How should you wrap your arms around being innovative? Focus on your innovativeness as a direct relationship to your productivity and efficiencies, talent development, and career progression. The net result will be that you and your firm are trusted and respected, and your client service executed successfully. Sponsoring and supporting innovativeness does not require that you and your firm do a clean sweep of all your products, services, and processes for the sake of change. Nor do you need to categorically adapt new and, potentially, untested procedures across the board.

Client exposure is sadly another area where many of your colleagues are elbowed out in favour of those with the loudest voices or biggest books of business. Too frequently, your firm rolls out the same people on different pitches, simply because these lawyers have been used on earlier pitches and have institutionally become the go-to team. Regardless of your firm’s size, there is depth of talent, which you want to expose and share with current and prospective clients.

At any given time of the day, you are typically on either side of the communication equation: the speaker’s side or the listener’s side. Regardless of your position, you want to take care with your communication so it will be received and acted on effectively and appropriately. You communicate without care when you empty out your words, raise your voice louder, or repeat the same message if you feel your listener is not understanding what you want them to do. Instead, take care with your messaging and stay focused on not only what you communicate but how you are being perceived by the person with whom you are interacting.