We Get By with a Little

Help from Our Friends

Laura McClendon, Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program

Loretta Oleksy, Indiana Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program
 What We Will Talk About
Today

•Happy individuals: the science of happiness and

personal happiness strategies
•Happy organizations: organizational strategies
for keeping staff happy and healthy
•Happy partnerships: how LAPs can adjust our
image and message to maximize the effectiveness
of our partnerships with outside organizations
 Why is Happiness Such a
Big Deal?

•The “pursuit of happiness” (a phrase written by a

lawyer) seems to be a struggle for many lawyers
•Research shows lawyers are at higher risk of trouble
•That has an impact on us personally, and on our
profession
The Good News: Happiness Is
Something We Can Practice
Our Happiness Isn’t Set in
Stone
 Conventional Wisdom

Work
Success Happiness
Harder
 The Actual Formula

Happiness Success
 What Makes LAWYERS
Happy?

•Autonomy
•Competence
•Relatedness to Other
•Internal Motivation for Work
Krieger
 What Made Little
Difference?

•Class rank, law school rank, or law review

•Law school debt
•Earnings as a lawyer*
•Demographics
A Little Neuroscience Lesson
 Meet Your Happy Chemicals

Dopamine Serotonin Oxytocin Endorphin

When your brain releases one of these chemicals, you

feel good.
 They Don’t Surge All the Time

•Each happy chemical has a job to do, and then it

turns off
•So we are always searching for ways to turn on our
happy chemicals
•When we find something that works, we repeat it,
creating a habit
 Dopamine

•Feeling like we can meet our needs

•Dopamine turns on when
• An alcoholic sees a bar
• A video game player wins points
•We can also stimulate dopamine by
• Achieving a long-sought goal
• Taking a step toward a goal
• Seeing your efforts rewarded
 Serotonin

•Feeling important
•Our brain seeks importance because that promotes
survival in nature
•We can’t control our importance to the world, but
we can train our brain to feel confident in our
importance
 Oxytocin

•Feeling of trust and connectedness

•Social trust feels good because alliances promote
survival
•Stimulate oxytocin by:
• Enjoying the trust and connections you have rather than
focusing on what you don’t have
• Building new trust bonds in small steps
• Trust builds when expectations are met
 Endorphin

•The euphoria that masks physical pain

•Endorphin helped our ancestors get help when
injured
•We don’t have to create pain to stimulate endorphin
•Endorphin is stimulated by:
• Laughing or crying
• Varying our exercise routine
How Can We Practice
Happiness?
 Happiness Practices:
Gratitude

Participants who kept a gratitude journal weekly

for 10 weeks or daily for 2 weeks reported
more positive moods, optimism about the
future, and more sleep.
 How Gratitude Works

•Boosts production of dopamine

•Boosts production of serotonin
•Even if you can’t find something to be grateful for, it
still works
• It’s the searching that counts
#100happydays
 Happiness Practices:
Optimism

•Optimism practice: seeing the bright side

•Doing this daily increases engagement in life and
decreases dysfunctional thinking such as believing
that small failures make one a failure as a person
•Participants with a tendency to be pessimistic
especially benefited from the exercise and showed
fewer depressive symptoms afterward
 Happiness Practices:
Social Connections

•Social connections increase immunity to infection,

lower risk of heart disease, and reduce mental
decline as we age
•Quality connections are created by:
• Experiencing positive emotions together
• Being able to talk openly and feel understood
• Giving and receiving support
• Shared activities and experiences
Oxytocin, anyone?

Happiness is a warm puppy. ~ Charles

Schulz
 Happiness Practices:
Use Your Strengths

•Identifying/using a personal strength each day for a

week increased happiness and decreased symptoms
of depression immediately after the one-week
experiment, and six months later
•Reflecting on our strengths reminds us that we have
important positive qualities; this reminder builds
confidence and self-esteem and, in turn, increases
happiness
 Happiness Practices:
Mindfulness

Mindful breathing:
• provides an anchor--our breath--on which we can focus
when we find themselves carried away by a stressful
thought
• helps us stay “present” in the moment, rather than being
distracted by regrets in the past or worries about the
future
Happy Organizations
Happy staff, happy office
LIGHTEN UP!
Do things together
 Let
there
be fun
Listen
Address issues quickly
Don’t be the problem
Share the credit
Positive reinforcement
Let people be
who they are
Happy Partnerships
How We Want to Be
Perceived
The Image We Are Fighting
 ChangeThis

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The single greatest competitive advantage

in the modern economy is a positive and
engaged workforce. That is not conjecture.
That is now a confirmed scientific fact.
After spending over a decade at Harvard University, I started a small research based consulting
firm called Good Think Inc. to bring academic research to companies. A few months later, the global
economy collapsed.

This provided us a unique window into studying what causes some people or teams to thrive in
the midst of challenge, and others to underperform. In my research and consulting in 42 different
countries during the worst economic downturn in recent history, I have discovered that most
companies and schools around the world follow the same implicit formula: If you work hard, you
will become successful, and once you become successful, then you’ll be happy. This pattern
of belief explains what most often motivates us in life. We think: If I just get that raise, or hit that
next sales target, I’ll be happy. If I can just get that next good grade, I’ll be happy. If I lose that
five pounds, I’ll be happy. And so on. Success first, happiness second.

The only problem is that this formula is scientifically backwards.

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More than a decade of groundbreaking research in the fields of positive psychology and neurosci-
ence has proven in no uncertain terms that the relationship between success and happiness works
the other way around. Thanks to this cutting-edge science, we now know that happiness is the
precursor to success, not merely the result. And that happiness and optimism actually fuel perfor-
mance and achievement—giving us the competitive edge called “the happiness advantage.”

The “happiness advantage” is the discovery that nearly every single business outcome
improves when a brain is positive as opposed to negative, neutral, or stressed.

