Law And More

Maladaptive Perfectionism - What Joanna Litt Contends Killed Husband Gabe MacConaill Is Epidemic

Extreme negative reaction to mistakes

Harsh self-criticism

Nagging self doubt

An increasing inability to focus conscientiously on tasks (hell, you figure, how can I manage to do well, given that I am already such a screwup).

And, an emotional unraveling at a relatively young age. 

Those traits, found researchers Simon Sherry and Martin Smith, characterize perfectionism.

That syndrome has become an epidemic in western society among millennials. Here is a description of their meta analysis. 

It was also that maladaptive perfectionism which Joanna Litt contends drove her husband to suicide. He had been Gabe MacConaill, a partner in BigLaw. Here is Litt's open letter published in Law.com. 

Among the factors causing the epidemic, Sherry and Smith state, are:

Dog-eat-dog work world. It's all too easy to take success much too seriously. However, given that so many industries have become a zero-sum game, it seems the only shot at success is to be totally focused on doing everything just right. 

Harsh, over-controlling parents. They aren't new per se.

When I was the kid from the hood in an accelerated program in high school, I first ran into the 60s' version of helicopter parents. They harped on my female classmates about their weight and the male ones about earning a letter in sports to get into an Ivy. When they noticed me at an academic awards function they told me to bleach the dark hair on my arms. 

What is new is that parents feel compelled by social media to feature perfect offspring on Facebook. Their Offspring R Them. 

Media, both third party and social, had created unattainable standards for everything from appearance to achievements. Some of my colleagues in public relations contend that The Media is the most powerful force in current times. The force has more influence than governments, businesses, and even political leaders. 

Way back when, youth usually had been preoccupied with one person whose abilities and accomplishments made them feel less-than. That was captured in the best-selling novel at that time -  John Knowles' "A Separate Peace."

By the end of college, most could shake off that obsession with The Other by simply gliding into one or more of the standard rites of passage:

• The female gets married
• The male gets the first real job
• The female gets a traditional job such as teaching
• Both sexes go to professional or graduate school.

The transitions were such an ordeal that there was no energy left for peeking outside their own box to wonder how it would be playing in someone else's box.

Right now, the only box which matters is the media one. 

In his book "Excellent Sheep," William Deresiweicz describes that generation as one which fears making a mistake and has difficulty bouncing back from failure, no matter how trivial. An adjunct professor of communications at several New York City universities tells us that his students all want "A" grades. That's even though they have been told that the "C" students become the bosses of the "A" and that many of us older generations regret single-mindedly pursuing top grades. 

The solution? Perhaps there needs to be several pilot programs about establishing whatevers, ranging from schools to video games, which deliver the Beatles' Message: Let It Be. Then measure the mental health and accomplishments of those groups compared to the mainstream population of their peers.

The reality is that the present perfectionism bites all generation in the butt. It wasn't until I decided on semi-retirement that my enterprises had a roaring comeback. I define "semi-retirement" as restricting my business to only the assignments I wanted to accept, with clients who treated with respect, and at the fee which I perceived as fair. 

An anti-perfectionist app might deliver self-talk that we have a perfect right to choose who we are, what we do to earn a buck (drop careerism), and how we look (which will never be perfect).

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That ranges from blog posts and e-books to planning/scripting podcasts and creating traditional speeches. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence and sell without paying high rates, janegenova374 Need @gmail.com. 

Jill Abramson Cornered - Thinks Like a Lawyer

Question: When is plagiarism not a serious violation of ethics - and law?

Answer: When former big cheese at The New York Times Jill Abramson says it isn't.

And, she said it isn't to the New York Post. Also, she notes that her journalism students at Harvard sort of are blowing off that she lifted six passages - including a whole paragraph - without attribution.

 That was for her book "Merchants of Truth." Currently it is ranked high on Amazon - 2,735. Here it can ordered.

Essentially, with the tone and methodology of a seasoned lawyer, Abramson confidently seeks to get off the hook with these arguments:

•  The lifting of passages was unintentional. (Although I didn't intend to speed, the police still write a ticket for speeding.)
•  Corrections were made.
•  Hell, the book was long with over 800 footnotes for other content (I can tell the police I had lived a long life of extreme virtue so it should be okay that I decided to steal - anyway the amount was small).

At her last job, that is at The New York Times, Abramson got the boot.

Now, she is putting out there this kind of apologia for documented plagiarism. Obviously, she has learned nothing from such a severe career setback. If she had played this kind of game at her former job, no wonder she had been sacked.

