Life Lessons for Lawyers
Customized Webinars & Workshops
Bena’s research-based strategies, along with her customization of content to meet your organization’s needs, will help you shift the way you think about how you work, communicate, and engage. Her solution-focused approach will provide you with a psycho-educational foundation, and concrete examples of how to implement changes to help you and your organization thrive.
Below is a list of some of the webinar topics Bena can customize for your organization:
Below is a list of some of the webinar topics Bena can customize for your organization:
Lawyer Well-Being and Mental Health
This presentation explores mental health and well-being in the legal profession, and offers key strategies regarding how to improve mental health.
We are happiest, healthiest, and most successful when we adopt healthy lifestyles and work habits. Long hours, demanding clients, complex files, and difficult opposing counsel can be occupational hazards in the practice of law. Learning to recognize the signs of burnout, and knowing how to manage stress so we can thrive in our practice, can lead to lasting positive change.
This presentation focuses on lawyer well-being and offers concrete strategies that will help you avoid burnout, manage stress and anxiety, and remain focused, engaged, motivated, and productive. This presentation explores:
• The mental health status of lawyers.
• How self-awareness can help you manage your emotions.
• The benefits of identifying your triggers.
• Strategies to shift your thinking so you can better manage anxiety.
• How to build resilience and optimism.
• The signs of burnout and what you can do to avoid it.
• The power of sleep, nature, and exercise.
This presentation focuses on lawyer well-being and offers concrete strategies that will help you avoid burnout, manage stress and anxiety, and remain focused, engaged, motivated, and productive. This presentation explores:
• The mental health status of lawyers.
• How self-awareness can help you manage your emotions.
• The benefits of identifying your triggers.
• Strategies to shift your thinking so you can better manage anxiety.
• How to build resilience and optimism.
• The signs of burnout and what you can do to avoid it.
• The power of sleep, nature, and exercise.
Overcoming Pandemic Fatigue
Feeling overwhelmed, distracted, unmotivated? You are not alone.
Pandemic fatigue, lockdown brain, languishing, are all terms used to describe what many of us are feeling now. Some of us are finding what worked to keep us motivated, engaged, focused, and balanced may no longer be working as well as before. Many of us are hitting a wall. As vaccines begin to roll out there remains uncertainty regarding what the future workplace will look like and when we will get there.
This webinar will focus on how to avoid work from home burnout, with concrete strategies that will help you remain focused, engaged, motivated, and productive. This webinar will explore:
• Why we are struggling to stay focused and engaged, and how to reclaim our concentration.
• How to leave work at the door, even when you can't leave the home.
• The signs of work from home burnout, and what you can do to avoid it.
• Why setting boundaries and assertive communication can help you manage expectations.
• How to identify and use your strengths.
This webinar will focus on how to avoid work from home burnout, with concrete strategies that will help you remain focused, engaged, motivated, and productive. This webinar will explore:
• Why we are struggling to stay focused and engaged, and how to reclaim our concentration.
• How to leave work at the door, even when you can't leave the home.
• The signs of work from home burnout, and what you can do to avoid it.
• Why setting boundaries and assertive communication can help you manage expectations.
• How to identify and use your strengths.
Millennials Rising
Bridging Generational Differences in the Practice of Law
Millennials represent the largest segment of our workforce and have since 2015. It is important that we listen to the future generation of lawyers because by 2025, 75% of the workforce will be made up of millennials, likely led by managing and senior partners from a different generation.
Understanding how different generations can work together is necessary to achieve a positive work/life balance and is a priority for the business world. How are the attitudes of millennials different from their senior colleagues, and what steps can be followed to help bridge the generational gap and smooth the transition of power and responsibility?
This course explores common stereotypes that can impede collaborative succession planning by offering insight into the millennial mindset as compared to the mindset of their senior colleagues. In this course, you will explore:
• recruitment and retention
• what motivates millennials
• how to support millennials in the workplace
• how to minimize and resolve inter-generational conflict
• how leadership style impacts motivation, productivity and retention
Understanding how different generations can work together is necessary to achieve a positive work/life balance and is a priority for the business world. How are the attitudes of millennials different from their senior colleagues, and what steps can be followed to help bridge the generational gap and smooth the transition of power and responsibility?
This course explores common stereotypes that can impede collaborative succession planning by offering insight into the millennial mindset as compared to the mindset of their senior colleagues. In this course, you will explore:
• recruitment and retention
• what motivates millennials
• how to support millennials in the workplace
• how to minimize and resolve inter-generational conflict
• how leadership style impacts motivation, productivity and retention
Feedback Fundamentals
Creating a work culture that embraces feedback
Law is a journey of continual learning and growth. We practice law, and feedback is key to mastering our practice. Seeking, delivering, and receiving feedback can be difficult, and many of us shy away from asking for or offering feedback, but we need to if we want to improve. Receiving attention to our strengths help catalyze learning, and regularly applying our strengths increases well-being, engagement, and work satisfaction. We also need to pay attention to our weaknesses, and to embrace constructive feedback that offers opportunities for growth.