Waiting to be happy limits our brain’s potential for success, whereas cultivating positive brains
makes us more motivated, efficient, resilient, creative, and productive, which drives performance
upward. This discovery has been confirmed by countless scientific studies, as well as in my own
work and research on 1,600 Harvard students and dozens of Fortune 500 companies worldwide.

Take, for example, the meta-analysis of happiness research that brought together the results of
over 200 scientific studies on nearly 275,000 people—and found that happiness leads to success in
nearly every domain of our lives, including marriage, health, friendship, community involvement,
creativity, and, in particular, our jobs, careers, and businesses.1 Data abounds showing that happy
workers have higher levels of productivity, produce higher sales, perform better in leadership
positions, and receive higher performance ratings and higher pay. They also enjoy more job security
and are less likely to take sick days, to quit, or to become burned out. Happy CEOs are more likely
to lead teams of employees who are both happy and healthy, and who find their work climate condu-
cive to high performance. The list of the benefits of happiness in the workplace goes on and on.

1 Lyubomirsky, S., King, L. A. & Diener, E. (2005). The Benefits of Frequent Positive
Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803–855.

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At this point you might be thinking: Maybe people are happy because they are more productive and
earn higher pay. As psychology graduate students are taught to repeat ad nauseam: “Correlation is
not causation.” In other words, studies often only tell us that two things are related; to find out which
causes which, we need to look at it more closely and find out which came first. So which comes first,
the chicken or the egg? Does happiness come before success or success before happiness?

One way psychologists attempt to answer this question is to follow people over long periods of
time. One study, for example, measured the initial level of positive emotions in 272 employees,
then followed their job performance over the next eighteen months.2 And they found that even after
controlling for other factors, those who were happier at the beginning ended up receiving better
evaluations and higher pay later on. Another study found that how happy individuals were as
college freshmen would predict how high their income was nineteen years later, regardless of their
initial level of wealth.3

Waiting to be happy limits our brain’s potential

for success, whereas cultivating positive
brains makes us more motivated, efficient,
resilient, creative, and productive.

2 Staw, B., Sutton, R., & Pelled, L. (1994). Employee positive emotion and favorable outcomes at the workplace. Organization Science, 5, 51-71.
3 Diener, E., Nickerson, C., Lucas, R. E. & Sandvik, E. (2002). Dispositional affect and job outcomes. Social Indicators Research, 229–259.

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Another way to answer the chicken and egg question is to examine what happens right after you
prime someone for positivity. Well it turns out that happiness gives us a real chemical edge on
the competition. How? Positive emotions flood our brains with dopamine and serotonin, chemicals
that not only make us feel good, but dial up the learning centers of our brains to higher levels.
They help us organize new information, keep that information in the brain longer, and retrieve
it faster later on. And they enable us to make and sustain more neural connections, which allows
us to think more quickly and creatively, become more skilled at complex analysis and problem
solving, and see and invent new ways of doing things.

We even quite literally see more of what’s around us when we’re feeling happy. A recent University
of Toronto study found that our mood can actually change how our visual cortex—the part of the
brain responsible for sight—processes information.4 In this experiment, people were primed to think
of positive or negative experiences, then asked to look at a series of pictures. Those who were put
in a negative mood didn’t process all the images in the pictures—missing substantial parts of the
background—while those in a good mood saw everything. Eye-tracking experiments have shown the
same thing: Positive emotions actually expand our peripheral line of vision.5

Think of the edge all this gives us in the workplace. After all, who wouldn’t want to see out-of-the-box
solutions, spot opportunities, and better see how to build upon the ideas of others? In today’s inno-
vation-driven knowledge economy, business success in practically every job or profession hinges on
being able to find creative and novel solutions to problems.

4 Schmitz, T. W., De Rosa, E. & Anderson, A. K. (2009). Opposing influences of affective state valence on visual cortical encoding.
Journal of Neuroscience, 29, 7199–7207.
5 Gallagher, W. (2009). Rapt. New York: Penguin, at 36.

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For example, when researchers at Merck first began studying the effects of a drug called Finasteride,
they were intent on finding a cure for benign prostatic hyperplasia, otherwise known as an enlarged
prostate. During checkups with the research subjects, though, they learned that many of the par-
ticipants were experiencing a weird side effect: They were regrowing hair. Fortunately, the Merck
researchers could see the billion-dollar product hiding in the unexpected side effect, and Propecia
was born.

The Happiness Advantage is why cutting-edge software companies have foosball tables in the em-
ployee lounge, why Yahoo! has an in-house massage parlor, and why Google engineers are encour-
aged to bring their dogs to work. These aren’t just PR gimmicks. Smart companies cultivate these
kinds of working environments because every time employees experience a small burst of happiness,
they get primed for creativity and innovation. They see solutions they might otherwise have missed.
Famed CEO Richard Branson has said that, “more than any other element, fun is the secret of Virgin’s
success.” This isn’t just because fun is, well, fun. It’s because fun also leads to bottom-line results.

But you don’t have to be a chief executive, or powerful enough to make sweeping policy changes,
to capitalize on the Happiness Advantage. Even the smallest moments of positivity in the workplace
can enhance efficiency, motivation, and creativity. One way to do this is to provide frequent recog-
nition and encouragement to those around you. This may sound simple (or silly), but studies have
shown that managers who do so see a substantial increase in their employees’ productivity. And not
just by some small amount; one study found that project teams with encouraging managers per-
formed 31% better than teams whose managers were less positive and less open with praise.6 In fact,
when recognition is specific and deliberately delivered, it is even more motivating than money.7

6 Greenberg, M. H. & Arakawa, D. (2006). Optimistic managers and their influence on productivity and employee
engagement in a technology organization. As cited in: Robison, J. (May 10, 2007). The business benefits of positive leadership.
Gallup Management Journal.
7 For more on what best motivates us, see: Deci, E. L. (1996). Why We Do What We Do. New York: Penguin.

