By Deb Clifford

As a leadership consultant, I have the good fortune to work with a lot of dynamic, committed and talented business people. Most of these people aspire to be the best at what they do in their organizations. As successful, motivated employees, these men and women possess similar characteristics. They do many things very well. But the one area in which they often fall short is one that many of us can relate to as the pace of work continues to increase: We don’t take the time to look at ourselves.

Self-reflection is a critical skill for anyone who wants to be a better employee or manager, whether they work in the legal field or any other industry. Before you can work at your highest level, you must know enough about yourself to be fulfilling your own purpose in your life and work. If the work you do is not aligned with your genuine interests, values, strengths and personal style, then you, the work, and the people you work with — will all suffer.

Think for a moment about the best boss you ever had. What made that person so effective? Chances are he or she was an inspiration to those around them. Inspired employees are people who achieve a deep sense of purpose and meaning in their lives through their work and encourage those around them to do the same.

Executive coaches can hold a mirror in front of clients to teach them how to be more reflective and, in many cases, help them find the alignment mentioned above. The practices for better self-reflection are simple and can be adopted by anyone on their own, but most of us live such busy lives that we don’t take the time to look at ourselves on a regular basis. In fact, working with an executive coach is a little like hiring a personal trainer. Meeting the trainer at the gym on Monday morning is the only way some people can stick to an exercise program.

Developing into an inspirational employee requires the same kind of commitment and repetition it takes to get in shape. One of the most important practices you can adopt is to ask the right questions of yourself and really listen to the answers. Let’s say you just had a confrontation with a colleague that didn’t go as well as it should have. Set aside a little time at the end of the day to use this as a learning opportunity by asking yourself the following questions:

·        Why did I react that way?

·        Do I see any patterns in my reaction or behavior?

·        What has worked well for me in the past in similar situations?

·        What could I have done differently?

The answers to these types of questions will give you more insight into what makes you “tick” and foster continuous personal improvement. You may say, “Maybe I’m so upset because I hate conflict and take it personally.”

These types of writing exercises help you focus on where you want to go. Based on these findings, you can set goals to accomplish that vision.  Sometimes the goals are basic, such as spending more time with the family or getting along better with a colleague. The most common problems aspiring business people wrestle with are:

·        Improving interpersonal relationship skills;

·        Maintaining a balance between work and home/personal life;

·        Confronting problem employees and

colleagues; and

·        Discerning the appropriate way to

communicate in certain situations: in person, by telephone or via e-mail.

Regardless of the problem or situation, the foundation for being a better employee and leader lies with regularly holding that mirror up, and reflecting on what and whom you see.  Deb Clifford is the founder and president of Inspired People in Simsbury, Conn. Inspired People is a leadership consulting company that guides and inspires organizational leaders to recreate their work and their roles as leaders through its workshops, retreats, keynotes and executive coaching. Its clients include Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, not-for-profits, government agencies and associations. For  more  information  visit  the Web site  at 

www.Inspiredpeople.com or via e-mail

dclifford@inspiredpeople.com.

Reprinted with permission from ALA News, the member magazine of the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA). December 2001/January 2002.