When I taught freshman composition at a university in Michigan and public relations communications at one in Connecticut, students suspected of stealing content from other authors didn't pull arrogant theatrics like this. They were scared, remorseful, and threw themselves on the mercy of the system. Thanks to that show of innate character, they were given a second chance. 

Abramson deserves none. 

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That includes podcast scripting and talking points. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence without paying high rates, janegenova374 Need @gmail.com. 

Legal Marketers - Yes, You Can Get Fired Hiring X or Y Public Relations Agency

The media can't catch up to how technology, consumer preferences, and politics keep changing its business. 

Consequently, to survive, in 2018, it cut 15,474 jobs (source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas). Those reductions in force (RIFs) hit mediums ranging from television to print to movies. Here are more details from the New York Post.

The major problem is figuring out a business model which will sustain and scale revenues.

Advertising is not the answer since Facebook and Google "own" 58% of that market.

In addition, more consumers are deciding on what to buy based on messaging from influencers in social media. For example, the college kid discussing fashion on Instagram constitutes a type of Direct-to-Consumer messaging. It can have more reach than an ad in Conde Nast's Vogue.

Also, as New York University marketing professor Scott Galloway hammers, more and more purchasing is done without the middleman via search engines and devices like Alexa. Brands? The concept is being reconfigured. Read his thinking in his book "The Four."

Paywalls are iffy. Here is my recent article on that wild card which I published in Odwyerpr.com. Right now, thanks to the volatility in politics, media outlets such as The New York Times are experiencing surges in digital subscriptions. But, if local, national, and international politics settles down or becomes of less interest there could be fewer willing to pony up the "toll" to get by the paywall. Yes, it's possible that politics can return to be background noise.

Another challenge has been the Trump Administration's criticism of the objectivity and accuracy of media. That has undermined dependence on media for everything from news to insight about world affairs.

It could be that what we traditionally know as "media" will evolve into an entity that is very new. And, of course, disruptive.

Meanwhile, not only are jobs being lost.

So is power. How much reach do once-influential voices such as Gabriel Sherman's and Graydon Carter's have in February 2019? 

In addition, the growing popularity of podcasting is sucking advertising from traditional media to the hosting businesses. Podcasting is growing at a rate of about 30% annually. The public can also tune in podcasts rather than turning to traditional sources of media to retrieve news and commentary.

The implications for public relations are eye-popping.

Obviously, there are no longer trusted formulas for getting, keeping, modifying, and scaling the right kinds of attention for clients.

In itself, that can force out old-time players in the industry.

A new college graduate, savvy in technology and grassroots influence, can hang out a shingle, compete on price, and take on public relations agencies which are below the top elite tier. More help-wanted ads specify only individuals, not formal communications agencies, should respond. 

It could remain the business reality that legal marketers don't get fired hiring Edelman but they can get fired paying "too much" to a midsized firm whose kinds of work can be done by an upstart shop. 

Legal marketing has to become open to emerging models for messaging. And, fast. 

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That includes podcast scripting and talking points. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence without paying high rates, janegenova374 Need @gmail.com. 

GE - Carnage in Connecticut, Disappointment in Boston

In Fairfield, Connecticut, the aura surrounding GE mirrored that currently dominating Amazon in Seattle, Washington. 

Employees who worked there were golden. Vendors like myself boasted that we did business with the corporation. Its presence kept real estate values on an upward trajectory. And retirees did well enough with the stock to be able to remain in CT rather than having to pull up roots and migrate to Florida or Arizona. 

That was then, of course.

The aura first became tarnished when GE announced it was pulling out of Fairfield and establishing its headquarters in Boston. One reason given was to be in proximity to the innovative tech ethos in the Boston Metro area.

And, boy, that scene was popping. I had helped ghostwrite a book on entrepreneurship for Andrew Bachman. At Babson College he had launched in the dorm Tatto Media which later sold for more than $60 million. Before he eventually took a plea for fraud through mobile cramming, he had started up several other digital enterprises. 

The Boston strategy seemed brilliant to shareholders.

But it was devastating to the CT real estate market. Not only were houses not selling. Those McMansions built in more optimistic times elicited only smirks, not offers to buy. Meanwhile the property taxes on those large homes did and continue to run more than $20k annually. One joke is that the owners will wind up dying in those houses, frozen to death because they can't afford the heat.