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Recognition can be given in traditional ways—a complimentary e-mail, or a pat on the back for a
job well done. But you can also get creative with it. One of my favorite examples is the one business
consultant Alexander Kjerulf cites about a Danish car company that instituted “The Order of the
Elephant.”8 The elephant is a two-foot-tall stuffed animal that any employee can give to another as
a reward for doing something exemplary. The benefits come not just in the delivery and reception
of well-earned praise, but afterwards as well. As Kjerulf explains, “other employees stopping by
immediately notice the elephant and go, ‘Hey, you got the elephant. What’d you do?’, which of course
means that the good stories and best practices get told and re-told many times.”

Even the smallest moments of positivity in

the workplace can enhance efficiency, motivation,
and creativity.
Just as important as what you say to employees is how you say it—the best leaders know that
delivering instructions in an angry, negative tone handicaps their employees before the task
is even underway. One study done at the Yale School of Management paints this picture perfectly.9
Student volunteers were put in teams to do business tasks together, with the goal of earning
money for an imaginary company. Then in came the “manager” who was actually an actor instructed
to speak in one of four ways: with “cheerful enthusiasm,” “serene warmth,” “depressed sluggishness,”
or “hostile irritability.” Of these four groups, which two do you think not only became more
positive themselves, but proved far more effective than the other groups, winning their companies
more profit in the end?
8 Kjerulf, A. (2006). Happy Hour is 9 to 5. Lulu Publishing.
9 Barsade S. G.(2002). The Ripple Effect: Emotional Contagion and Its Influence on Group Behavior.
Administrative Science Quarterly; 47, 644–675.

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Now think about which of these four tones you use most often. It might surprise you; we’re often
entirely unaware of the messages we’re sending. Last year during a lecture I was giving, one woman
in the audience sat scowling at me the entire time. But then afterward, she was one of the people
who waited in line to tell me personally how much she loved the presentation. I was shocked.
Then I thought about how much negativity she was probably spreading to her employees on a daily
basis, without even knowing it. So the next time you interact with a colleague or direct report,
make an effort to adopt a more positive tone and facial expression. This does not mean you should
be inauthentic, smother your true feelings, or paint an awkward smile on your face. But the more
you make a genuine effort to avoid slipping into an apathetic or irritable tone, the more your team’s
performance will benefit.

This isn’t only true in corporate settings. In environments thought to be even more stoic than corpo-
rate America—like the military—leaders who openly express their positivity get the most out of their
teams. In the U.S. Navy, researchers found, annual prizes for efficiency and preparedness are far
more frequently awarded to squadrons whose commanding officers are openly encouraging.10 On the
other hand, the squadrons receiving the lowest marks in performance are generally led by command-
ers with a negative, controlling, and aloof demeanor. Even in an environment where one would think
the harsh “military taskmaster” style of leadership would be most effective, positivity wins out.

Sure, there will always be naysayers and skeptics who admit that happiness may make work more
enjoyable, but resist the notion that it can give us a real, measurable competitive advantage. This is
too bad. Maybe they think focusing on happiness in a serious business setting is unnatural, or a
waste of time and effort, or maybe they believe that encouragement and recognition should be used
as rewards for high performance, not as tools for driving it.

10 Bachman, W. (1988). Nice guys finish first: A SYMLOG analysis of U.S. Naval commands. In: Polley, R. B., et al. (Eds.)
The SYMLOG Practitioner: Applications of Small Group Research. New York: Praeger. As cited in Goleman, D. (1998).
Working with Emotional Intelligence. New York, Bantam, at 188.

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And for some leaders, positivity simply comes less naturally than it does for others. As a London
bank executive once told me: “That’s a great idea. I’ll never do it.”

To help these people capitalize on the Happiness Advantage, I often recommend that they keep one
thing in mind: the number 2.9013. This may seem random, but a decade of research on high and
low performance teams by psychologist and business consultant Marcial Losada shows just how
important it is.11 Based on Losada’s extensive mathematical modeling, 2.9013 is the ratio of positive
to negative interactions necessary to make a corporate team successful. This means that it takes
about three positive comments, experiences, or expressions to fend off the languishing effects
of one negative. Dip below this tipping point, now known as the Losada Line, and workplace perfor-
mance quickly suffers. Rise above it—ideally, the research shows, to a ratio of 6 to 1—and teams
produce their very best work.

This is not just some arcane mathematical formula, either. Losada himself observed countless
examples of it in action. For instance, he once worked with a global mining company suffering
from process losses greater than 10%; unsurprisingly, he found that their positivity ratio was
only 1.15.12 But after team leaders were instructed to give more positive feedback and encourage
more positive interactions, their teams’ average ratio increased to 3.56. And in turn, they made
giant strides in production, improving their performance by over 40%.

11 Losada, M. (1999). The complex dynamics of high performance teams. Mathematical and Computer Modeling, 30, 179–192; Losada,
M. & Heaphy, E. (2004). The role of positivity and connectivity in the performance of business teams: A nonlinear dynamics model.
American Behavioral Scientist, 47(6), 740–765. Fredrickson, B. L. & Losada, M. (2005). Positive affect and the complex dynamics of
human flourishing. American Psychologist, 60(7), 678–686. For more on Losada’s fascinating work and his collaboration with Barbara
Fredrickson, see Fredrickson’s book Positivity, 120–138.
12 Losada, M. (December 9, 2008). Work teams and the Losada Line: New results. Positive Psychology News Daily. Retrieved
at http://positivepsychologynews.com/news/guest-author/200812091298.

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Though originally skeptical, the company’s CEO couldn’t help but exult in the “notable transforma-
tion.” He confided to Losada: “You untied knots that imprisoned us: Today we look at each other
differently, we trust each other more, we learned to disagree without being disagreeable. We care
not only about our personal success, but also about the success of others. Most important, we
obtain tangible results.”

