20

21 Social Connection: Active Constructive Responding 61 Increase Social Connection Dr. Shelly Gable: How you respond to the good news of others is the single best predictor of an effective longterm relationship Presence is the key Will you be there for me when things go right? Constructive vs. Destructive Active vs. Passive 4 response styles to good news only one of them builds the relationship 62 Active-Constructive Responding: It s all about Presence (Shelly Gable) I just won my first case! Active Passive Constructive Enthusiastic, authentic support ( the joy multiplier ) Quiet, understated support ( the conversation killer ) Destructive Quashing the event ( They are the parade and you are the rain. ) Ignoring the event or taking over the conversation ( the conversation hijacker ) 63 21

22 #3 Harness the Secret Weapon 64 One Additional Tool To Foster Social Connection Here s something that can... Reduce physical symptoms (fewer colds, headaches) (plus lower levels of biomarkers for inflammation) Produce greater life satisfaction Make people more optimistic about the coming week Create higher states of alertness, attentiveness, determination and energy, and reports of sustained better moods Result in fewer absences Cause people to be more helpful to others Lead people to report fewer hassles in their lives Foster better sleep quality Create an increased feeling of being connected to others Generate higher productivity 22

23 Power of Words Video 67 Words matter 68 Thank You 69 23

24 Q & A Takeaway Tips: 1 The practice of law encourages problemspotting and other forms of negative thinking A steady diet of this can have harmful psychological effects In a time of great change, the negative mindset can amplify some of the deleterious effects of change Luckily, recent scientific breakthroughs have resulted in a number of simple yet powerful steps that lawyers can take to counteract these effects 72 Takeaway Tips: 2 1. Your mindset is powerful. Changing how you think can change how you feel and behave. 2. The core principle: Bad is stronger than Good. Consequently, your best strategy is to consciously hunt for the good stuff in order to balance out and counteract any negativity. 3. Do the 3 Good Things activity every day at the same time. 4. Go to and check your positivity ratio daily. Strive to improve your weekly average to better than 3:1. 24

25 Takeaway Tips: 3 5. Use Active-Constructive Listening regularly with the significant people in your life. 6. When you run into criticism, rejection, or other adverse events, listen to your mind chatter and program it towards short duration, limited scope, and think of what you can control going forward. 7. In your work, routinely ask yourself what impact and meaning your actions are having. Do the same when you give work to others Takeaway Tips: 4 8. Focus not just on fixing deficiencies, but also on using your strengths try to do work that plays to your strengths; try to get better at what you already do well; and try to use your strengths in new ways regularly. 9. Exercise gratitude At least twice a week, make a list of things you are grateful for. When someone does something helpful that they didn t have to do, thank them in a sincere way. Relax more about things you may think you re entitled to. 10. Be a role model Recommended Books The Resilience Factor by Karen Reivich & Andre Shatte. Describes 7 steps, based on cognitive psychology, that can enable an individual to increase his/her Resilience. The basis for the mental toughness component of the U.S. Army program that I mentioned. Flourish by Martin Seligman. His most recent book. A good introduction to positive psychology. Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman. One of his earlier books, but a very important one. Describes his original model of optimism or explanatory style, and how it can be learned. Positive Leadership by Kim Cameron. A synopsis of the empirical research in positive psychology as applied to organizations, as of

26 Recommended Books, cont d Positivity by Barbara Frederickson. Describes her original research on the positivity model and why we need a 3:1 ratio of positive to negative communication. StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath. Tom is a psychologist with the Gallup Organization. This book describes the 34 strengths that they measure. If you purchase the hardbound version of the book, it comes with one free coupon to take the StrengthsFinder test online. Find out your top 5 strengths. The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. A very readable summary of the latest principles of positive psychology. Drive by Daniel Pink. A good summary of the latest research on motivation, including why if-then rewards and incentivizing are not great ways to motivate knowledge workers. 76 Contact Info Larry Richard, J.D., Ph.D. LawyerBrain LLC 303 W. Lancaster Ave., #332 Wayne, PA USA T: M: E: drlarryrichard@lawyerbrain.com W: B: 77 Improving Lawyer Performance Through Personality Science Our Services for Law Firms Designing programs to build lawyer Resilience Designing & teaching leadership skills Training or coaching leaders Associate retention/engagement programs Keynotes and retreat presentations Guidance in managing organizational change Motivating lawyers Providing 360-degree or personality feedback Facilitating important conversations Repairing dysfunctional behavior Selecting talent Building teamwork 78 Improving Lawyer Performance Through Personality Science 26