Why are we talking about style in a blog about professionalism? Well, I don’t mean fashion, I mean deal style, communication style, leadership style, etc. We’ve talked about this before - after you leave the ranks of a young professional/young attorney, your job is going to be to lead projects, lead transactions, lead teams, lead clients. If nothing else, through trial and error, you’ll figure out your leadership style that allows you to be effective. Knowing, understanding, and having awareness of that leadership style is an important step in succeeding as a professional.
“What’s their style?” You guessed it - I mean what is your client’s style, partner’s style, manager’s style? That’s as important, if not sometimes more important, than knowing your style. Evaluating and understanding the style of the person you’re working for or with is a crucial step. Once you can do that, then you can meld the two styles in a way that sets you up for the greatest success!
How does that work? Well, for example, as a young lawyer, an easy way to stand out is to learn the style of the partners you work for. For example, if the partner uses courier new font to draft documents, when you turn in an assignment, use that font. If they prefer phone calls, pick up the phone. If they like an end of day email update, be sure to send it every single day. As you do that for the partners you work for, it builds trust. That trust translates into autonomy to work with clients directly, because, you guessed it, you’ll be asked to meld your style to your client’s style. Half our job is to make our clients life’s easier and their work with us seamless.
I’ve officially typed “style” so many times that it looks wrong! HA! I’ll wrap up by saying: When you can meld your leadership style with your client’s style or your partner’s style, you can blend staying authentic to yourself, AND making your partner or your client feel seen, heard and well supported.