It takes about three positive comments,

experiences, or expressions to fend
off the languishing effects of one negative.
Losada’s mathematical ratio joins the increasingly long line of evidence in support of
the Happiness Advantage—just one more way that groundbreaking science has triggered
a revolution in the workplace.

The science is clear. Happiness is not only a choice, it is a work ethic.

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info
About the Author
Shawn Achor is one of the world’s leading experts on human potential. Trained by some of the foremost
pioneers in the field of positive psychology, he helped design the famed “happiness” course, the most
popular at Harvard University at the time. Shawn has now lectured in 45 countries on how happiness
affects performance. He is the founder of Good Think Inc., a consulting firm that uses research to enhance
individual achievement and cultivate a more productive workplace. Achor’s lectures on the science of
happiness have received attention in The New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the Wall Street Journal,
and on CNN and NPR.

send this
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The Happiness This document was created on January 20, 2011 and is based on the best information available at that time.
Advantage.

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No 78.06 Info 11/11

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The at Work Manifesto By Alexander Kjerulf

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It’s time we stopped putting up with unhappy

workplaces and bad bosses. Unhappiness at
work is not a minor annoyance. It makes us tired,
stressed and negative. Worst case, it makes us
sick or kills us.
Being happy at work makes you more energetic,
productive, motivated, creative and successful.
That is what we need more of. That is how we
will work from now on. With happiness.

because the future belongs to the happy!

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Here’s what you must know and do to make yourself happy at work.

1: I choose to be happy at work.

I refuse to work at any job that does not make me happy. It’s that simple. I want to wake up in
the morning and look forward to work. I want to speak proudly to others of the work I do and the
people I work with. I will look forward equally to Monday morning and Friday afternoon.

Making that choice won’t magically make me happy—but it is where I must start.

2: I can be happy at work.

Actually, anyone can. Provided they choose to be.

3: My happiness at work is my responsibility.

While my boss, my co-workers, my employees and my workplace all affect my happiness at work,
the ultimate responsibility for it is mine and mine alone.

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4: Knowing what makes me happy or unhappy

at work is my responsibility.
Knowing what makes me happy at work is the first step to getting it. And if I don’t know—who will?

5: Letting others know what makes me happy

or unhappy at work is my responsibility.
It’s not up to my boss, my co-workers, my employees or my workplace to experiment to read my
mind and find out what it takes to make me happy at work. It’s up to me to tell them.

6: Something will happen when I do something.

As long as I sit on my butt and wait for my boss, my co-workers, my employees or my workplace to
do something to make me happy, nothing will happen.

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7: I know that my happiness at work affects

my happiness outside of work.
A bad day at work is hard to shake when I get home. But a great day at work gives me
energy for a great afternoon and evening at home. A great work week is the best springboard
for a great weekend.

8: I know that happiness at work affects

my health.
Being unhappy or stressed at work can make sick, depressed and even kill me.
Conversely, being happy at work makes me healthier and stronger mentally and physically.

9: I may end up spending most of my waking

hours at work—I want to make those hours count.
I may be spending more time at work than I will on my family, my friends and my hobbies combined.
I want those hours to be fun and pleasant. And I want them to contribute to something meaningful.

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10: It’s OK to have a bad day at work.

I can’t be happy at work all day, every day. It’s always OK to have a bad day at work.
A bad week, month or year is not OK.

11: I do my best work when I’m happy.

When I’m happy I’m engaged, motivated, committed, more creative, less risk-averse,
more service-minded and more productive.

12: There’s no such thing as too much happiness.

No matter how happy I am, a little more never hurts.

13: I recognize that happiness at work also comes

from the time I don’t spend at work.
Holidays, weekends, days and other time away from work give me time to reflect and relax. It gives
me new input and ideas. A life spent almost exclusively at work is LESS likely to make me happy.

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14: I recognize that happiness at work

is different for everyone.
One person’s dream job is another’s living hell. The things that make me happy at work may
be a terrible experience for many other people.

15: Happiness at work is something I create now.

Not next month, next quarter or next year. I’m happy now...or never.

16: I recognize that happiness at work

doesn’t come from the absence of bad things
in the workplace.
All workplaces can have unpleasant people, too much work, demanding customers, stress, red
tape and other idiosyncracies and annoyances. Though we strive to minimize these, I won’t wait to
be happy at work until all of these have been eliminated. If I did wait, I would never be happy.

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17: Happiness at work is infectious—

I will be a carrier.
Happy people make others happy. That’s how I want to affect others.
Unhappiness at work is also contagious—but it’s no fun to pass on that particular virus.

18: The best way to make myself happy

at work is by making others happy at work.
It makes no sense to only try and make myself happy. Because happiness is contagious,
I would quickly lose my happiness if I were the only happy one.

19: I will take time to do this.

Making myself and others happy at work takes time. This is time well spent. because being
happy makes me more productive. I (happily) take that time.

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20: I will fix my job or quit.

If there’s no way I can become happy in my current job, I’ll quit. Yes, this is scary.
But what about going to work every day feeling demotivated, cynical, stressed and helpless?
Is that really any less scary?

21: Happiness at work ain’t rocket science.

The things that are necessary to make me happy at work are really simple and can easily be
brought into almost any workplace. Recognition. A positive attitude. Learning and growing.
Sharing decisions. Openness.

22: I give first.

If I feel that others never appreciate me, I will start by appreciating them. If others never listen,
I will listen to them. I will set a good example, and give first.

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23: I recognize that a higher salary will not

make me happy at work.
There’s nothing wrong with getting paid a lot of money. I just don’t expect it to make me
happy at work.

24: I recognize that power, status symbols,

a corner office or even access to the corporate jet
won’t make me happy at work.
It feels good at first, sure, but the thrill quickly fades and it can never make up for a bad job.

