say to all the leaders we work with: if you want to control it, you first need to be aware of it. Emotional mastery is learning to be aware of, express, understand and leverage our emotions (and our team’s emotions) to get the best from ourselves and our team. Learning to lead with positive emotions enhances engagement, trust and cooperation, which becomes a competitive advantage for the firm as it builds trust and loyalty among its employees and clients. In your experience, what training methods and topics do high-earning ‘superstars’ respond best to? Focus group workshops with a select number of ‘superstar’ leaders, followed by one-to-one coaching, are how I have achieved the best results. This is because I can talk to the leaders privately and address and hear their concerns. I listen to and understand their map of the world so that I can speak their language and show how certain behaviours are counterproductive to their goals and success. This journey begins by establishing a deep sense of trust and a space where leaders can receive the support they need most (even when, at first, they do not want it!). Many leaders I work with confide that it is lonely at the top, and when they have to to make so many decisions and handle so much responsibility, an opportunity to be heard can be transformational and cathartic. A client who was initially quite reluctant to be coached mentioned to me after three months of coaching that I had become a ‘leader whisperer’ to him; someone independent of their work environment that challenged, guided and helped him overcome challenges 60 LAWYERMONTHLYDECEMBER 2022 When a lawyer has had a long career of working with chronic stress and negative emotions, it can be easy to carry that style of working into a leadership position.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk3Mzkz