Law Associates: Way too young to be survivors

"Clifford Chance Set to Lay Off up to 80 Lawyers in London."  That's the headline in LEGAL WEEK.  And job-trend watchers predict there will be more of these kinds of headlines or worse, into 2010 or longer.  

The current generation of law associates, the JD Class of 2009, and current law students are way too young to be survivors.  But that's exactly how things are turning out.  Like those faced with the Holocaust [a good new film on that is "Defiance"], they have to figure out how to stay or get employed. 

That's new to these best and brightest who have only known affluence and the smug assumptions it creates.  So, how to survive? 

Way back in 2003, which seems light years away, management guru Tom Peters anticipated this sort of upheaval.  In his book "Re-imagine!" - which has become the bible for survival in disruptive times - he mandates us to become "players" vs. loyal worker bees who follow directions.  The latter mindset and way of behaving had been put together for a different kind of era.  Players look for all the angles in order to look out for themselves.  After getting tossed from his own company, Steve Jobs learned that lesson.  So did I, a former Catholic Good Girl, after losing my business Download Geezerguts. I now approach making a living like a feral animal.  I practice Buddhism.

Survival entails not making things worse by fantasizing they could be made better.  And, yes, things can and probably will get worse.  This is the wrong time to be imposing "oughts" on what is.  That's why so many executive coaches are advising their clients to dig deep into the philosophy of The Now or what athletic coaches call "being in the zone."  In The Now we do everything right that The Now demands.  In the past or future, we do most of the wrong things.  A useful read on this is anything by Eckhart Tolle.

And, a niche is the space to inhabit.  We can be the go-to person for that expertise or practice.  If necessary we can hide in it bunker-like when we need cover.  Also, a niche by its very nature tends to be relatively insulated from invasion.  The challenge is to keep improving our performance in that niche.  That means more learning, more networking, more publications, more keynote speeches. 

Being a survivor changes us.  That could be for the better if we are grateful that we did survive.  Many others won't or can't.  An inspirational book on just that subject is "When You're Falling, Dive."  It's by AIDS victim Mark Matousek.  He thought he was going to die.  Then science came up with the right medication.  Now he's living in survival. 

Comments

[Eckhart Tolle]

I am such a freaking hack and a fraud. Please stop reading my books or suggesting my philosophies to others.

[Marsha Keeffer]

We survivors are in the Now - and we're active Darwinians. Every step is an adaptation that increases our ability to move forward and succeed. And yes, continuous learning on the fly is a big part of it.

[Marsha Keeffer]

We survivors are in the Now - and we're active Darwinians. Every step is an adaptation that increases our ability to move forward and succeed. And yes, continuous learning on the fly is a big part of it.