Login
Global coaching network for lawyers launches
A team of lawyers-turned-professional coaches, with experiences as partners, GCs and board members, has launched a worldwide network to coach law firms, in-house teams and individuals “from the inside out”.
Jerome Doraisamy
Coaching Advocates, a global professional coaching network for firms, law departments and individual lawyers, has been launched to modernise approaches to practising law.
The network is launching with 12 lawyers-turned-coaches, including the four founders, who will service the following countries from the outset: Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, the UK, Singapore and the US.
Coaching for the legal profession has traditionally been viewed, the quartet believe, as an individual pursuit, or one that was just for those in senior roles. The effectiveness of coaching, they said, must be elevated to a much broader level.
If individuals and teams (both in private practice and in-house) can be coached to work together more effectively, they argued, behaviours that contribute to workplace issues, especially poor wellness, can be challenged and redesigned.
At some stage in their legal careers, Ms Gray (pictured, second from right) mused, “many lawyers feel broken”.
“The cold, hard facts show that people with burnout are more likely to take sick days and to be searching for a new job. The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded the problem, but the positive news is that burnout can be combated through transformational leadership via coaching,” she submitted.
Wellbeing is the “prerequisite and foundation” for high-performance, Ms Wentworth (pictured, second from left) added.
“The legal profession is entrenched in outdated and misguided beliefs that highly values overworking and stress as the markers of success as a lawyer, and undervalues or even disregards our state of mind,” she posited.
“We fight a losing battle when we focus on strategies and tools to improve our performance, while neglecting the key ingredient. It’s almost like being an athlete who is expected to win races, without focusing on their physical health.”
Such wellness considerations have a huge impact upon productivity, which will naturally increase with effective coaching, Ms Bibby (pictured, far left) surmised.
“Many in-house and private practice lawyers are constantly in firefighting mode,” she noted.
“They feel forced to practice law in a way that is largely reactionary, often with access to little or no time or resources to work smarter, instead of harder. There’s no need to continue doing so, when lawyers-turned coaches who have ‘been there, done that’ can coach them on ways to achieve sustainable change, both personally and professionally.”
Moreover, Ms Levycky (pictured, far right) added, if the wellbeing of a team is under control, there are direct, flow-on benefits for the bottom line.
“Your lawyers are your greatest asset,” she proclaimed.
“A healthy workforce is more productive, more effective, more engaged, less stressed and more resourceful. Well-established research shows that investing in the wellbeing of your staff is not a cost to the organisation.”
Are you an emerging legal professional and/or law student keen to stand out from the pack? Lawyers Weekly's career Expo & Emerging Leaders Summit will connect you with Australia's top companies and leading educators to help you secure the perfect role. The free-to-attend live-stream event is designed to arm you with the tools and strategies to succeed in the current market and is being held across three action-packed days over 8,9 and 10 June. Click here to find out what you'll gain from attending and head to the official site to register now!
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
You can email Jerome at:
