How to advance your legal career
I have co-authored a new book entitled Future-proof Your Legal Career alongside fellow executive coaches and legal industry experts Clare Jones and Hannah Beko. We apply real-life, evidence-based coaching techniques and step-by-step practices to enhance the practice of mid and senior-level lawyers.
In fast changing times, if you work in a law firm, have you asked yourself this question: how can I advance my legal career? Lawyers operate in a highly competitive world. They face unprecedented complexity, change and conflicting demands. As well as regulatory, legislative, economic and political uncertainty, other challenges include pricing pressures, technological advances and market innovation.
From time to time, it is important to take a step back and look at the big picture. After all, if you spend all of your time on the battlefield, how can you see what is really going on and where the battle is heading?
Professional development is of critical importance. The ambitious legal professional must develop their own competitive strategy to survive and thrive.
The book, published on November 30th 2021 by Globe Law and Business, contains 10 core areas of professional development. It has a Foreword written by Sarah Goulbourne, co-founder of leading challenger law firm gunnercooke.
Through exploring these 10 core areas, you can discover how to release yourself from barriers that are holding you back and in so doing, future-proof your legal career.
The content covers everything from self-discovery, through to thought-leadership and pitching as well as the skills and behaviours that underpin success. Readers are invited to create their own dynamic personal development programme. They are challenged to hold themselves accountable for delivering it.
This new book helps senior level lawyers looking to build a lasting reputation, successful practice and a sustainable, balanced career. It provides clarity regarding your value and a deeper understanding of how to develop client relationships.
In addition, it uncovers challenges to your progress and identifies next steps to make everything you do even more effective.
Each Chapter contains coaching questions. Research has shown that pertinent coaching questions can prompt powerful insights and self-discovery.
Each question offers you an opportunity to pause, reflect on what you are reading and contemplate what it means for you.
There may be immediate benefits. Greater value will emerge as you allow yourself to contemplate your responses over time.
Re-reading the questions after a few months will reignite your thought processes, as you become more aware of the changes you have made.
‘How to protect my legal career’ is a question that ambitious lawyers should be asking themselves at least once a year.
Steve Couch has drawn from over 13 years experience as a PwC Partner and qualifications including MSc (Coaching & Behavioural Change), Advanced Diploma (HR Management), ACA, and LLB to contribute Chapters on Client Management, Effective Leadership and Collaborative Working to Future-proof Your Legal Career.
The book has its own website, which can be found here: https://futureproofyourlegalcareer.com
In his work, Steve combines extensive international leadership knowledge and 1000s of hours of coaching and mentoring experience. He uses the latest advances in coaching and team development practice. Steve works with individual lawyers and legal leadership teams.
“The coaching has been very helpful. I feel like I have been able to take swirling thoughts into positive action plans and actually implement those swirling thoughts into constructive changes to my daily working and personal life.” ~ Law Firm Partner
“In terms of the return on investment for the firm, all of this has already had a positive impact on my ability to win market share for the firm and to collaborate effectively with others in that objective.” ~ Top 75 UK Law Firm Partner
“I found the coaching challenging and I was very anxious in advance because of team dynamic difficulties. I felt supported by Steve Couch and that Steve gave me space to speak.” ~ Law Partner feedback on Team Coaching
If you would like to talk to me about adapting my research within your firm, you are welcome to email: steve@coachingtogether.co.uk or call: 07718 581126