This week's webinar is about DISC profiles. Essentially, it focuses on your personality type and the type of work you should be doing. This is a crucial webinar because understanding DISC profiles and how they work can significantly impact your career. Although it might seem like a dull topic, the idea behind any personality profile is that many people end up in the wrong professions or doing the wrong type of work because their jobs don't match their personality.
By determining your personality type and taking one of these tests, you can identify the kinds of work that suit you best. Many people enter the legal profession or go to law school because they think it will be financially rewarding. However, there are specific characteristics of attorneys and different practice areas that make them successful in their jobs. Understanding this can help you find roles within firms that match your personality as your career progresses. You may start in one practice area, law firm, in-house position, or government role, but if you find an employer that aligns with your profile and interests, you'll be better off in the long run.
It's essential to consider your personality when you start practicing law and as you move through your career. If you're unhappy, it often means that fundamental aspects of who you are aren't being utilized. If certain parts of your job don't make you happy, you should consider roles that align better with your natural traits. DISC profiles are intriguing and have been used effectively in hiring decisions and candidate evaluations in law firms.
Many people end up in the wrong practice areas or even the wrong profession because they don't understand what motivates them. Today, I'll give you an idea of how your profile may play out and suggest some free DISC profiles you can take online. These profiles can help you understand yourself better, including the types of people you work well with or should avoid working with.
My approach has often been tough love: shape up or ship out. But if your job doesn't align with your values, you can't be something you're not. Trying to be something you're not is a mistake. If your job isn't aligned with your values, it can be challenging.
Recently, I was mentored by a man who runs a $150 million company. Despite not being a lawyer or highly educated, he's incredibly successful because of the tools he uses to understand himself and others. He and other successful entrepreneurs use similar methods, which I've also applied in evaluating candidates. Attorneys fit into different types of law firms and practice settings depending on their personality traits. The right environment often determines your success.
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Many attorneys believe they should work in specific environments, which might be the worst choice for them. Law firms should consider these factors when hiring. A good recruiter can help you find the best environment, but you can also do much of this yourself. Recruiters often look at your background and suggest suitable environments, but they are not always wrong.
The DISC tool was developed by a psychologist and attorney, William Moulton Marston, who studied at Yale Law School. It examines traits like dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness. Different attorneys have different personality types, and understanding how you fit with these traits can help you determine where you should practice.
The first trait, dominance, is crucial for success in most large law firms. Dominant personalities are direct, decisive, driven, results-oriented, and task-focused. Many top attorneys possess these traits. They are demanding with themselves and others, driven to achieve, and thrive in competitive environments. Dominant personalities often pursue the best education and jobs, constantly competing and striving to stand out.
If you have a dominant personality, you may be well-suited to working in large law firms. However, not every attorney is dominant. Some may be smart and capable but not competitive enough for big law firms. They might find more fulfillment in academia, public service, or other less competitive environments.
Understanding your personality is crucial in determining your career path. Dominant personalities often seek out competitive environments, aiming to prove themselves and achieve high levels of success. They are driven by competition and the desire to be the best.
However, not everyone is suited for large law firms. Many attorneys who aren't dominant are smart and capable but find more fulfillment in less competitive settings. There's nothing wrong with that. It's essential to recognize your personality traits and find a career that aligns with them.
If you're in a job that doesn't match your personality, you'll likely be unhappy. Dominant personalities may find routine government jobs or other non-competitive environments unsatisfying. Instead, they thrive in roles where they can lead, compete, and achieve.
Another academia can be a bad place. Public interest can often be a bad place unless you're leading the public interest organization. Judicial can sometimes be a bad place because you're not competing with other judges, which could be a problem. But you're certainly in the center of attention. Small-town legal practice and most in-house positions aren't the best jobs for high-D people. They typically will get restless and want to do something else. Most dominant people want to be the center of attention, feel like they're accomplishing more than others, and want to make as much money as possible while being seen as successful and powerful compared to their peers. These positions just often don't allow for that. High-D people want to be around others who are very motivated, where they can talk about their accomplishments and feel pushed by others.
