(March — 2011)
The Concise Oxford American Dictionary defines management, a noun, as: “The process of dealing with or controlling things or people.” Lawyers are, for better or worse, generally known to not like surprises; they are people who like control but who analyze most everything before making a move. Marrying lawyering with management principles seems like a perfect fit. However, management is often the hardest concept for all professions to do well.
Most of us are not taught precisely how to manage. Even a strong MBA program cannot cover how to handle all management situations. The courses are finite. Your career is not. Sure, we take professional development classes, attend workshops and conferences, and scour purported expert resources. Developing overarching management strategy can be a no-brainer, but the implementation of it and getting results take real skill.
Moving into a management role is a natural progression for those who want to move up the career ladder. So, where do we turn for help? In many cases, we look to each other. We have all worked for bosses we have either loved or hated but we hopefully learned something from each of them. But bosses aren’t the only source for management insights. We also learn from colleagues through ACC’s Education programs, Chapter events, Member Knowledge Network and eGroups. ACC Docket articles like this month’s cover story, “The General Counsel as a Strategic Thinker” also provide food for thought on how in-house counsel can contribute to good management.
Given that our best resources are often each other, social networking becomes a crucial tool to improving both knowledge and management skills for in-house lawyers. Social networking exposes us more frequently to people we know and also to people we don’t know. Each social media user brings something different to the table in terms of the information they share. Who your social network is comprised of depends solely upon whom you want in it. And, what you share with your network through social media is entirely your choice.
I started my Twitter account two years ago at the urging of two former coworkers. I was skeptical at first, but was also curious as to what microblogging on Twitter was all about. At that point, I was having a hard time wrapping my brain around “regular” blogging, and wondered what the heck was “micro” blogging? With Tweets coming out often from the folks I followed, I was curious as to who really cares what Twitter users are doing every hour of the day? I also struggled at first with the Twitter limit requiring each message or tweet to be captured in 140 characters or less. Wow, talk about improving your editing skills!
When I opened my Twitter account, I also decided to further populate my LinkedIn profile too because I did not have a website to link to in order to offer potential “tweeps” (my Twitter followers) more information about me, an important component so you can know more about whom you are interacting and communicating with through these social media channels. Completing my LinkedIn profile led me to become more interested in what groups existed on LinkedIn and how I should and could be connecting with other professionals. Like you, I also belong to professional associations and often learn a lot about my job and management techniques from my own colleagues and social media connections.
Since we are all in this together, you will benefit from connecting to and leaning from your colleagues to help improve your law department management skills and your social networking techniques. You won’t regret it.