25: Happiness at work comes from the things

you and I do here and now.
I will get others involved and I will start now.

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info
About the Author
Alex’s passion is happiness at work. He has long known that happiness at work is one of the most important
factors that contribute to good careers, happy lives and a successful businesses. Alex presents, consults
and conducts workshops on happiness at work at businesses and conferences all over the world. His previous
clients include companies like PriceWaterhouseCoopers, The Danish Ministry of Economics, LEO Pharma,
Novo, DaimlerChrysler and IBM. Alex’s blog, The Chief Happiness Officer, is read by 100.000’s of people.
He’s really, really proud of that. He just finished writing his first book titled, Happy Hour is 9 to 5: How to
Love Your Job, Love Your Life and Kick Butt at Work.

send this
Pass along a copy of this manifesto to others.
buy the book
Get more details or buy Subscribe
a copy of Alex Kjerulf’s Sign up for our free e-newsletter to learn about our latest manifestos as soon as they are available.
Happy Hour is 9 to 5.
Born on date
This document was created on July 11, 2007 and is based on the best information available at that time.
Check here for updates.

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ChangeThis is a vehicle, not a publisher.
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No 36.04 Info 11/11

GPSolo Magazine - October/November 2004

So You’re a Lawyer. Can You Be Happy?

By Rebecca Nerison

When I tell new acquaintances that I help lawyers improve their lives and workplaces, I
invariably get a response along the lines of, “Boy, they sure need it!” I appreciate the job
security, but it’s unfortunate that this is the common perception.

Perhaps you are like the proverbial frogs in the kettle of cold water placed on the stove. You
don’t notice the gradual temperature change until you’re too cooked to jump out. My purpose in
this article is to raise your consciousness about the temperature of the water surrounding you, to
help you think about your practice and why you’re doing it, and to suggest that you are powerful
beyond all imagination.

Professional Hazards that Turn Up the Heat

Let’s take a look at several factors that hurt lawyers’ performance, relationships, and satisfaction
with their work: under-functioning, over-functioning, and exploding.

Under-functioning. I use this term to describe any set of circumstances in which quality of life
or work does not match potential. I’ve seen many sad cases in which lawyers implode and
simply can’t, or won’t, do what they need to do to maintain a healthy practice.

• You are avoiding a file at the bottom of a pile because you’re not sure how to take the next
step—or you haven’t figured out what the next step is.

• You’ve intended to develop a healthy exercise and diet regimen since you made that New
Year’s resolution—in 1999.

• You’ve heard a hundred times that a business plan will help your business prosper, but it’s
dropped off the end of your to-do list because you can’t bill for it.

Procrastination is usually about fear and/or shame. You don’t know what to do or how to do it,
and this feels scary or humiliating. Or you may be afraid of the reaction you’re expecting from
the client or opposing counsel, so you avoid the discomfort by avoiding them and the file.
Procrastination can also be about laziness or a lack of commitment to your priorities. Whatever
the cause, it is the bane of most lawyers’ existence.

Sloppy business practices are another symptom of under-functioning. Your capacity to be

effective in your work cannot exceed the health of your business. Most of you didn’t learn how
to run a business in law school. But if you’re in private practice, especially as a sole practitioner,
you are an entrepreneur whether you planned to be or not. To what extent do you behave like a
successful businessperson? Failing to do so can have serious consequences, such as debt,
attention from the IRS, or trouble with your state bar. Perhaps all of the above.

So, please, take your business seriously by making it a priority and thinking like an entrepreneur.
Many resources are available to you. Last month I attended an all-day seminar on how to write a
business plan. Hosted by the Small Business Administration, it cost $60, featured terrific
speakers, and included free software. Several state bars offer law office management assistance
programs. Private consultants and coaches can help you with motivation and organizational skills
if these are lacking. The point is to take care of your business so that it can take care of you.

Untreated mental health issues are a third symptom of under-functioning. Depression and
substance abuse occur with alarming frequency among lawyers. These problems alone are
implicated in roughly half of all disciplinary actions in Washington state, and I don’t think we’re
unusual. In addition to diminishing your quality of life, these problems can ruin your practice
and thereby your livelihood. This is both tragic and unnecessary.

Over-functioning. Just as working below your potential can be hazardous to your professional
health, overachievement can also limit your effectiveness.

Perfectionism poses a problem for many of you. It’s important to prepare thoroughly and to turn
out a product that gives you pride and accomplishes what you set out to do. But if your need to
“do it right” is causing you to miss deadlines or is provoking your clients to frequent phone calls
and complaints, you may be dealing with an obsessive-compulsive streak run amok.

Your products don’t need to be perfect, just effective. Fretting and revising endlessly will not
make them more effective. Because practicing law is an art rather than a science, it takes a while
to learn the point at which something is good enough to send out. Learn where that point is
before you drive your self, staff, and clients crazy.

Workaholism is a second hazard of the overachiever. (It can also be a hallmark of the
underachiever if she/he doesn’t have much to show for all the hours logged.) I’m not sure what
the official definition of a workaholic is, but in my book it’s someone who uses work to avoid
something else, like having a life or functional relationships. In the world of law, workaholism is
often seen as a virtue.

If you consistently bill ten hours per day, is there something—or someone—you are avoiding?
What’s the point of working nonstop if you have no time or energy to enjoy your life? Will
anyone care in two years? Ten? Twenty? Who will you want in your life when you want to stop
working? Will they still be around?

Which leads to our third aspect of over-functioning, relationship neglect. You may believe 14-
hour days are necessary to provide your family with a certain standard of living or to pay for
private schools. Or you may simply feel more comfortable in the realm of ideas rather than
people—and so avoid the people.
Trust me. What matters to your children, partner, family, and friends is that they have a real
relationship with you. You must spend time with people to have real relationships with them.
And don’t buy into the myth of “quality time” as a substitute for quantity time. You need
quantity to produce quality, and you need both. Otherwise you are giving your relationships only
lip service.