Typically, very good litigators are almost always high-dominant people. You can see it with their writing and talking in court. Most of the best ones are like that. The same applies to corporate attorneys who want to lead deals for competitive clients. They bring in entertainment, and they're competitive about who the clients are. The same goes for criminal law and family law. All these practice areas allow the attorney to be the center of attention, compete with others, and get a sense of winning and being the best. They also attract a lot of other very competitive attorneys, especially litigation and corporate.
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Some of the worst practice areas for high-D people are often bankruptcy, insurance coverage, real estate, tax, patent law, and trusts and estates. These areas don't require a lot of confrontation with other people and are often very routine. The attorneys who practice them aren't necessarily as competitive with each other compared to areas like family law. Collaborative practice areas are often not the best for high-D personalities.
To summarize, the more dominant you are, the more suited you are probably to a big firm practice and related practice areas. If you're less dominant, you may still be suited to big firm practice but may prefer certain practice areas.
Someone who is an influencer has a desire to create their environment by influencing others. They're optimistic, persuasive, talkative, emotional, and social. They enjoy being around others and are not afraid to be the center of attention. They tend to be very positive in their environment and like when others approve of them. They don't like spending time alone because they need to influence others. They often seem disorganized but are always asking who will be at social events because they want to meet people.
The most suitable practice area for most influencers is litigation. They can express their ideas, talk, and be heard. They can get approval from others in court and negotiations. They enjoy going up against other attorneys in court, verbalizing their ideas, convincing clients, and then bragging about their achievements. These things excite them. However, this personality type isn't always the best for large law firms, which often look for soldiers to do the work rather than associates in the spotlight. High influencers sometimes will not survive in large law firms because they are too eager for praise and may leave even if they're good at their work if they don't get coddled over in their career. They might move for more courtroom experience or trial experience.
Most high influencers are unlikely to be happy in major law firms. They want to talk to people and will be unhappy if they're behind the scenes, like writing briefs and doing discovery. They need to be seen and will often choose roles where they can be the center of attention, even for less money. They're often constrained by large law firms, and the highest influencers don't do well inside them. They may be able to write good briefs but don't necessarily need to be the center of attention. Those who survive as litigators in large law firms aren't always the highest influencers; they're often more comfortable behind a desk.
Large corporations also prefer technicians or behind-the-scenes workers. Patent law, tax, trusts and estates, real estate, technology transactions, and some corporate laws are better suited for those who aren't necessarily influencers. Influencers need to talk to people and feel constrained if they can't.
Political office, public interest, many law firms, sales jobs, and some academic roles are good for influencers because they can talk to others and shape viewpoints. Influencers crave environments where they can communicate and influence others. They may not be happy as solo practitioners or in law firms that stifle creativity. Many corporate environments can also be bad because the attorney may feel faceless and nameless.
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High influencer attorneys want their ideas heard and need to be around people who will listen. Any practice area that doesn't allow them to verbalize and communicate closely with others will make them feel they're doing something wrong. Many influencers will leave firms if their ideas aren't taken seriously or if they don't have people to discuss them with. The best practice areas for influencers are litigation, some types of corporate work, entertainment law, criminal law, and family law. The worst practice areas are those where the attorney feels isolated or not connecting with others, like real estate, tax, patent, and finance.
Steadiness is about being steady and in a supportive role. A steady person is interested in cooperating with others to complete tasks, support others, and maintain stability. They're cooperative, collaborative, stable, consistent, loyal, and patient. They don't like change or confrontation and prefer following rules and helping others follow them. These traits are important for attorneys in large law firms who need to be accepted by the group, work with teams, and like consistency.
The steadiness personality applies to many lawyers who like supporting clients behind the scenes. The best lawyers take pride in helping others solve problems. Most middle-class professions, including law, value steadiness. Lawyers in large law firms usually value steadiness and being part of a group, going to good schools, and working for someone else for a steady paycheck.
