On becoming an accidental trailblazer!

This year has been quite overwhelming - in a good way - but overwhelming nonetheless!

In my line of work - as an estates lawyer - I see more often than most, that too many good people die before their time. So I know that life is short and that none of us know when we might breathe our last - although some have more time to prepare.

For years I have quipped that I don't age. All my friends know that I have been 37 years old for well over a decade now. But next year, it's truth time. Next year I embrace 50 laps around the sun.

It wasn't until about two years ago that I decided it was time to accept this reality. Not in a glum sense, but with a realisation that I only had another decade or two at most left of my working life to leave my mark and to do what I could to leave my "law world" a better place.

I realised that it was time to speak up. To challenge the status quo. To question why things couldn't be done differently. And to then do what I could to be a part of the change.

Keeping disputes over inheritance out of court

Now my passion, and the purpose that drives me every day, is to change how disputed estates are resolved by bringing collaborative practice to estates law.

Why? Because for far too long, the only option for families facing a challenge to the will or a claim against the estate, has been a court process. Even with the court process itself requiring parties to mediate before listing the matter for trial - it continues to leave families destroyed and estate lawyers frustrated with late stage, pressured settlements reached only to stop the legal fee costs bleed. It is too little, too late.

For far too long lawyers (particularly women) have been forced to operate in a gladiatorial way, on behalf of clients who could use a gentler, more compassionate approach - sooner. Goodness knows - we as lawyers could ourselves benefit from using our skill set for good (in a positive way that builds families up) rather than in an aggressive way that tears families apart.

Rest in Peace Book

So just over a year ago I published my first book - "Rest in Peace (how to manage an estate dispute without inheriting heartache)". I spent a year (and many a late night) pouring out my thoughts and my 20 plus years of experience into the pages of this book designed to help grieving families navigate an estate dispute without going to court. I have been overwhelmed by the response from clients and other wills and estates lawyers who have found the book a useful resource. And I was utterly blown away when my self published book was awarded "Best General Business Book 2019" in the Australian Business Book Awards and listed as one of just 4 finalists in the "Book of the Year".

Collaborative Practice Training for Wills & Estates

This year I have thrown myself into developing Australia's first Collaborative Practice training for wills and estates. Together with my co-presenter Anne-Marie Rice we ran 3 courses (2 Qld, 1 NSW) to train other succession lawyers, financial advisors and communications coaches in this early stage, holistic, multi-disciplinary dispute resolution model specific to the wills and estates context. In 2020 we have plans to deliver the course nationally - travelling to NSW, WA, Vic, SA and running several more in our home state Qld!

Why? Because I believe this has the potential to transform dispute resolution as we know it in the wills and estates context. It can empower families to be able to have the sometimes quite difficult conversations about their succession plan (and their own wishes for aged care etc) in a genuinely supported and informed way. It can help families in grief resolve disputes over inheritance quickly without the added trauma of going to court.

Want to know more? You can read my earlier Linked In article entitled "What's this crazy thing called Collaborative Practice?"

It's not about me

In the last few weeks, I have been honoured with awards that I never dreamed of receiving! I was awarded the Women Lawyers Association of Qld (WLAQ) "Trailblazer of the Year award 2019" and the 2019 Lawyers Weekly - Women in Law "Sole Practitioner of the Year". I am of course incredibly grateful - if not quite shocked!

But here's the thing - these awards are not about me. They are about something beyond me.

All I have done is followed my passion to leave my "estates law world" a better place. In that journey I have had the genuine privilege of seeing others catch the vision for how they can be a part of a far greater change too. THIS is what I want to bring attention to. THIS is what has been recognised by others as "award worthy". None of it is about me. It is about a new idea, that has been given the nod as a good one.

In other words it seems I am an accidental trailblazer - and the great news is - you can be one too!

Changing your world

It's time to change our thinking. To stop listening to the whispers of the imposter monster, to those who say we are too young or too old, to back ourselves and start being influencers and change-makers, and status-quo challengers.

Whether young, or more experienced, we hold the power to shape our own world, if only we would find the courage to be the change.

So as we all look to finish off another year, and as we contemplate what 2020 might bring - can I encourage you to reflect on the privilege it is to have breath, to have experience and to have opportunity - and then ask yourself - how can you leave your "world" a better place?

The answer could very well be life changing - not just for you, but for others!

Zinta

I love LinkedIn - but I am a bit more "active" on Instagram and Facebook - I would love to connect with you there!