Five years a law firm – mistakes, learnings, habits and a pandemic – my journey

Each year I write a blog on the anniversary of my starting Tenet.  

Five years ago I left a large law firm to start my own journey, initially to be a consultant and now working with a group of 10 amazing people I am lucky enough to call my colleagues and team.

I have read articles that say 50% of new businesses fail in their first 5 years.  As I finished my fourth year, I was conscious year 5 would be hard, little did I know there would be the added challenge of navigating through a pandemic.

This year has been a challenge. I have had to make decisions I have found incredibly hard on the human front. We had to alter one employee's contract to reduce hours for them but otherwise, no furlough claim by Tenet, no colleagues being asked to leave and nobody wanting to leave us.  Some cost savings have been made but at the end of the year, we performed pretty well and have secured new clients and more friends.

However, what I have learned is that by sticking resolutely to doing the right thing, remaining focussed and brave enough to stick to our area of expertise, we have ended year four on a high.

So what have I learned? I have made mistakes for sure. I have learned a lot from a number of great teachers some that I know, others who share content on LinkedIn that resonates with me.

I have shared my thoughts in the lists below, they are with the benefit of looking through the rear view mirror if you will, of points that have helped and hindered me.

If you are on a journey with your own ‘leap of faith’ (which is what I called my decision to start a firm), or if you are navigating your career in the law, I hope one or two of these learnings may help.  

It ultimately has been people who have made our business, the recommendations, referrals and trust of others and within the team. For everyone who has gone out of their way to trust me and the team, thank you.  It is so hard to articulate how proud I am of the team and people who have helped us not only survive and thrive for the first five years, but have made it the best career decision to start Tenet.

Finally, for those of you who have made the time to read this blog, thank you. 

As we are now 5, I have listed 5 points for each section (it made sense in my head!).

Mistakes

Lets start with the mistakes. I now recognise that sometimes I cause my own pressures.  Here they are:

1.      Too many conversations. This is about emails.  If you were in a room, how many conversations would you try to have at the same time? I sometimes fall into the mistake of thinking that I can hold multiple conversations at the same time on email, send, receive, send, receive and so on.  What happens? You suffer.  You do not get work done, you feel demoralised as you keep turning to emails, that responding quickly because you can (not that you need to or should do so). Working remotely can increase this pressure.  Manage your conversations and you will manage your time better.  It surely cannot be the case that so many email threads are so urgent at the same time.   

2.      Following on from the first mistake, the second one is to stop creating your own urgency and rush. I probably have a chip on my shoulder about being present (digitally) which drives a sense of urgency to respond (especially to internal emails to support the team). We are all busy, I know my colleagues are busy and I do not expect an immediate reply – if I need that I will call someone. Stop rushing

3.      You can’t do it all yourself.  When the first lockdown happened on 23 March 2020, the world seemed to stand still as did new instructions. Clients waited. We waited. We had a book of work. There was only so much we could do. I worried but I needed reminding there are people around in your team to share the strains and worry. A problem shared and all that. Be open with your colleagues about the strains you feel as they will help (hiding worry or strains is not the way to go). Most people genuinely want to help. Reach out and seek a helping hand.  

4.      Don’t get sucked in by the bad days. I saw a post by Steven Bartlett which said remember to zoom out. If you have a bad day, do not just look at that day in isolation, when you zoom out and see the entire year, you will see the progress and achievements overall even if you encountered a few  setbacks. Perspective.  

5.      Do not try and do too much. I make this mistake (even in writing this blog!). I have a habit of trying to execute on 8 ideas for developing business or making our place a better place to work.  I swear I was lost on the law, I should have been in a creative career as I am always dreaming up ideas but historically I have not executed many fully. My mantra for the next 5 years perhaps? Do less and do it well.  One person recently said to me to do less and do it well.  He was right.  That is the mantra for the next five years perhaps.  

 Learnings

 Life is one long lesson. I definitely have a lot more to learn but here are some of the things that I have learned that help me.

