Is there an A-type personality attorney in your firm who you find difficult to relate with? Are there attorneys in your office struggling to develop meaningful business relationships? Don’t despair. Maybe with some coaching, you and your attorneys can be more effective as advisors and new-business generators.
“There’s a reason top golfers and baseball players have coaches,” said Steve Fretzin, who offered a number of the lessons from his toolbox at the June 3rd LMA Midwest at Chicago luncheon program held at Arnstein & Lehr.
During the program, Fretzin showcased several things from his toolbox, including the “DISC” personality assessments, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), and other important coaching tools.
The “DISC” is an acronym for a personality assessment tool that stands for:
- Dominance
- Influencing
- Steadiness
- Compliance
Knowing where you and others fall on the DISC spectrum can help you understand your own communication style, and how to adapt to more effectively communicate with others. As an example, Fretzin explained how one might best relate with someone who is introverted and detail-oriented. This person would be high on the “Compliance” side of the equation.
“You have to give high ‘Cs’ specific and proven steps to follow to help them communicate more effectively,” Fretzin said. He went on to explain that “Cs” can learn to master processes and techniques that can help them get more comfortable with business development.
The DISC methodology has been used by the military, major corporations and recruitment organizations, and can also be used effectively for coaching and business development in the law firm environment, as well as help you interact better with family and friends.
Fretzin went on to explain NLP, which involves reading body language and understanding the way someone filters information. Like the DISC, it can be used to improve relations and overall communication styles. Using somewhat of a parlor trick as an example, Fretzin interacted with
the audience to show how it’s possible to determine if someone is more visually oriented or more audio-oriented by watching their eyes.
Fretzin closed the presentation by offering his tips at the “Heart of Coaching.” He also shared some of the worksheets and activity tracking journals that he uses when working with clients to track and measure their progress.