What skills can a Lawyer learn from a Westend/ Broadway Choreographer?!
During the month of April 2020, I signed up to one of Westend’s/ Broadway’s Choreographers, Xena Gusthart’s aptly titled online Coffee Mornings called, ‘Pivot Through A Pandemic’. I first met Xena at Judymay Murphy’s Elevated Women Event at the Ritz Carlton, London in May 2019 and we instantly connected!
So, what can a Lawyer learn from a Westend / Broadway Choreographer? A whole lot, is the answer!
I believe that we learn something new from everyone we meet, if we are awake, remain humble and our minds and hearts are open to learning. There are so many skills which are shared in seemingly vastly different professions. I call these transferable skills. When you keep an open mind, your level of awareness expands and you can relate and take on the benefits of other professionals’ experience by adopting and adapting these to upgrade your own personal and professional skills.
Performance
No-one can deny that Barristers / Attorneys ‘perform’ much like an actor on the stage when making their submissions/ arguments in Court. All direction in this area is therefore very helpful for the Advocate, the Speaker, Coach, Trainer- anyone who ‘performs’ before an ‘audience’. How to walk, stand (posture), make eye contact, build connection, read the room, speak eloquently at the right pace, tone, volume, energy… how to respond to questions, improvise when the unexpected happens – oh yes and clients have been known to change their stories on the day! …
Your Unique Selling Point (USP)
All entrepreneurs/ solopreneurs/ soul-preneurs, no matter what industry we are in, need to develop a brand which reflects our uniqueness. Lawyers traditionally were vocational but times have changed and in the last 2 decades the profession has very much become about ‘business’. What particular value can we add to our clients’ lives? For example, in Gibraltar, my USP is that I am the only Holistic Lawyer! What is yours?
What Xena did was to probe a little further and invite us to answer the following questions: what is my ‘wild card’? What other skills am I good at? I came up with the fact that I’m bi-lingual. What does this mean? It means I could for example invest more time reaching out to Lawyers and academics in Spanish speaking countries!
Coaches and Mentors
Both Lawyers and Artists need at some point a coach or mentor. It is highly advisable. It makes logical sense too. If you have a goal in sight, who then do you go to for advice? The person/ people who have already got to where you want to get to! Not anybody else- definitely do not seek advice from well-meaning friends / relatives, who are not walking your path and do not understand or share your vision. Seek out your ‘tribe’ of like-minded professionals – yes! They are out there! Seek and you shall find! But first, find a Coach/ Mentor who has blazed the trail.
Be YOU - your AUTHENTIC SELF!
This is key. Without wanting to sound patronising or cliché, times are changing, shifting and people are tiring of fake facades, superficiality and disconnect. People want to work with people- real people, authentic people, people who do not pretend to be perfect or live ‘Facebook-perfect’ lives! This applies across the board to all professions.
The Lawyer- Client / Lawyer-Clerk of the Court/ Lawyer-Judge/ Lawyer- Secretary/ Lawyer… you get the picture- relationships in my experience, need honesty, authenticity, humanity, heart and connection- less fear, pretence, ego and dis-connect: more balance of logic and creativity.
Before systems can improve, the humans who form part of those systems must change/ transform/ awaken. I’ve previously written about the work of Lawyers around the Globe who are writing and teaching a more human approach to law. For example J Kim Wright, the mother of Integrative Law; David B Wexler, the father of Therapeutic Jurisprudence with the late Bruce Winick; Stu Webb, the father of Collaborative Law; former practising Solicitor and Senior Law lecturer of the Open University of Milton Keynes, Dr Emma Jones (UK); and the importance of Emotional Intelligence and the Law, taught by former lawyer, mediator, psychotherapist, shaman and lecturer Dr Amar Dhall (Australia), to name only a few…
Unless we practice Law daily in alignment with our unique value system and from our uniqueness- i.e. there has never been and will never be another one of you walking the planet- you are selling yourself short. Your clients too, will be ‘robbed’ of the opportunity to see and experience your true essence.
Benchmarking
We are in the main brought up learning about hierarchy and authority, experiencing patriarchal pyramid systems. Where do you ‘position’ yourself? Do you feel unable or unworthy or inadequate in any way which sets you back from communicating authentically with everyone you meet, regardless of hierarchy? For budding, young stars it might be the fear of applying for a particular role in theatre or film; for a Lawyer it might be the fear of applying for Queens Counsel, or a Judicial post, or for Partnership in a firm. By contemplating about where we ‘pitch’ ourselves at any given time, we can be better placed to map out our path towards our goals, break it down into manageable, bite-sized steps towards success!
Networking
Networking is one of my hobbies- I love it so much I certainly do not consider it work. I see it as part of the human condition and meeting one of my basic human needs: that of human connection. I thrive on meeting new people, finding out about them and I particularly enjoy connecting people and facilitating new collaborations, in whatever field. Networking is once again, a must in any field because there is always room for learning and growth; and many times, those opportunities come from a conversation with someone we have networked with.
Leadership
In any field of business or profession you join, be it theatre, Law or another, there are always going to be the Leaders who you can follow and learn from. The true leaders though; i.e. the ones who inspire, motivate and serve others. Not the ones who bully, operate from their ego and on the basis of people’s fear! It is the true Leaders you can observe and emulate.
For more information on Leadership, please read 19th July 2019 news/ blog [please link to What Do Leaders Really Do? Jeff Grout].
In conclusion, there are many transferable or applicable skills and tools we can learn and take from other professionals. Stay open, stay positive, stay grateful for the people you connect with, their generosity and sharing. Be grateful for the new discoveries- they will shape your development and open doors of opportunities you may have never even considered- and how exciting is that?!
For further information, please contact:
amber@amberlaw.com
xenajgusthart.com