The aura became just a memory as GE began a downward trajectory in its business. It was a perfect storm - one that blew in fast and furious. The House that Jack (Welch) built was collapsing.

The stock sunk so badly that employees couldn't afford to retire. Those who had retired, depending on the stock, had to return to work.

Meanwhile, the real estate scene in CT is ugly. Those with no other association with GE than buying property near its former headquarters are unable to retire because they can't cash out the house, at least not at the price they want. The state isn't able to attract major corporations to move in. There's even a property tax on cars. If a trailer truck jack-knives on I-95, no one gets to their job in Manhattan on time. 

Although GE is making a bit of progress in turning itself around, it's not enough. As MarketWatch reports, GE has agreed to return to Massachusetts $87 million in incentives and for them to jointly sell waterfront property. Those 800 jobs GE was to create in Boston? Those have dwindled down to 250.

So, to Boston, which is featured in the TV hit "A Million Little Things," GE brings disappointment. A major indstury in the area is higher education. What placement director at an Ivy is going to encourage those who are graduating top in their class to apply for work at GE? 

In the process is the Jack Welch brand also damaged? Actually, there had been a loss of brand equity before GE went into suicide mode. His vision for an online relatively low-cost MBA program, when implemented, never really took off.

His book "The Real-Life MBA" seemed, to me, to need a platitude cleanse. Unlike Peter Thiel's "Zero to One," published around the same time, Welch's book didn't have staying power. On Amazon, currently Welch's guide ranks 221,670. Thiel's ranks 2,448.

What should the GE saga teach us? 

Answer: Plenty.

No employee, no home buyer, no investor, and no geographical area should have blind faith in any corporation or its supposedly iconic leadership. Only a few of the insiders really know what is going on. The possible protection against financial ruin is to observe what they do, not listen to what they say.

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That includes podcast planning and talking points. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence without paying high rates,  janegenova374@gmail.com. 

Allegations about Jill Abramson's "Merchants of Truth" - What the Hell to Make of This

Those who understand public relations figured that the book "Merchants of Truth" had been Jill Abramson's shot at a comeback. Several years ago she received the boot from her high-level editorial job at The New York Times. 

Maybe that assumption was wrong - dead wrong. It could have been that Abramson was aiming for career suicide. She wanted to pull the plug on it all - in a theatrical fashion. The drama she sure did get. 

She is on television and she is covered in digital media denying that she plagiarized sections of "Merchants of Truth" from content in publications ranging from The New Yorker to Time Out. What a way to go!

In his coverage of the allegations in The Wall Street Journal, Benjamin Mullen states there is a similarity between the material in the book and material produced elsewhere by other writers. 

Career suicide, like suicide which ends one's actual life, is mysterious and amazing. If we have worked in powerful organizations or done assignments for brandname personalities we have had experience observing career suicide. Of course, the process springs from the darkness of the unconscious. But it plays out in very visible ways. Usually our eyes pop.

The classic case is the successful lawyer who embezzles. The "explanation" given is that he or she had been drinking excessively at the time. The rooms of 12-step programs are filled with those former star players. Although they often do stop the substance abuse they never have that moment of clarity about their quite successful attempt at career suicide.

One wonders if former McKinsey head Rajat Gupta was simply weary of the professional life he was living, didn't see enough of a payoff for himself, and went rogue through insider trading?

Maybe Abramson too had had it. The humiliation of getting caught could be a key part of the rite of passage to a state of being beyond career. She can move on to create a sort of "witness protection" life for herself outside the Manhattan media world. In 10 years, a curious journalist might find her and re-tell that story. 

As we try to sort this out, we could use the insight from profilers of human behavior such as David Rossi of "Criminal Minds." Last night he got married. But, post-honeymoon we can ask him to explain these odd dynamics.

From a family with an Eastern European suicide gene and a tendency to destroy what they achieved I am no stranger to what would seem to be the unthinkable. 

Get amazing results through out of box communications strategies/content. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com. I help, not sell.

59% of Females in Law Firms Tell ZipRecruiter They Experienced Sexual Harassment - Power & Delusion

The next target of the #MeToo Movement could be all industries in which the power remains in the hands of males.

At the top of the list could be how the business of practicing law is conducted in the law firm.

CBS MoneyWatch reports the results of a survey by ZipRecruiter. Of the females interviewed in law, 59% indicated they experienced sexual harassment.

They refrained from reporting it because of fear of retaliation as well as the assumption that nothing would be done about that. 

