In a recent Platforum9 Session, James Markham, former Head of Business Partnering at Dentons and co-author of “The Legal MBA,” shared valuable insights on setting effective personal and professional goals in the legal profession, something which is rather rare. With a background in accounting, management consulting, and legal operations, Markham offered a unique perspective on how lawyers can better manage their careers and personal lives by setting clear goals, and re-evaluating them consistently.
The Importance of Integrated Goal Setting
Markham emphasised the need for lawyers to set both personal and professional goals simultaneously. He stated, “I’m a really big advocate for setting both personal and professional goals at the same time. How many times, how many January’s have we all committed to lifting weights or running on a treadmill? And by the second week of February, we’ve given up because we haven’t actually managed to make space in our professional lives to enable us to go to the gym.”
This integrated approach helps identify where goals complement each other, and where there might be tension or conflict. Markham explained, “I think working out what those personal goals are and where they complement each other, or support each other is more productive, but where there’s tension and conflict between them, challenges emerge.”
Career Progression and Goal Setting
Markham outlined the importance of setting both personal and professional goals, and how these goals might evolve throughout a lawyer’s career:
- Trainee Stage: “I think typically, the trainee will go through this phase. Okay. Well, do I like real estate or do I like employment? Do I like corporate, or the technical practice of a specific area of law?”
- Associate to Senior Associate: “You’re going to start taking responsibility for managing the delivery of a specific matter or piece of work or maybe a small portfolio of work that a partner’s handed down to you.”
- Senior Associate to Junior Partner: “I think it then becomes about your practice and your book of business, and how is that compatible with what you’re doing? The practice group within which you sit, the firm within which you sit, and taking ownership, not just for the delivery of the piece of work that’s landing on the desk now, but also then the going out prospecting for work, bringing new clients in through that pipeline.”
The SMART Framework for Goal Setting
Much of the conversation focused on introducing a methodology and system for the setting of both personal and professional goals, and recognising the interaction between them both. Markham advocated the SMART framework to create robust goals and keep yourself accountable:
“SMART being, an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time bound.”
He elaborated on each aspect:
- Specific: “For example, I want to be rich, but you must be specific about the amount of money next year or have a specific amount of money in my bank account.”
- Measurable: “You’ve either hit it or you haven’t. And I don’t necessarily want to frame that as if you’ve just missed something, beat yourself up about it. Absolutely stretch yourself, but you want to know, have you hit it? Have you not hit it? Are you on track?”
- Achievable: “Is it achievable for me to be a partner in my current firm? And you know, if it’s the sixth year, they told me maybe next year, then that isn’t achievable, and I need to reframe that goal.”
- Relevant: “Looking across personal goals and business goals, looking and saying, Yeah, you know what, there’s some coherence here.”
- Time-bound: “By such and such date, partner in three years time or I want to move house by the end of this year, whatever it is, it’s a clear date to be achieved.”
The Role of Self-Awareness and Reflection
Markham stressed the importance of self-awareness and deep reflection in goal setting. He advised, “Understanding what the driver, the underlying driver of that stated goal or that hope or that aspiration, I think it’s really important because I think it opens up different possibilities.”
Balancing Personal and Professional Goals
Markham highlighted the evolving nature of work-life integration: “I think that framing both sets of goals results in a certain tension. You know, if you’re not at work, then you are partying too hard. You’re not taking your career seriously. If you were at the office all the time, well, then you’re neglecting your family, like whatever it is.”
Transparency and Communication
On the importance of sharing goals, Markham said, “I think there’s a huge amount of power in articulating and sharing almost to the universe at large, this is what I want to be doing. And then the universe does find a way of providing.”
Practical Tips for Effective Goal Setting
Markham provided two key tips:
- “Write them down, you might put that in your Outlook calendar, it might be a post-it-note on the side of your wall. It doesn’t really matter, but write it down, so it’s something you can come back to and hold yourself accountable by.”
- “I do think it’s important to share them. And it might not be to share everything, but I think from a personal perspective, your career, your job does take up a lot of your time. I think as my default position would be, you probably need to share with your partner or your family, what you are looking to achieve and also, someone within your firm that you trust.”
Conclusion
Markham concluded with a powerful piece of advice: “Don’t wait to be given feedback, be proactive and ask for it and you will see how this changes the atmosphere, the environment around you. And, essentially, I mean, this is a great tool to grow.”
By implementing these insights, lawyers can create more fulfilling careers and lives. As the legal industry continues to change, those who can effectively set and pursue balanced, well-defined personal AND professional goals will be better positioned to navigate the challenges and opportunities ahead and stay balanced in the process.
