The legal profession rewards endurance, precision and control. It also quietly normalizes stress, isolation and overextension. For patent practitioners and other IP lawyers, the pressures are uniquely acute: compressed prosecution deadlines, high-stakes litigation exposure, often unrealistic client-driven budget constraints, regulatory whiplash at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and increasingly complex technologies layered with global filing and prosecution strategy.
To successfully repair after a mistake, you need to acknowledge and name the mistake, validate the other person's feelings and viewpoint, and create a plan for the specific actions you will take to prevent this mistake from occurring again.
It's human nature to want to act immediately and alleviate pressure when you find yourself in hot water. But sharing news that isn't complete yet or telling the public too much too soon can turn up the temperature even more. Avoid the need for a public retraction later by accurately, concisely and clearly communicating with your audience from the start.
For justice-centered leaders, there is a stubborn dichotomy between our genuine commitment to equity, inclusion, and alignment in our organizations on the one hand, and our continuing self-diagnosis of high levels of misalignment, conflict, and turnover on the other. Three years after Maurice Mitchell's seminal piece, " Building Resilient Organizations: Toward Joy and Durable Power in a Time of Crisis," rang the alarm of "urgent concerns about the internal workings of progressive spaces," the current discourse suggests that the needle has not moved much.
In any given relationship or group, there is always one person who makes things happen. Everyone says "hey, we should get together!" but this person finds a date and makes the restaurant reservation. After a family meet-up in a park, everyone says "we should do this again!" but this person suggests meeting next Saturday at the children's museum at 10 a.m. since the forecast calls for rain.
Laura and Todd, both journalists, had been out for an evening of drinks with colleagues following a particularly horrific day covering the news. Gradually, the herd had thinned out until it was just the two of them, alone at the bar near 3 a.m. with a sudden weight of sexual tension between them. They'd worked together for a couple of years at this point, and each had emerged from a relationship in their early 30s to be newly single.
After more than two decades as a psychosexual therapist, I have learned to listen carefully for what people are not saying. When vulnerability is close to the surface, uncertainty shows up quickly. Am I doing this right? Do I belong here? What am I allowed to ask for, and what will it cost me if I do? At its core, psychosexual therapy is not really about sex.
Recently, I was tasked with helping to train a new hire: a much younger guy who has a superior ranking to me. He picks up things quickly. But the issue is that he overshares personal information and asks too many personal questions. He has been having romantic issues, which he talked about with another person and me. One day, he even had an emotional breakdown (crying and yelling) at work, which required soothing and calming him down.
Many professionals focus on big projects and headline achievements, but research shows that soft skills and visibility strongly influence promotions. LinkedIn data reveals that employees who combine hard and soft skills get promoted about 8% faster than those who focus only on technical abilities, and skills like communication, teamwork and problem solving are linked to promotions up to 11% faster. Regularly updating and showcasing your skills is also tied to faster advancement.