It seems odd that those in law firms would allegedly engage in sexual misconduct. After all, they are lawyers. They understand the possible legal consequences.

However, the reality is that power often makes the miscreants (and sometimes they are female) assume they:

• Have a right to forbidden fruit
• Will get away with it.

There is not enough research on power as a source of delusion in the workplace. That is despite the proliferation of social media and anonymous employee sites such as Glassdoor. 

This problem extends way beyond sexual misconduct.

It could be the platform for allegedly inflicting all kinds of mind games on employees, interns, and consultants.

That allegedly took place, Glassdoor presents, at the high-profile public affairs firm The Dilenschneider Group.

Here are the employee reviews on Glassdoor of The Dilenschneider Group. All give the firm a rating of "1" out of a possible "5." That means the overall rating is "1."

In contrast, public affairs firm kglobal has an overall rating of "4.3" out of "5" on Glassdoor. Here are the Glassdoor reviews.

The irony - or maybe it isn't ironic - is that the founder of The Dilenschneider Group - Bob Dilenschneider - had been an early adopter of tutoring executives about power. His book, published way back in 1990 - was "Power and Influence."

In a sense, Dilenschneider brought power out of the closet. Before that, we in executive communications focused our ghostwriting and scripting on the subject of "leadership" - effective and ineffective. The term "power" had been taboo.

No longer. Once the door was opened on discussing power, books on its how became best-sellers.

On the dark side had been Gabriel Sherman's biography of Roger Ailes - "The Loudest Voice in the Room." In the realm of "educational" has been Walter Isaacson's "Steve Jobs."

Now, thanks to #MeToo and niche law specialties such as Sanford's employment-law practices, we could be entering a new era on looking at power. Those who abuse it in any way could be positioned and packaged as entities to be purged from organizations. That would be no matter their talent or the results generated.

Takeaway: Males and females who play fast and loose with power should get it that their behavior will be observed, assessed, and, if proved to be even inappropriate, will be punished. What is treated as "inappropriate" could include the alleged yelling by partners at law firms. 

Just as there had been Nader Raiders for consumer fraud, there could be Power Outers for zeroing in on possible abuse.

Get amazing results through out of box communications strategies/content. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com. I help, not sell.

 

Dennis Rader AKA BTK - The Strange Goal of Wanting to Become Serial Killer

Last night "20/20" provided an amazing presentation of the mind of a serial killer.

That was BTK (Bondage, Torture, Kill) of Kansas - Dennis Rader. The narrative was primarily through the experience of his daughter. 

From a young age, Rader wanted to be a serial killer.

He connected the dots on that goal when he was sitting in his car with a girlfriend and over the radio blasted the story of the murder of the Clutter family, also in KS. That, of course, was turned into the best-selling book "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. 

Another shocking part of the BTK saga was that at his sentencing he positioned and packaged himself as if he were being recognized for some kind of award. For example, he complimented the police on their fine detective work. At that point, the relatives of his victims walked out of the courtroom.

What wasn't mentioned is the genetic legacy he might be passing on. The house he lived in and reared his family had been bulldozed. But his daughter did produce two children. Will they display signs of sociopathic behavior as they approach their teens? 

Meanwhile, after this chilling review of the life of man who seemed to be such a community leader more of us trust no one. 

Get amazing results through out of box communications strategies/content. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com. I help, not sell.

Loneliness in the Legal Sector: Too Damn Tired to Make Friends

This weekend there will be those loading up their shopping carts with Doritos, dip, chicken wings, and beer.

They're the lucky ones.

They will not be watching the Super Bowl alone.

Then there are those trapped in the loneliness epidemic.

A symbol of this time when it's so difficult to build a social network that meets up in-person, they will be taking in the Super Bowl alone. They are probably self-conscious of being isolated - loneliness carries with it stigma - so they won't go to a sports bar to do the game.

Loneliness, of course, isn't new. The Beatles wrote a great song about it - Eleanor Rigby. There was also that best-selling book Bowling Alone. And, from the get-go way back in the 1930s, the two founders of the 12-step movement - Dr. Bob and Bill Wilson - warned about the link between isolation and problem drinking. 

What is new is that loneliness has become standard. That's no surprise.

Since it requires so much time to make a good living we have less energy to devote to nurturing friendships. In fact, we are so bone tired at the end of the work day that we are even reluctant to communicate. Increasingly, we send a subtle or even blatant signal: Leave me alone.

