Why leading by example matters for wellbeing Your wellbeing questions answered

Olivia Moore, Careers & Wellbeing Manager at the Law Society of Scotland, kicks off our blog series tackling some of the questions we received during our recent annual conference session on wellbeing, by discussing the importance of leading by example.

Do you think more importance should be placed on ‘lead by example’ practices?

This question was posed at our recent Annual Conference, during the panel session I hosted called ‘Wellbeing and its compatibility with the law – myth vs reality’. I was surprised and really pleased with the sheer volume of excellent questions we received, although it meant many went unanswered.

So, over the next few weeks I’ve invited the Lawscot Wellbeing Steering Group to pick up some of these questions and give their perspectives. I thought I’d kick things off by exploring the question above.

Views from the junior end

I want to start from the perspectives of junior lawyers and trainees, to illustrate how important leading by example is. Last year I asked our New Lawyers Reference Group: ‘Do people want to become a Partner anymore?’ Their feeling was that new lawyers are definitely less interested than previous generations. A lot of reasons were put forward, but many had a common theme that the example being set isn’t one they want to follow.

People cited the lack of work-life balance, with examples of leaders working during holidays and responding to emails after an out-of-office had been sent. They told of emails being sent by managers over the weekend, clogging inboxes before Monday has even arrived.

The group also worried about the stress of balancing a senior position with a family, with leaders constantly apologising for being off work or a missed meeting if their child is sick or there’s a family emergency. Yes, this is sometimes just politeness, but it also highlights the conflict between work and family.

This all lead to a big – and important – question: does the partnership (or leadership) model effectively mean those who end up running firms and in-house teams are the ones who don’t favour things like work-life balance or flexibility?

The hope is that new generations of partners will shift the status quo, but will there be enough people willing to take on that challenge? Leadership could be acting now, modelling good working practices. Perhaps it takes brave people and businesses to stick their heads above the parapet, but it’s not just about supporting the wellbeing of people who are in the profession already, it’s about protecting the profession for the future.

What can leaders do?

Firstly, leaders should be showing it’s normal to use the benefits that are available to all staff – things like compressed hours, parental leave and taking time off for a sick child. Just as importantly, don’t be secretive about it. Teams will feel more empowered to use benefits and entitlements if their leaders are. Leaders themselves will benefit from a better work-life balance and having time to recharge their batteries. It’s how we can build resilience and be more productive.

Secondly, engage with clients and talk about boundaries. This conversation will vary enormously and there will no doubt be situations where they are pushed up against, but it’s a mark of respect to your team to set them. Junior lawyers hear a lot about the importance of boundaries and being honest about capacity, but it usually needs someone senior as the protective screen between clients and teams. The Mindful Business Charter provides a solid framework for negotiating simple but effective boundaries for clients and lawyers, and can be used as a blueprint for most organisations.

Thirdly, let people get to know you. Professionalism at work doesn’t mean hiding your personality. I must admit I don’t love the term ‘psychological safety’, but I do love what it means – being able to talk about your views at work without worrying about a backlash, trusting your leadership to take on board what you’re saying calmly and respectfully and knowing that your views matter and will be considered.

For example, being able to tell your manager that the business isn’t doing enough to support people through the cost-of-living crisis. Or telling your manager about your mistake on a client file. Or admitting your work is being affected by a family member’s illness. Being able to voice our feelings can improve workplace wellbeing quite dramatically, cuts down on things like hearsay and complaining behind closed doors, and it’s a totally free solution.

Our 2020 Pass the Badge campaign showed some of the profession’s most senior leaders sharing their thoughts on mental health. LawCare also have some powerful personal stories available in their resources. We have heard from men talking about working flexibly or struggling with their mental health in our past blogs.

These are good steps towards leading by example, but there needs to be a big leap forward in proactively changing working cultures in legal practice for the impact to be felt by all members of staff.

The statistics from our 2019 research speak for themselves. We asked whether senior leaders in respondents’ organisations show their commitment to staff mental health: 40% disagreed (of which 23% strongly disagreed), while only 39% agreed (of which 16% strongly agreed). 21% didn’t know or preferred not to answer.

When asked whether respondents have regular conversations with their supervisor/line manager about their mental health and wellbeing, 64% disagreed (of which 42% strongly disagreed) and just 19% agreed (of which 7% strongly agreed).

Cultural change is hard. It’s messy, it requires creative thinking, a willingness to experiment and fail and bravery from leadership. But ultimately, I think a lot of people in the profession are wanting stronger leaders who lead by example, whether it’s around wellbeing or any other major issues.