Episode 68: Growth Mindset + Relationship Building

Your legal skills can open the door to partnership, but they will not automatically carry you across the line. I’m continuing the path to partnership series with a focus on two forces that quietly shape your career: a growth mindset and the relationships that keep you in the room when decisions get made.

I unpack what “growth mindset” looks like in real legal work. The goal is simple: keep learning in a way that improves your work satisfaction and makes you a stronger attorney, leader, and future business owner.

Then we get into the relationship side of partnership, because this is where a lot of lawyers feel stuck. I talk through building strong connections inside your firm and outside your firm. We also tackle business development and networking as a long game.

If you’re trying to grow in big law without burning out, hit play, share this with a colleague who needs it, and subscribe so you don’t miss the rest of the partnership series. After you listen, what’s one relationship habit you want to build next?

Find out more at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilystedman/.

Transcript

Welcome And Key Disclaimers

SPEAKER_00 0:00

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, a commercial litigator, partner, and someone who believes there's always room for a little more grace, even in high-stakes profession. On the Grace Period, I share real stories for my own journey in big law. I invite you beyond the billable hour and behind the scenes to talk about what it means to stay human even in a demanding field. Whether you're a lawyer, a legal professional, or someone trying to find your footing, this space is for you. Let's pull back the curtain, start the conversation, and find our grace period together. Disclaimer, the views and opinions shared on this podcast are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of my firm or any organization. This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It is not legal advice, and listening does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Partnership Path And Today’s Focus

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Welcome to episode 68 of the grace period. In this episode, I'm continuing our conversation about the path to partnership. In episode 67, we talked about time management. Today I want to talk about growth mindsets and building relationships. So over the last few weeks, we've talked about taking ownership, really deciding whether you want to be partner and making sure you're asking yourself, do I even want to be partner? And if you do, going all in on your foundational skills and developing time management.

Growth Mindset As A Daily Skill

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Your legal skills get you in the door, but don't stop there. You need to adopt a growth mindset. That means being curious. That means asking questions. That means viewing feedback as a tool for improvement and not criticism. The best lawyers I know are always learning and they're not afraid to say, I don't know, but I'll find out and get back to you. And that growth mindset is not only important for the path to partnership, but I think it's important for your work satisfaction. There are so many topics when it comes to being a business owner, which partners are, and a business developer, that I find fascinating. So right now I'm learning about legal operations and legal project management. Right now I'm reading more and going to trainings on negotiations. You can find things that pique your curiosity and go all in on them. And yes, I track these as part of my investment time. So all of these things go towards making me a better attorney and better partner. And I can show my firm through tracking that time as investment or productive time alongside my billable work. Many, many, many attorneys loved being a student. And I often found it trite when people would say things like, be a student of life. But we can be a student of our profession. And I find that growth mindset to be a really powerful tool to get me through some of the harder times when I have to do a lot of grunt work or admin work. I can have these topics on the side that I'm really passionate about or developing a passion about and really feed that growth mindset and develop myself as a more well-rounded attorney, litigator, and business developer. Now, your legal skills, again, get you in the door, but it is your relationships that keep you in the room. You need to build strong relationships both inside your firm and outside your firm. Inside your firm, that looks like mentors, sponsors, and cross-practice allies. Outside your firm, that also looks like mentors, but it's clients, referral sources in your broader professional community. Related to that, I think it is extremely

Relationships That Keep You In

SPEAKER_00 2:42

important to have peers at other firms, even across the country, if you've moved around or your law school classmates have, you know, dispersed around the world, and have those peers that are growing in the profession at the same rank as you. So for me, I have a close friend who we were approaching partnership at the same time and we ended up making partner at the same time. Having her to talk through things that were hard, having her to talk to about things that really worked at her firm or really worked at my firm and didn't work at her firm and didn't work at my firm, and being able to really dig in on those things in an honest and vulnerable way really helped me get through those doubts, both leading up to partner and after making partner.

Business Development Is A Marathon

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Now, business development is a marathon. It is not a sprint, it is not something you can just turn on when you make partner. You need to adopt a business development mindset from the jump. And for me, that looked like for the first year or two, going to everything and being everywhere. Yes, within reason, because you're human and you have human obligations outside of work, but you cannot know what networking things are worth your time and not worth your time if you don't try them. So spend a year or two trying them all and figure out which ones you like and don't like and then commit to one or two max three, where you really focus your time and build relationships in those opportunities. That is valuable inside your firm and outside your firm. Going all in on that and trying everything for a year or two will sound overwhelming and it can be. I won't sugarcoat that. But there will be times when work prevents you from networking. There will be times when life prevents you from networking. So it's important that you spend a year or two building the foundation internally and externally so that work that so that when work and life interfere, you don't have to start over when they calm down. You have the foundation and you can return to it when things are less hectic. This also looks like small daily action, which goes a long way to building a broad network, both in your community and potentially outside your community. And a network that you can tap when you need something or when they need help

Track Contacts And Stay Authentic

SPEAKER_00 4:29

from you. Related to this is finding a tracking system so you can track your relationships. This took me a long time to figure out. It might be a spreadsheet, it might be a recurring calendar reminder, it might be notes in your notes app, it might be a notebook or a journal that you use in hard copy. The point is to find a system that works for you and potentially even ranking your contacts. So I have finally landed on a system where I have a spreadsheet of some contacts and I rank them A, B, and C. A contacts are those that I try to reach out to or connect with monthly, B contacts are those I try to network with quarterly, and C contacts are those that I don't want to let a year go by without contacting them. The point is to be intentional and consistent, but the point also is to be authentic. You need to find a way of networking and connecting with other people that feels genuine to you. And that just takes time. That takes time to experiment and see what works and doesn't work and see what feels right to you. Rainmaking isn't magic. It's small, consistent actions over time. So start by being visible through in-person networking conferences and consider things like being a thought leader. Maybe that's writing articles for your firm or your practice group. Maybe that's writing articles for your bar association or some other online magazine or forum. For me, that has been LinkedIn. And again, I'll say it's important to find something that is authentic to you and shows what you do and what you do best. Business development is about relationships. It is a type of sales because lawyers are salespeople. We sell our services, we sell our time and our skills. So we must be comfortable with that concept. But it's really about people and it's about maintaining those relationships, even relationships where they may not need or want anything from you for months or years at a time, but you're staying top of mind so that when they, for example, need an attorney in Wisconsin, you might be the only attorney in Wisconsin they know. So they reach out to you first. So business development, networking, there's no magic bullet. And what is most, most important is that you do it in a way that makes sense for you, makes sense for your time commitment, makes sense for your calendar, makes sense for your work and your family life, and also feels genuine and authentic.

Well-Being And Closing Disclaimers

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Thank you for joining me on this episode of the Grace Period. Remember, you don't have to choose between your well-being and your ambition. By setting boundaries, building supportive habits, and giving yourself permission to pause, you can thrive in law and in life. Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other. That is the path to our grace period. Disclaimer The views expressed here are solely my own and do not represent the official policy or position of my firm or any organization. This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only, not professional or legal advice. Listening does not create an attorney client relationship.