The Grace Period: Shining A Light on Lawyer Wellbeing
The Grace Period: Shining A Light on Lawyer Wellbeing
Episode 29: What I Wish I Knew Sooner
Unlock the secrets to thriving in the high-pressure world of big law as Emily Logan Steadman shares her personal journey on The Grace Period. Discover how early business development and a strong professional network can elevate your career, while mastering the art of integrating life and work effectively. Emily dismantles the myth of work-life balance, offering practical strategies for open communication and time management. Learn how to trust your instincts, set priorities, and say no with confidence, all while building credibility and resilience in your professional life.
Reflecting on what she wishes she had known at the outset of her career, Emily emphasizes the indispensable role of self-care and boundary-setting in maintaining well-being without compromising success. Gain insights into owning mistakes and cultivating a culture of honesty for personal and professional growth. Join us for an enlightening discussion aimed at helping attorneys find consistency, minimize chaos, and embrace their shared humanity.
Find out more at https://thegraceperiod.substack.com/.
Welcome to the Grace Period where we get real about attorney mental health and well-being and pull back the veil on the high-stakes world of big law. I'm your host, emily Logan Steadman. In this demanding profession, it is crucial that we don't lose ourselves in the hustle for billable hours. On the Grace Period, we have honest conversations about finding consistency, minimizing chaos, developing coping strategies and destigmatizing mental health. It is time to prioritize our shared humanity, to find our grace period. This is episode 29 of the grace period, the last substantive episode of season three. This season I talked about the partner track and lessons I took away from my first year as partner. How I regained focus and motivation when I inevitably lose it. How to build better billing habits, embracing the entrepreneurial mindset, networking, professional branding and mentoring. This week I'll share a few things I wish I knew earlier in my career. This week I'll share a few things I wish I knew earlier in my career Lessons I've learned, advice I've been given. Hiccups I faced that maybe some listening can learn from and do differently. Number one it is not too early to start thinking about business development. You must focus on the skills and gathering opportunities so that you become a solid attorney in your practice area. But if you remain in private practice, you have to build a book of business, whether you inherit clients from others who leave or retire, whether you join a mega client team that sustains you for years, or whether you build your own book from the ground up. The skills required for client and business development do not turn on overnight when your title changes or the ground up. The skills required for client and business development do not turn on overnight when your title changes or you make partner. You can, you should, you even must start building those skills from the very beginning. First, focus on growing your network. Get out there, meet people, virtually or in real life, and learn to work a room, see and be seen, become known. That network will be your launch pad for the rest of your career.
Speaker 1:Number two work-life balance is a myth. Your life and your work. If you're interested in making this a long-term career and making equity partner, being a leader, becoming general counsel or rainmaker, your life and your work will be one in the same. You will work hard. You will build many, many hours. Your life will happen right alongside that. While you're working on a parallel track in tandem, life will be happening to you on a parallel track, in tandem. Life will be happening to you. We don't talk about this enough. As your career increases in pace, in fast paceness, so does your life as an adult. Almost every major milestone, positive or negative, can occur.
Speaker 1:While you're also trying to make it in big law, make it as an attorney, it can be a lot, a lot, a lot. A mentor once told me I'm a good dad, a good lawyer and a good husband, but not all three at the same time. That resonated so deeply with me. Like the work, your life will ebb and flow. Sometimes life will demand more of you, sometimes it'll demand less. Sometimes work will demand more of you, sometimes work will demand less. The hardest part about this job is that life continues to happen to it and both your personal and professional responsibilities increase exponentially year over year.
Speaker 1:So build systems, be honest over communicate with colleagues and loved ones, be real and candid about your goals, both personal and professional, and hone in on time management. You can have a fulfilling life and career in big law, but it takes intention, communication and lots and lots of help. Three learn to trust your gut. On any given day, numerous things people, cases, clients, family, friends and more will vie for your time. Develop a system that helps you ask what can wait. Learn to know what is a real emergency and what can wait and prioritize accordingly. Be ruthless with this assessment From there, know when enough is enough and log off for the day. Log off in a way that allows you to move on from work and be present in your life outside of work whenever and however possible. No-transcript. So learn to know for yourself when a good stopping point comes and take it. Walk away, even if it is in the middle of the day. You've earned that choice and that freedom.
Speaker 1:Four you can say no, but you must say no judiciously. If you want to climb the corporate ladder, that is big law. You can say no, but it cannot be your default. I know younger millennials and Gen Z are going to have much better boundaries than I ever could have dreamed of. I admire that. And you must keep your goals in mind. And you must keep your goals in mind. You must think about the people you're reporting to.
Speaker 1:Many of us came of age in the never say no environment, so it can be jarring when we ask associates for help and they say sorry, my plate is full. One thing that helped me with this is thinking about it as building credit. Build relationships, meet your hours, become dependable and indispensable. With that foundation, start banking on your credit, your reputation and your work. You won't hear me say that you can't ever say no. I believe that mentality leads to mistakes, overwork, burnout and that it's generally a toxic mindset. But both can be true. You can balance a judicious no here and there against working hard and building up credit so that later you can have the autonomy and choice you crave.
Speaker 1:Number five own your mistakes and do not punch down. No one is perfect. If any attorney you ask is willing to be honest, they have more than one story of a mistake they made that they still think about years later. Even if it doesn't matter to them anymore, they still know what those mistakes were. I wish we'd all talk about this more, but we don't. Our profession still has its guard up on so many levels. You'll have days when you think you're the only one struggling and maybe even messing up. Check that voice. Rely on all the evidence you have in front of you that you've achieved, that you are good enough. Listen to that evidence and then push the voice telling you you're a failure aside. You are not alone in the thought that you're failing or struggling and that you're the only one doing it, but you must learn to not let it burden and overwhelm you and then eventually you'll be a mentor and senior associate and partner that associates come to with mistakes, who make mistakes when working for you. Be gracious with them. Break the negative and toxic cycle so many of us have experienced in our profession. Have candid discussions when mistakes happen. Instill confidence so if they happen again they're better handled and then move on.
Speaker 1:Number six take vacations. You can and should take time off A day here and there is my preferred method or a full-blown vacation. You cannot learn how to take a vacation or how to plan and prepare for and ramp up your work before and after if you don't ever step away. Yes, vacations create more work as you delegate and prepare to be away and as you catch up when you come back. But we're humans. You cannot do this job if you never stop and breathe and disconnect.
Speaker 1:Number seven make friends. Most of us will spend most of our time at work or at events and meetings related to work. Have friends in those spaces. That is what will get you through the hard times. That is what will help you know where the grass is greener and where it's not. That is how you will learn ideas and concepts to bring back to your own firm. Being an attorney is not my full or only identity, but it's a huge part of who I am and what I do every day. Refusing to make friends in that sphere would leave me miserable and unable to healthily process the lows and to deservedly enjoy and celebrate the wins.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining me on this episode of the Grace Period. I hope this advice, even if a bit preachy, shed some light on lessons I wish I had learned and embraced from the very first days in big law. Next week, I'll recap season three and talk about what's to come on season four premiering in May of 2025. Remember you don't have to sacrifice your well-being for career success. By prioritizing self-care, setting boundaries and seeking support, you can survive and even thrive in the law and in big law. Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other. That is the path to our grace period. Disclaimer this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It does not constitute professional advice of any kind, including legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by listening to this podcast.
