Be yourself and show people you're more than your role.
When I've asked non-lawyers to describe lawyers they've often said quite negative things like "serious", "scary" and "boring".
If you were to describe yourself, would you think that reflects you?
I would like to think not.
Don't get me wrong. As lawyers, there are times we need to be serious, "scary" or what others might think is "boring" (we have to appreciate, if they liked the idea of law they would have chosen it as a vocation but they've not so don't take it personally). However, outside of our roles, we are friends, parents, colleagues, sisters, brothers etc. I'm sure when we talk to them, we have more to say than the law.
Therefore, adding pizazz to your role is about being yourself and showing more of your personality, particularly with colleagues but it also helps in negotiations with the other side (I'm not to fond of an "ice breaker" but the concept of people chatting about something other than the task at hand to build rapport is a great thing).
The reason it's important to show your personality is because these negative perceptions can hinder your success. When people don't like you, they're not going to want to approach you or deal with you. If they don't approach you or deal with you, you won't be able to do your job and you won't be in the know about the things that could help you in your role. It puts up an invisible barrier between you.
What's more, is it nice to feel left out? From a personal perspective it can be upsetting and frustrating to be left out or not in the know. It can also be quite lonely when you don't have many people to speak to. This is particularly endemic amongst sole counsel or a small team comprising one or two individuals who may not feel comfortable speaking to each other about everything that bothers them in the workplace because of the conflicting relationship i.e. line manager and direct report.
Above all, we are humans and we want to be liked. It makes our job so much more enjoyable when people like us and want to speak to us and we can share our experiences and what we've done at the weekend or the special moments in our lives. Being social and having a community in the workplace to speak to about things makes us happy. Look what happened during the pandemic when we weren't around our people, it made us unhappy!
So applying this in practice. Be yourself and don't be afraid. Sometimes we might not want to strike up a conversation because we are afraid we don't have anything impressive to say. I find that lawyers are particularly hard on themselves in this regard, perhaps because of the competitive climate in which we trained and qualified (i.e. because training contracts were like gold dust we had to go above and beyond to gain a competitive edge on our Vac Scheme / Training Contract applications ). But you don't have to have climbed Mount Everest or swam with sharks when you're having an every day conversation with colleagues. Just be normal. It's okay to say you went out and had a few too many "drinky poos" or you say at home and binge watched Selling Sunset. No one is going to judge you because they probably did the same thing! Just say something, anything to get a conversation going and use it as a way to introduce you, the real you.
You might also express yourself in the way that you dress for work. Is there something about the way you dress that says something about you? It's easier for you to do this in-house as it is often less corporate and you have a bit more flexibility. I definitely like to experiment and try new things. If I've worked for a retailer, I'll often try and incorporate something about that retailer into the way I dress. Ultimately, I like fashion so I'm always trying new things. Likewise, if I see someone wearing something I like, I'll say so, there's never any harm done by giving someone a compliment!
The point is to express yourself and show that there is more to you than the law. You are creating a personal profile for yourself within the workplace so people get to know you and want to work with you. What you'll also find is that it makes your job so much more enjoyable because you're able to truly be yourself and people will like that about you.
Try it out and let us know how it goes!
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