Exploding. Many of you communicate with skill and compassion, behaving respectfully toward
staff, colleagues, and clients. You are making the world a better place. Bless you.

The horror stories I hear about lawyers behaving badly astonish me. I’ve heard of lawyers nearly
throttling associates, running through support staff faster than toothpaste, hollering at deponents,
and referring to clients as “morons” and “scumbags.” More than a few lawyers have the people
skills of a porcupine.

Maybe you think you have to behave like a pit bull to be effective. After all, isn’t the other side
doing the same thing . . . or worse?

Let’s stop passing the buck with regard to civility. Every time you engage in behavior that causes
grief, hardship, or unnecessary expense, you diminish someone’s quality of life. You make the
world poorer and yourself smaller. You lose the respect of others and you damage your
profession. Is this really the legacy you want to pass on?

You don’t have to behave like this. Even if the other side “deserves” it, you don’t have to
respond in kind to be effective. You can make choices that demonstrate your interest in building
versus destroying. You can bring your considerable skills, talent, and imagination to bear on
solving problems rather than creating more. Your staff can feel proud of you . . . or not.

Angry, hostile behavior hurts you as well as others. Studies have shown that these qualities are
related to higher rates of heart attack and stroke.

Purpose: Why Are You Doing What You’re Doing?

We’ve looked at patterns of under-functioning, over-functioning, and exploding that contribute

to the poor health of individual lawyers and the profession as a whole. Next, let’s look at purpose
and the meaning of (your) life. Stop and think about why you became a lawyer. Was it to help
others? Make the world a better place? Earn lots of money? Prestige? Political aspirations? Make
someone proud of you?

Lots of lawyers are doing what they love and are very good at it. But many others have lost their
way. Some had notions about lawyering that proved highly inaccurate and disappointing. Others
got off to a bad start by working in the wrong job or failing to get a job at all. Still others
abandoned a dream because they needed or wanted to earn more money. Many have been in a
muddle for years because they’re unhappy but don’t know what else to do.
Given the high rate of job dissatisfaction among lawyers, it’s good to assess your career often
and to correct your course as needed. This will help you avoid burnout, frustration, and
performance problems down the road. Here are some questions for reflection:

• What mission are you working to accomplish? To what extent are you accomplishing it?

• What’s your vision for yourself? For your clients? For the legal profession?

• What meaning does your work have for you? What would you like it to mean?

• What’s your relationship to money? Are you under-earning? Are you confined by golden
handcuffs?

• How are you making yourself more valuable in the workplace? To your clients?

• How long do you want to continue doing what you’re doing? What’s next?

• What plans have you made for retirement?

• What do you really want?

• How do you plan to turn things around if you feel off course?

Don’t be surprised if the questions feel a bit overwhelming. It’s no wonder we avoid thinking
about such things. Sit with the questions one at a time, and listen carefully to your answers. If
you need some help staying on track with the process, hire a good professional coach or
counselor. A small investment of time and money now can save you from asking yourself later,
“What was I thinking?”

Power: You Have No Idea How Influential You Really Are

It’s easy to go through life feeling as if you and your work are insignificant in the grand scheme
of things. However, I suspect you are largely unconscious of the effect you have on those around
you.

Benjamin Sells, in his excellent book The Soul of the Law, tells us that the root of the word
litigation means “to carry on strife.” If you litigate, you encounter in the course of a case many
“choice points.” One choice may be between complicating matters (creating more work for
yourself or the opposing party) and resolving a problem (satisfying both parties’ needs as
efficiently as possible). Another choice may be between behaving with dignity or hollering at
clients, staff, and opposing counsel. Your choices have a profound influence on costs, stress
levels, and how calm or angry people feel at the end of any given day.

Consider your staff, if you have one. To what extent do your employees feel respected and
valued? How do you provide opportunities for them to improve their skills? What will they
remember about the years they’ve spent working in your office? If they left today, how would
they describe you as a boss? As a person?

Consider your clients. How would they describe you? How do you demonstrate that you have
their best interest at heart and that you work diligently on matters they’ve entrusted to you? How
often do you remember how vulnerable they feel and, in fact, are? To what extent do you
demonstrate patience, return their calls, keep them informed, and treat them with kindness and
respect?

From the courthouse clerk to your spouse, you are enormously powerful in the lives you touch
each day. Your attitudes and behavior create an atmosphere. You make choices about the use of
your power each time you open your mouth or write a sentence. Everything you do makes a
difference to someone.

You can use your power for good or for ill. You can make the world a better place by conducting
yourself in ways that enhance the lives of those around you. This isn’t idealism—it’s reality.

However, you can’t give what you don’t have. You will pass along exactly who and what you
are with each interaction. You can create health, prosperity, and security for others only if you
possess them yourself.

I believe that you really can be a happy, decent, and successful lawyer despite the systemic and
personal obstacles you may encounter. By attending to your own health, business acumen,
purpose, and people skills, you will make the world a better place. I encourage you to take
advantage of the many resources available to you. You’ll have no regrets.

Rebecca Nerison’s mission is to improve lawyers’ lives and workplaces through executive
coaching and law firm consultation. A licensed psychologist, Dr. Nerison has worked
exclusively with lawyers at the Washington State Bar Association since 1997. She is available
for telephone consultations nationally through her private practice and can be reached at s
tressless@ziplip.com , or on the web at www.lawstress.com.

The text of this article may be reproduced for classroom use in an institution of higher
learning and for use by not-for-profit organizations, provided that such use is for
informational, non-commercial purposes only and any reproduction of the article or
portion thereof acknowledges original publication in this issue of GPSolo, citing
volume, issue, and date, and includes the title of the article, the name of the author, and
the legend, “© 2004 by the American Bar Association. Reprinted by permission.”
The Happy
Manifesto
Make your organisation a
great place to work – now!