 1.      It is okay to be scared. I have learned that worry and being scared is a positive. It means I care. Vulnerabilities bring resolve so do not be in denial if you are scared. Ask yourself what is it that scares you and think through how could you overcome that fear?  We learn more from negatives in life than positives as negatives lead to us learning our power of resolve.

2.      Your team is everything. I mean that. Culture is not a buzz word – it means something if you believe in creating culture.  The team I work for / work with are everything. Each of them have gone above and beyond (in work and for me personally) and for each I hope I have shown I will do all I can for them in work and for their home life when they need it. They are the reason we are where we are. I trust them, they trust me. We share in our successes and we support collectively if we fail.  Simon Sinek talks about a tribe, at Tenet I feel we are just that.

3.      I now recognise I only have so much bandwidth.  A couple of years back one of my close family were unwell.  I had no bandwidth from work to allow for the stress and felt I could not achieve all I needed to.  I made my mistake of taking on too much in life and work and suffered. I talk openly to my colleagues about this.  I sought guidance and advice from a counsellor / coach. Mental health is important and I learned that if I do not look after myself, I could not look after others.   I still see the counsellor not out of necessity but just as an ‘out’ to chat about things that are getting to me or just to speak to someone unconnected.  It is no different to going to the gym, I am taking care of my body, it just happens to be my brain.  The learning is to give yourself bandwidth for the unexpected as otherwise it is harder to cope.

4.      Learn from stress. Remember those times you have really felt under pressure, when you were highly stressed at work and felt you couldn’t pull through – you did right? Remember those times,  believe in yourself and learn from how you have pulled through before.   

5.      Give people time back. I love it when this happens….a meeting is scheduled for an hour and we finish in 40 minutes! Those 20 minutes back are amazing, sometimes I use them for work, or for a short walk but if you can give time back to your colleagues or others, do it. Giving time back is one of the most amazing gifts in an age where we are all so time poor.

Habits

A habit is “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up”. You knew that ?? but in work, creating habits takes a lot of work! They are easy to give up so I need to repeat these to myself (a little like the learnings).  

1.      I worked with a marketing consultant (Roger Evans) who taught me about being audience focussed – always think about what the audience need and what keeps them up at night, not what it is you think they would need from you.   I also remember a former colleague Claire Phillips (also in marketing) saying to me “so what?”. Every article, every case study, every talk I give, for the audience they will ask “so what?” i.e. how can what you say or what your experience is help the client. I am trying to keep these points in mind on how we evolve Tenet.    The habit is to not place yourself first but the audience. They are after all the ones that count.

2.      Objectives and key results “OKRs”.  Those of you who know me know we do not do targets at Tenet.    However, on a Ted talk I heard about 3 month OKRs.  Many of us (me included) create a list of things we need to achieve each week.  In the background is a longer term aim (finish a course, write an article etc.) but we never seem to get to them. I am now trying to get into the habit of setting an OKR every 3 months, so I can check in and ensure I do make progress on the non-urgent items I want to achieve and they do not get lost in the week to week rush.

3.      Allow for 2-3 hours a day you did not expect.  It is just that. Every day for me will have something happen that needs immediate time that I did not expect. I now plan for needing a few hours spare each day. On the odd day I do not need those extra hours – it is bliss!

4.      Own your mistakes. I ask this of the team. If we make a mistake (we all make mistakes in life - it is human) own up, to each other, to a client, to a family member. More often than not, the problem is solved and not amplified. Do not make a habit to make mistakes but do make a habit to own them.

5.      Invest in yourself.  Be that physical or mental health, courses, reading, experiences. Give yourself small treats – things to look forward to and do not feel guilty about doing them, a bike ride in the day, a walk, time in the allotment, whatever it is – ensure you work towards creating time for yourself (be it 30 minutes or more a few times a week during the working week). A habit of these small rewards is such a boost.

The next five years?

I did not expect to be where I am after five years, but I am glad I am here.  I do not make five year plans, I never have, even when setting up Tenet.  

For that reason, I have no idea where we will be in five years but I hope to be still writing my annual blog – even if only to be a record of myself of the journey following my leap of faith.