Those in the legal sector are at the top of the list who are forced to snatch in the welcome mat. Most lawyers simply have no choice. It's either extreme hours or no hours.

Being online so much on social networks also creates the illusion of having relationships in our lives. Only if we are delusional, though, does anyone step out from the iPhone or laptop and join us for real conversation over a coffee or beer.

Lunch? Hell, who has time. And we've been all told to save our pennies for retirement. Eating out is expensive. Also, more economic watchers are predicting an economic downturn. Recall in 2009 in the legal sector 6000 souls were put out on the street. You bet, watch the money.

In addition, in this era of rage we are losing our ability to tolerate  imperfections. This one or that one gets under our skin. No, we won't let them into our lives. And, the reverse is also the case. In their eyes, we aren't up to snuff, either. The mutual intolerance is palpable. 

Reflection: Make this the last Super Bowl you will take in alone. Resolve to develop at least one friendship in 2019. An executive coach is helping me with that. 

Get amazing results through out of box communications strategies/content. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com. I help, not sell.

Lawyers In "Brownouts" - Ditch Those Regrets about Not Becoming Medical Doctors

Brownouts are different than burnouts. But, in the current world of BigLaw, both can get lawyers forced out.

Essentially, a brownout entails losing fire in the belly about work. The lawyer keeps up with what is necessary but doesn't push. That could negatively impact both billable hours and new business development.

Burnouts are more akin to meltdowns. Lawyers might stop working entirely.

Both partners and senior associates in brownouts have a target on their backs, given the ongoing changes in BigLaw. Those range from the game being controlled more by buyers to competition from the BigFour (accounting firms).

It's natural for lawyers browning out to entertain fantasies about other career paths. A number had told me they regretted not enrolling in medical school instead of law.

The reality is that 48% of medical doctors are beyond browning out. A study by Aimed Alliance found that they are actually considering leaving their positions as medical doctors. And 2/3rds indicate they would not recommend anyone else training to become medical doctors.

Among the top reasons they want to leave the work they used to love is coping with the ordeal of insurance coverage. Of course, there are the provisions and all the red tape. But, they also assess the delays patients have to put up in waiting for approval for a procedure from an insurance company could endanger their health status.

Here are more details. 

The takeaway for both lawyers and medical doctors may be to recognize that most professions are increasingly stressful. Their ordeal isn't unique.

A read that might bring perspective is "Dying for a Paycheck." Author Jeffrey Pfeffer, a Stanford University Business School professor, documents the problem as global. Here the book can be ordered.

Get amazing results through out of box communications strategies/content. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com. I help, not sell.

 

Cultural Shift: Soccer Moms Who Become Criminals Positioned and Packaged as Anti-Heroes

A sign of a cultural shift: "Good Girls" will be returning to network television in March.

NBC found there is an audience for a series about those soccer mom types who are forced into a life of crime.

The trigger, to use the pun, is financial desperation.

Of course, the pickle they are in mirrors the situation of so many U.S. households which are struggling to make ends meet - and sometimes just can't pull it off. 

But, the bigger cultural statement is this: Being a good girl is not cool. There's no payoff. And the whole lifestyle is not at all interesting. No, mamas, don't raise your daughters to be good girls.

What should mamas raise their daughters to be? The jury is out on that.

But what I have observed is that good girls are thrown off their game - fast - in the 2nd decade of the 21th century. That is especially the situation as they age.

It's almost a re-play of what happens to the highly educated characters in Mary McCarthy's "The Group." They put their trust in elite schooling. Then they get out there in the real world and things don't work that way.

Perhaps too many females from my generation assumed they could play by the rules of being a good girl.

I was not one of them. Back then, of course, I suffered.

But as the world, especially the business and social ones, kept changing, I had and have the ability to also keep reconfiguring my game.

In contrast, many of the very good girls from my college days seem stuck - and boring. That's sad. They face 10, 20, or even 30 years more of living on planet earth.

Irony: About six months ago, I decided to semi-retire. A funny thing happened on the way to semi-retirement. More relaxed and thinking more out of the box, I attracted plum accounts. In addition, LinkedIn selected two of my articles of the Editors' Choice. 

Reflection: Do good girls, unlike the characters on "Good Girls" and myself, lack resilience? Should there be a 12-step program to deprogram good girls? Here, free to download, is my book on how older professionals can escape their hardened comfort zones. It could save their jobs and they won't have to turn to a life of crime with GangBanger.

Get amazing results through out of box communications strategies/content. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com. I help, not sell.