Henry Stewart

Foreword by Professor Julian Birkinshaw

of London Business School
 First published in Great Britain 2012
By Happy
40 Adler Street, London E1 1EE

A complete catalogue record of this book can be obtained

from the British Library on request.

The right of Henry Stewart to be identified as the author of

this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

We would love you to reproduce this work, in full or

in part. Please feel free to do so, providing you acknowledge the
copyright of Henry Stewart as part of any reproduction. Please
also send details of where you have reproduced it to
manifesto@happy.co.uk.

Copyright © 2012 by Henry Stewart

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc

Typeset by Martin Worthington

The Happy Manifesto

In summary these are the simple points that can change work-
places and make them good places to be, and more productive too:
1. Trust your people
Step out of approval. Instead, pre-approve and focus on
supporting your people.
2. Make your people feel good
Make this the focus of management.
3. Give freedom within clear guidelines
People want to know what is expected of them. But they
want freedom to find the best way to achieve their goals.
4. Be open and transparent
More information means more people can take respon-
sibility.
5. Recruit for attitude, train for skill
Instead of qualifications and experience, recruit on at-
titude and potential ability.
6. Celebrate mistakes
Create a truly no-blame culture.
7. Community: create mutual benefit
Have a positive impact on the world and build your
organisation too.

The Happy Manifesto 121

 8. Love work, get a life
The world, and your job, needs you well rested, well
nourished and well supported.
9. Select managers who are good at managing
Make sure your people are supported by somebody who
is good at doing that, and find other routes for those
whose strengths lie elsewhere. Even better, allow people
to choose their own managers.
10. Play to your strengths
Make sure your people spend most of their time doing
what they are best at.

