Decoding Tomorrow:
Futurism and Foresights Today

Lawyers work with people on a constant basis – within the firm, with clients and with other parties. They are constantly dealing, persuading, talking, gleaning – such a large part of a lawyer’s job is dealing with people. Often, these people are under some kind of stress, be it emotional, financial or business related.

A high level of EQ will obviously help lawyers interact better with their clients. It will give them the ability to sympathise and to discern. It will allow them to read the people they are working with and to understand their concerns.

EQ is also important to help lawyers make day-to-day decisions about everything from the best course of action for their clients, through to how to land new accounts.

Neurologist Antonio Damasio has related the case of a lawyer who damaged his prefrontal cortices. This resulted in emotional impairment and his rational decision making abilities affected. However, he continued to obtain high scores when taking cognitive tests. Damasio believes that the emotions are an integral part of rational decision making.

Further, lawyers with a high EQ will naturally work much better in a team environment than those with a low EQ. This is an essential component of any lawyer’s work and can, for many, be the deciding factor in their success.

EQ is a particularly important quotient when faced with the prospect of managing other people. All great leaders have a very high level of EQ – they not only understand people but can also reach those people in a very real and emotional way.

There has recently been a lot of workplace bullying uncovered. Where before this has been a trend that has not really been discussed, suddenly people are starting to talk about it and are trying to look at ways to combat it. This is in no small part due to the fact that a bully-boss severely heightens a company’s staff turnover rate.

Studies have shown that, when faced with a bully-boss, or other bullying workplace member, employees are more likely to find another job than they are to report the bully-boss to upper management.

The work place is inherently political. It is impossible to have a group of different people in one room for eight or more hours a day and have them all get along without any personality clashes or differences in opinion.

By ensuring that each and every member of the team has a high EQ, managers can assure that these differences will not affect the company culture or the way in which the firm deals with its clients.

Raising the level of your teams (and your own) EQ is a fairly straight-forward process. EQ is really just a process of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.

Providing your team with specific exercises in each of these areas will help them to increase their IQ – and it won’t cost them any more than the time they are willing to invest in it.

Here are four exercises that will improve your EQ:

1. Self-Awareness: Write down a complete list of your emotions. Go through the list and one-by-one write down how you cope with each of these. Note not only how they make you feel emotionally, but also your physical reaction – whether your body tenses or relaxes, how you hold your head and shoulders, the feelings you get in the pit of your stomach;
2. Self-Management: Practice active listening skills. Have a conversation with someone and really concentrate on what they are saying – acknowledge, but don’t interrupt, as they speak. Allow them to finish their entire sentence before you begin to speak.
3. Social Awareness: Listen to and notice the tone and volume of the speech of people around you and see if you can associate feelings with the various tones and volumes;
4. Relationship Management: Choose one of the contacts within your professional network. Make a time to either visit them or go to lunch with them. You must do this in person, not electronically. When you do see them, practice the Self-Management exercise above. Take the time to ask them questions about their work that are in no way of benefit to you, but rather show that you are interested in them as a person.

There is a tendency, particularly amongst lawyers, to express discomfort with these kinds of exercises. Many say that EQ is a ‘touchy-feely’ exercise and that it will be of no benefit to them.

It is important to remember that saying that someone has a high EQ is really just a convoluted way of saying that they are good with people. Being good with people will have a flow-on effect in every area of your life. And it is a skill that can be learned. Further, no matter how good you are with people, there is always room for improvement. EQ is a life long learning exercise.

Many people with high levels of EQ have developed it through ongoing personal or business coaching. Taking time to discuss how they feel about certain situations, learning to express their fears and

This kind of coaching is invaluable for lawyers – particularly for those who have just risen to management level or who are about to. However, it is also useful for those who have been in their positions longer and may be struggling, particularly with managing three different generations within their workforce.

David Bogan illustrates the EQ concept and it’s relevance to lawyers exceedingly well when he says that nothing demonstrates the human need for EQ more precisely than our jury system which relies on twelve people selected, not for their analytical skills or IQ, but for their intuition.