Most people want more accurate and candid feedback, and they want it often. Being intentional about offering feedback is especially important during the pandemic as we no longer have those fortuitous moments to let someone know what we think about their work. We need to consciously re-create those moments where we pass someone in the hall and let them know what we liked about their presentation, their memorandum, their written submissions etc. This course addresses how to create a workplace culture that embraces feedback by exploring:
• The benefits of formal and informal feedback.
• Examples of opportunities to ask for and deliver feedback and sample language to use.
• The importance of identifying and building on strengths to catalyze learning when seeking and delivering feedback.
• How to give and receive constructive feedback, including how to overcome the discomfort sometimes experienced when doing so.
• Why regular feedback helps build quality relationships.
• How to help lawyers learn from mistakes, and foster growth and productive outcomes.
• The different styles of communication between generations, and how to bridge the communication gap.
Most people want more accurate and candid feedback, and they want it often. Being intentional about offering feedback is especially important during the pandemic as we no longer have those fortuitous moments to let someone know what we think about their work. We need to consciously re-create those moments where we pass someone in the hall and let them know what we liked about their presentation, their memorandum, their written submissions etc. This course addresses how to create a workplace culture that embraces feedback by exploring:
• The benefits of formal and informal feedback.
• Examples of opportunities to ask for and deliver feedback and sample language to use.
• The importance of identifying and building on strengths to catalyze learning when seeking and delivering feedback.
• How to give and receive constructive feedback, including how to overcome the discomfort sometimes experienced when doing so.
• Why regular feedback helps build quality relationships.
• How to help lawyers learn from mistakes, and foster growth and productive outcomes.
• The different styles of communication between generations, and how to bridge the communication gap.
Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling
Supporting Women Lawyers into Leadership Positions
There continues to be a disparity in the career trajectories and income earning potential between men and women. Moreover, the attrition rates for women in law are substantially higher than men. There are a multitude of factors that contribute to this reality and many possible ways to begin to overcome these challenges. There are many concrete actions women lawyers can take to define their own successful legal career.
This course examines how women can build confidence to pursue their goals. In this evidence-based course you will learn:
• Nothing builds confidence like taking action, especially when that action involves risk or failure. So when in doubt, act.
• How to overcome the “Tiara Syndrome” and stop waiting for the recognition you deserve by understanding that circumstances are more flexible and negotiable than you think.
• How rewiring your brain instead of ruminating, by learning the principles of cognitive behaviour therapy, can boost self-confidence.
• How to overcome imposter syndrome.
• You don’t get what you don’t ask for, and the importance of asking.
• What your signature strengths are and how to best use them.
• How to build your psychological capital by building your mental strength and flexibility.
This course examines how women can build confidence to pursue their goals. In this evidence-based course you will learn:
• Nothing builds confidence like taking action, especially when that action involves risk or failure. So when in doubt, act.
• How to overcome the “Tiara Syndrome” and stop waiting for the recognition you deserve by understanding that circumstances are more flexible and negotiable than you think.
• How rewiring your brain instead of ruminating, by learning the principles of cognitive behaviour therapy, can boost self-confidence.
• How to overcome imposter syndrome.
• You don’t get what you don’t ask for, and the importance of asking.
• What your signature strengths are and how to best use them.
• How to build your psychological capital by building your mental strength and flexibility.
Bolstering Resilience
Building Skills to Help You Thrive in Your Practice, Not Just Survive
Do you spend most of your days at work soldiering through the high stress, high pressure, demanding, conflict laden aspects of the practice of law reacting to situations as they arise? Are you exhausted from putting out fires? We can become overwhelmed with negativity when we operate in reactive mode, and this can lead us to be routinely angry, frustrated, or depressed. Chronic negative emotions can impact our ability to cope over time.
Optimism is the antidote to negativity. It is also one of the most important variables that helps us build resilience. Yes, you can learn to become more resilient. Resilience is essential to a sustainable successful legal career. Unfortunately, research shows that lawyers fall in the bottom 30th percentile on a resilience scale. People who are low on resilience tend to be resistant to feedback, defensive, and sensitive to criticism.
This course explores the science behind building resilience through positive psychology. It explains why resilience is key for thriving in law and how you can become more resilient. In this course you will explore:
• The distinction between operating in reactive mode versus responsive mode and the consequences of each.
• Why lawyers’ negativity bias makes them more susceptible to negative unhelpful thinking styles.
• How to become more resilient by pivoting your mindset.
• Concrete tools that will help you recover from adversity more quickly.
• How being connected to your values can help build resilience.
• How celebrating your successes by recording things you have done well can boost your confidence.
Optimism is the antidote to negativity. It is also one of the most important variables that helps us build resilience. Yes, you can learn to become more resilient. Resilience is essential to a sustainable successful legal career. Unfortunately, research shows that lawyers fall in the bottom 30th percentile on a resilience scale. People who are low on resilience tend to be resistant to feedback, defensive, and sensitive to criticism.
