If you are reading this, you are probably an investigator. It may not be your job title, but if you are a lawyer, auditor, doctor, HR business partner, manager, executive, etc., a big part of your job is investigatory, requiring you to arrive at well-reasoned, fact-based, modern decisions, guidance or recommendations. You regularly make searching,…
In “The Confidence Code,” authors Katty Kay and Claire Shipman attempt to glean the mysteries of self-confidence. The subtitle, “The Science and Art of Self-Assurance—What Women Should Know” nails more specifically the mission of the book to apply studies, research and data to assessing whether or not a confidence gap exists between women and men…
I am not a big fan of New Year resolutions. Turning the calendar page from December to January does not make one eager or ready to change long-standing habits and disillusionment often follows. But there is a year-end tradition that is both reflective and proactive—taking inventory of your world with an eye toward what is…
What do you do when you need a little inspiration? A nudge to get you going? Reassurance that you can make it work? Affirmation that you are enough? Arianna Huffington said at the 2012 Pennsylvania Conference for Women that “if anybody here thinks that maybe they are too small to be effective, all I have…
It feels like 1994 all over again as the world revisits the O.J. Simpson criminal trial in the television series “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.” The often poignant series chronicles the case focusing primarily on the lawyers who tried it. I was a litigation attorney during this period and vividly remember flash…
On Sept. 8, sisters Serena and Venus Williams squared off during the U.S. Open in a match that could have had historical significance for Serena Williams, who was closing in on a Grand Slam, a feat not achieved since 1988. In an article aptly titled “Love Game,” Steve Tignor, for Tennis.com, described the charged atmosphere…
The new animated movie “Inside Out” takes the audience inside the brain of an 11-year-old girl named Riley, where her responses to situations are governed by five emotions personified. They are Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, and they vie for command of the internal control center to influence Riley’s behavior. When her family moves…
Relationships have always been important to me. My natural inclination is to maintain them. It follows that I am still in touch with people from grade school on, professors I had in college and law school, employers, co-workers and friends I have met along the way. I didn’t think of them as my “network” when…
When we think about what we want to accomplish in the coming year, we generally focus on how we want to change ourselves, what we didn’t like about our behavior last year and maybe even what we did wrong. While I am always in favor of a conscious effort to improve, I am going to…
Niche marketing describes a firm narrowing down its focus to stand out from a marketing perspective. There are many advantages to carving out a niche legal practice. Marketing to a specific area is more cost effective, separates you from the pack, emphasizes your uniqueness, conveys a concentration on a particular area rather than a general…