Speak up! Speak up! Speak up!
During law school and in your early practice years, you heard this repeatedly. It was annoying, but, in most cases, it was for your own good. You need to be able to speak up in critical situations when your professional future is at stake.
Situations like salary review, case assignments and other settings that directly affect your career all cry out for your participation. It is hugely important, and I hope that you are in the process of perfecting speaking up in those critical situations.
That does not mean that speaking up is easy. It is not. Speaking up is especially difficult when you are the youngest and least experienced person in the room. At those times, you must dig deep to find your most confident self and your largest voice to take advantage of the opportunity or the moment.
But, as you will see in this article, sometimes just speaking up is not enough. The author, who I have known for many years, coaches executives in multiple professions to become effective in business, including how to be a compelling and persuasive speaker. She knows what she is talking about. And what she says is the following:
Just speaking up isn’t enough. For career success, you should also be able to:
- Listen well,
- Move a conversation forward, and
- Inspire others to contribute their ideas.
I know personally the importance of this advice. It was important to me as a newby lawyer and the sole woman litigator in a mid-size law firm, and it has been important to me in every other professional setting since that time.
The benefits of that approach are also important in other settings. As a volunteer board member of a not-for-profit organization, I face this delicate balance between speaking and listening on a regular basis. I serve on several committees of the board, and I chair the most important one. I am always aware of not only my responsibilities to speak up, provide the benefit of my experience, and guide the conversation, but I also am aware of my role in helping less experienced committee members develop into savvy and valuable meeting participants. At many times, that means inviting them to contribute their ideas and making sure that the environment is friendly and accepting of their comments. Although we address sophisticated concepts of real property, conservation easements and legal enforcement during those meetings, providing a healthy environment for contribution by all is easy when measured against the downsides of exclusion.
It is the same skill that I focused on as a supervisor of junior lawyers at the law firms of my past and in public service. Stifling participation for selfish interests of control is overrated and senseless. By contrast, encouraging development and participation benefits the mentor, the mentee and the organization.
You may find yourself in similar situations at many different junctures in your career. Remember to listen well, move the conversation along so that you or others do not dominate, and inspire others to contribute their ideas. It is a winning combination.
