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The psychological traits of an influential lawyer
While possessing legal knowledge and technical skills is undoubtedly essential, a cognitive behavioural therapist highlights the specific psychological traits that can significantly distinguish exceptional lawyers from the rest.
Grace Robbie
Speaking on a recent episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, Pancho Mehrotra, the founder and principal of Frontier Performance, discussed the distinct personality and psychological traits he has observed in highly influential lawyers.
Mehrotra explained that one of the most consistent characteristics he observes among influential lawyers is their proficiency in interpreting social cues and their ability to read the room.
“The one consistent trait that I find with influential people is their ability to read the room, read the people,” he said.
He highlighted that lawyers’ ability to assess the dynamics of their environment reflects an advanced level of emotional intelligence, which is a desirable and recognisable trait for influential lawyers.
“It shows heightened emotional intelligence, but it also shows a real ability to process information very quickly,” he said.
Mehrotra discussed how strong emotional intelligence in lawyers involves not only understanding others but also regulating one’s own emotions during challenging situations.
“The other aspect is how well they can regulate their own emotions under pressure and not lose it,” he said.
He also indicated that in an emotional intelligence assessment he administers, he discovered that highly effective lawyers demonstrate a pronounced goal orientation among the four identified traits.
“We have an emotional intelligence test that we test people with, and we test four traits, which are sensitivity, achievement, orientation, logical thinking and energy.
“Now, if I were to test a highly influential lawyer, and there are certain traits they would [have, one being] extremely goal orientated; that they need to get a result in a meeting, I need to close a client. It’s competing against another firm to get the business. We want to get the business,” he said.
He draws a distinction between the different types of lawyers who use these skills effectively, pointing out the clear contracts between solicitors and barristers.
“What we see in Australia [is] we have [a clear] difference between solicitors and barristers; the guys who go to the talk to influence, to the guys who are very comfortable working the back end and very probably mostly introverted and very detail-orientated versus a person who’s very flowery with his language and uses his tone really well,” he said.
The pressures associated with being an influential lawyer can significantly affect one’s mental health. For this reason, Mehrotra emphasised that the ability to separate oneself from [one’s] professional responsibilities and refrain from bringing work-related stress into one’s personal life is a crucial component of maintaining high performance.
“A really important aspect of high performance is the ability to separate someone from the job and not take the job home,” he said.