122 The Happy Manifesto

 Work Smarter:
The Power of Recharge
By Hallie Neuman Love
A 2012 ABA Law Practice article states that burnout in the legal
profession is greater than that of other professions.1
Why does law practice lead to such extreme results for so many
attorneys? This article will examine data from a broad spectrum
of scientific research in positive psychology, exercise science,
neurobiology, neuroscience, and complementary and alternative
medicine (the new mind-body sciences) in order to identify
factors that may lead to attorney burnout and to explain why those
factors may contribute to attorney distress. Further, this article will
introduce work trends that utilize the emerging mind-body sciences
to pioneer smarter ways to be more productive and thus avoid
burnout. Finally, this article will offer an overview of scientifically
proven interventions and recharging techniques that may provide
a buffer against the occupational hazard of attorney depression and
burnout.
Factors Contributing to Attorney Burnout
Thorough review of the exploding research in the mind-body
sciences and legal education reveals six significant factors that may
contribute to attorney distress. By understanding how these factors
affect brain chemistry, brain wiring, biology, and the stress response,
we can alter their adverse effects by modifying our behaviors.
1. High Demands
Ever-higher demands, frustrations, and deadlines will always persist,
but mind-body science proves we can cultivate vast control over their
deleterious effects. The common logical response to overwhelming
legal responsibilities is to log more continuous hours, nose to the
grindstone, and view downtime as time wasted. The problem is
that humans are not designed to burn up energy continuously. The
need for physical and psychological recharging is embedded in
our physiology. When we expend too much mental and emotional
6 New Mexico Lawyer - May 2013
energy without recharging, we become exhausted and it takes more
hours to get the job done. Our bodies regularly tell us to take a
break, but we supersede these signals with caffeine, sugar, and stress
hormones.
Stress hormones work optimally when they flood our bodies for only
for a short time until we are out of harm’s way. This is neurobiology’s
famous fight/flight survival response. While it’s true that stress
physiology can provide motivation and improve performance in
small doses, it’s also true that the brain-body does not distinguish
between physical and psychological threats. Every type of stressor
releases a deluge of stress hormones. Chronic stress keeps the
immune system suppressed 24/7, setting the body up for serious
health risks, draining energy as the stress chemicals amp up the
body’s physiology for fight or flight, increasing heartbeat and blood
pressure, and sending all energy to the muscles. Operating in chronic
stress mode is physically exhausting, emotionally dispiriting, and is
not sustainable. Continuous stress is so commonplace in law practice
it seems “normal.” The whole truth is that the real problem is lack of
recovery from stress. The key to thriving is to strategically practice
turning off the stress response and continually recharging energy
throughout the day.
2. Multitasking
Juggling too many things at the same time splits focus and attention
so that we are partially engaged in multiple activities but rarely
fully engaged in any one primary task. Psychology studies conclude
that multitasking typically increases the time it takes to finish the
primary task by an average of 25 percent. Further, multitasking trains
the brain to be ineffective at focusing and concentrating. Doing
one thing at a time helps the brain get over this “cultural ADD.”
The better we are at focusing on one thing at a time for sustained
periods, the more effective we are and the higher quality work we
produce in less time, thereby decreasing the sense of overburden and
stress.
3. Emotions
Studies in positive psychology and neuroscience reveal that the
neurochemistry of emotions impacts attorneys daily. When we
are confronted with an onslaught of demands and unexpected
challenges, we slip into negative emotions—irritability, impatience,
anxiety, insecurity, fear, frustration, anger, blame, resentment—
multiple times a day. These negative emotions have a cascading
effect. The stress response turns on, which undermines the brain’s
capacity to think clearly, logically, or broadly, which in turn makes
us less productive. We are more likely to move into reactivity, which
further drains energy. As we become physically and emotionally
depleted, we are less engaged, more distracted, and less rational.
Without intermittent recharging, we are not physiologically capable
of sustaining positive emotions that nourish the body with dopamine
and serotonin. These feel-good chemicals counteract stress, build
emotional resilience, and turn on the learning centers in the brain
that help us organize and store information, retrieve it faster, and
make and sustain more neural connections which in turn allow us to
think more quickly and creatively.
4. Legal Training
Experts in legal education have pointed out that the very nature
of legal training may play a part in depression and burnout. In law
school we learn to look for flaws and the holes in arguments. We train
ourselves to be critical thinkers. We further our legal careers with
optimized analytical thinking, defensive posturing, and looking for and
zeroing in on weaknesses in opposing counsel. All are crucial skills for
lawyers and make for the successful practice of law. By training this
way hour after hour, we have ingrained neural pathways that are very
adept at looking for and targeting the negative. The problem is that
the better we get at scanning for the negative, the more we miss out
on the positive.2 Studies in positive psychology divulge that a lawyer’s
view of the whole world (not just legal issues) may become stuck in
scanning for the negative, a concept called “cognitive afterimage.”
Unless there is an ability to compartmentalize these work-related skills,
“legal thinking” can lead to a negative fault-finding, energy-draining,
and stress-producing mindset. However, the brain is malleable and can
change throughout our lives, allowing us to train our brains to scan
for positives and create new neural pathways that afford conscious
activation of positive emotions and their neurochemistry of wellbeing.
5. Mirror Neurons
Neuroscience has uncovered certain brain cells called “mirror
neurons” that act as reflectors and tune us to each other at physical
and emotional levels. Mirror neurons may be partially responsible
for feeling energized while in the company of positive people and
feeling depleted or frustrated while in the company of negative
people. This may also help explain why lawyers who have direct and
continuous contact with trauma-exposed clients may experience a
sort of secondary trauma that can lead to burnout. There is evidence
that exposure to overwhelmed clients, frustrated partners, and
difficult opposing counsel can trigger negative emotions akin to their
feelings as mirror neurons begin to resonate in a manner similar to
theirs. Recharging techniques are useful for maintaining emotional
balance in light of mirror neurons.
6. The Sedentary Nature of Law Practice
Neurobiology provides that continuous hours of sitting slows our
body’s metabolic rate and triggers a type of hibernation mode,
shutting down the immune system as well as other systems. The
body’s chemistry becomes depressive. It is vitally important to move
throughout the day and to get exercise, which is an anti-depressant.
Smarter Work Trends: A New Paradigm
The six factors discussed above typically result in less productivity.
Left unchecked, one or more of these factors may result in
overwhelming depression or burnout.
The explosion of research in the mind-body sciences makes the
case for an alternative work ethic—working smarter, not longer,
hours. Research shows that people have more energy and are more
productive when they move from periods of high and fully engaged
focus to periods of recharging their energy throughout the day. It’s
clear from emerging data that the quantity of energy available to
us affects how well we feel, how well we think, and how motivated
we are to do our jobs. In high productivity we can accomplish more
in less time. By using techniques of recharging energy throughout
the day, we have creative breakthroughs, broader perspectives, and
reflective and long-term thinking. We will have time to metabolize
what’s learned, feel more motivated, and be capable of greater
cognitive functioning. By understanding that energy is renewable,
we can strategically recharge our energy and remain productive.
Recharging turns off the stress response, thereby building physical,
mental, and emotional resilience as a buffer against depression and
burnout. This is the new science of sustainable work stamina and
high performance success.
Overview of Interventions and Recharging Techniques
Simple behavioral interventions that may help increase productivity
include the reduction of interruptions that interfere with high
focus; avoiding multitasking in an effort to help re-train the brain
to focus on one thing at a time; eating right, sleeping right, and
exercising (core-based exercise is most energizing); taking lunch
fully unplugged away from the desk; getting up from the desk
periodically to stretch (yoga is most effective); and moving the body
to stave off the hibernation response.
Easy-to-learn recharging
techniques include mini-recoveries
that switch off the stress response ... the practice
and turn on the stress antidotes
of dopamine, serotonin, and
of law can
endorphins. Unplugging and easily include
completely changing channels
are key because true recharging daily doses of
requires full disengagement from
work. It takes practice to learn
recharge.
how to do it, but once learned,
mini-recoveries needn’t take more
than 5–15 minutes to kick in the “reset” button. Some common
mini-recoveries include breathing and relaxation exercises; resiliency
training of the nervous system (provides for quicker discharge of
negative emotions); rediscovery of the purpose of work and life
(which provides increased focus, commitment, and perseverance);
consciously cultivating positive emotions (confident, engaged, happy,
invigorated) that build resilience and are an antidote to stress; and
mindfulness meditation which can create one-pointed focus, a sense
of calm and contentment, and more resilience.
A power recharging tool is Integrative Restoration® (“iRest”)
meditation. In the author’s view, it is the most effective and long-
lasting recovery available. It encompasses all of the mini-recoveries
discussed above rolled into one easy practice.
In conclusion, the practice of law can easily include daily doses of
recharge. Thinking and acting like a lawyer does not have to result
in chronic stress or depression or burnout. There are easy-to-learn
techniques to re-train the brain, body, and spirit to work smarter,
with more productivity, decreased stress, and increased positivity. ■
About the Author
Author Hallie Neuman Love is a New Mexico attorney and nationally
certified mind-body therapist (YA E-RYT 500.) She specializes in
teaching iRest® for lawyers (currently at the State Bar Center) as well as
strategic recharging techniques for optimal productivity.
_______________________________
Endnotes
1
www.americanbar.org/publications/law_practice_magazine/2012/
may_june/burnout-avoidable-not-inevitable.html
2
Peterson, T.D., & Peterson, E.W., Stemming the Tide of Law Student
Depression: What Law Schools Need to Learn From the Science of Positive
Psychology, 9 Yale J. Health Pol’y L. & Ethics, 357-434 (2009).
New Mexico Lawyer - May 2013 7