This course explores the science behind building resilience through positive psychology. It explains why resilience is key for thriving in law and how you can become more resilient. In this course you will explore:
• The distinction between operating in reactive mode versus responsive mode and the consequences of each.
• Why lawyers’ negativity bias makes them more susceptible to negative unhelpful thinking styles.
• How to become more resilient by pivoting your mindset.
• Concrete tools that will help you recover from adversity more quickly.
• How being connected to your values can help build resilience.
• How celebrating your successes by recording things you have done well can boost your confidence.
Maximize Your Mentoring
The Importance of Quality Mentorship to the Development of Young Lawyers
A strong mentoring relationship is invaluable to a young lawyer. Mentors help mentees identify values, career goals, and cultivate a professional identity. Understanding the benefits of a mentoring relationship and learning strategies to enhance the relationship can help contribute to a successful mentoring experience. The most valuable aspects of mentoring are not transactional, but rather involve helping people realize their potential.
Learn how enriching the mentoring experience leads to increased engagement, retention, and improved performance. Influential mentors consistently and skillfully offer generous listening, affirmation, challenge, feedback, role-modeling, networking, and professional socialization.
In this course, you will explore:
• How to increase engagement in your mentoring relationship.
• The importance of managing expectations and establishing boundaries.
• How to communicate in a way that bridges generational differences.
• Why feedback is a retention and talent development tool.
• The importance of identifying and building on strengths to catalyze learning.
• How to help associates learn and thrive.
• Strategies to develop autonomy, competence, and connection, and how these factors motivate people to excel.
• The positive impact of transformational leadership, and how to become a transformational leader.
• The connection between perfectionism, anxiety, and procrastination, and how to help associates build confidence to overcome self-doubt.
Learn how enriching the mentoring experience leads to increased engagement, retention, and improved performance. Influential mentors consistently and skillfully offer generous listening, affirmation, challenge, feedback, role-modeling, networking, and professional socialization.
In this course, you will explore:
• How to increase engagement in your mentoring relationship.
• The importance of managing expectations and establishing boundaries.
• How to communicate in a way that bridges generational differences.
• Why feedback is a retention and talent development tool.
• The importance of identifying and building on strengths to catalyze learning.
• How to help associates learn and thrive.
• Strategies to develop autonomy, competence, and connection, and how these factors motivate people to excel.
• The positive impact of transformational leadership, and how to become a transformational leader.
• The connection between perfectionism, anxiety, and procrastination, and how to help associates build confidence to overcome self-doubt.
How to be a Master Mentee
Learn How to be a Model Mentee and Maximize Your Mentoring Relationships
Mentors are a critical asset to an associate’s career. Research demonstrates that associates with a mentor advance more quickly than those without. A quality mentoring relationship supports your professional development, helps you identify and set goals, encourages you to build on your strengths and achieve career success.
The skills you honed at law school and as an articling student were invaluable and helped you get to where you are now, but you need more to get to the next level, wherever that may be for you. This is your career, and you are responsible for its development and success. What are you waiting for? Learn how to cultivate and nurture valuable mentoring relationships. This course will explore how you can take your career to the next level by learning:
• How to build your mentee toolbox and manage your mentoring relationship.
• The importance of identifying and building on strengths to catalyze learning.
• How to ask for and receive feedback to foster growth and productive outcomes.
• Why autonomy, competence, and connection can help you excel.
• How to develop a sense of mastery through the mentorship process.
• Practical tools to reduce negative self-talk and boost self-confidence.
• How to think like an entrepreneur and understand the business of law.
The skills you honed at law school and as an articling student were invaluable and helped you get to where you are now, but you need more to get to the next level, wherever that may be for you. This is your career, and you are responsible for its development and success. What are you waiting for? Learn how to cultivate and nurture valuable mentoring relationships. This course will explore how you can take your career to the next level by learning:
• How to build your mentee toolbox and manage your mentoring relationship.
• The importance of identifying and building on strengths to catalyze learning.
• How to ask for and receive feedback to foster growth and productive outcomes.
• Why autonomy, competence, and connection can help you excel.
• How to develop a sense of mastery through the mentorship process.
• Practical tools to reduce negative self-talk and boost self-confidence.
• How to think like an entrepreneur and understand the business of law.
Coming Soon
These customized webinars will be available in the near future
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Boundary Basics for Lawyers. Learn How to Establish and Maintain Healthy Boundaries While Practicing Law
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Trouble Concentrating? Finding it Difficult to Stay Engaged in Tasks? Transform Your Practice by Learning 10 Tried and True Strategies to Overcome Procrastination and Increase Productivity
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Temperament Types and Leadership Styles: Embracing Your Introvert, Extrovert, or Ambivert Power
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Persuasion Master Class: Become a Communication Master.
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The Powerful Connection Between Procrastination and Perfectionism: Learn How to be a Productive Lawyer by Overcoming Perfectionism