“Deep Coaching”: Untangling the Most Difficult Knots

Most law firms recognize the value of coaching as part of their talent-management strategy. But some issues that damage the careers of partners and other senior lawyers have roots too deep to be reached by the usual forms of coaching. Sometimes, the cumulative stresses of a high-pressure practice combine with aspects of an individual’s personality and history, along with the dynamics within a group, to form a painful and seemingly intractable knot. And, sometimes, partners in leadership positions struggle because they fail to recognize how their personality and personal history affect how they lead. Although “deep coaching” isn’t therapy, it brings to bear psychological insights about relationships to untangle the knots that more typical coaching methods are not designed to address.

Reprinted with permission from the February 2021 edition of PD Quarterly © 2021 NALP.

Read the article: Deep Coaching (PD Quarterly February 2021)