Lawyers represent the needs of others, protecting them from issues and maintaining equilibrium. Many attorneys value steadiness and gravitate towards rules, helping clients follow them. If you're not naturally supportive, you may not be happy practicing law. Happy attorneys prioritize solving others' problems over their own needs. If you're not motivated by that, you won't be happy practicing law.
Over the past 50 years, law has become more corporate and depersonalized. Large law firms are often not supportive environments. Attorneys seeking steadiness may prefer in-house roles, smaller firms, or government roles where they can support one client and feel secure. Large law firms, with their high turnover and pressure, often don't provide the steadiness many attorneys seek.
The best practice areas for steady attorneys are those where they can work behind the scenes and support others, like transactional practice, tax, patent law, and trusts and estates. Litigation, criminal law, and family law put attorneys in conflict with others, which many steady attorneys don't enjoy. Understanding your personality type can help you find the right practice area and make your career more satisfying.
And then the final one you managed to cover is conscientious Nancy. This is really important for most attorneys. It’s something that many people take for granted but should come naturally. Conscientiousness means being careful, cautious, calculating, objective, systematic, and critical. If you’re conscientious, you want to produce work that’s criticized for being thorough and accurate. You challenge assumptions, search for answers, and demonstrate your expertise through your work.
New attorneys often don’t do accurate work, especially summer associates. They might not be very careful with their work, which is not a good trait for attorneys. Law firms expect their clients to receive high-quality, error-free work. Attorneys are often very proud of their work, and it’s often impossible to work in a major firm and be taken seriously unless you’re very conscientious. Conscientiousness is a quick way to distinguish yourself from others.
When I was litigating, the worst law firms produced work that wasn’t carefully thought out, where the law wasn’t cited properly, or had typos. The larger the client, the more conscientious you’re expected to be. Small firms and low-stakes matters often have poorer work products. Conscientiousness is crucial because conscientious attorneys produce well-reasoned legal conclusions and are more likely to win cases.
The best attorneys are extremely conscientious because they think things through carefully, take pride in their work, and naturally enjoy finding and correcting errors. It’s ingrained in them. They enjoy marking up papers, finding errors in contracts, documenting transactions, and conducting thorough research.
I was once told by a professor that I shouldn’t be an attorney because I wasn’t meticulous enough. Over time, I learned to be very detail-oriented, which is highly valued in large law firms. Attorneys who make errors can cause significant problems for their clients and risk malpractice suits.
The best attorneys are like chess players, calculating their moves and taking advantage of every opportunity. If you lack this trait, you’ll struggle in environments with high-quality standards. However, conscientiousness can be developed, and you need to take a passion for details.
In large law firms, conscientious attorneys are highly valued and often rewarded with better career opportunities. These attorneys often attend the best law schools and perform well in structured legal environments. Judges and clients reward well-reasoned work, which is why conscientiousness is essential.
Most attorneys in major law firms are very conscientious. If you’re not conscientious, you might be better suited for unstructured environments or smaller towns where the standards are different. Consumer-facing practice areas might be less demanding regarding conscientiousness compared to major law firms.
Some attorneys thrive in perfectionist environments where they can take the time to produce detailed work. These attorneys might specialize in areas like patent law, where precision is crucial. However, other practice areas, like consumer-facing bankruptcy or personal injury, might require quicker turnaround times.
I recommend taking personality tests to understand your strengths and find the right practice area for you. Knowing your strengths can help you avoid areas where you’re unlikely to succeed. I will now take questions. I hope there are many questions today. I will take a quick break and then answer questions about this topic or any career-related questions you have.
Please ask any questions you have because they are very helpful for others.
I often feel frustrated, angry, and jealous when I see others getting assignments that I feel should be mine. I feel my supervisor plays favorites, and other associates prefer working with them. None of my partners have addressed this issue. Here’s what I recommend: When you’re in an interview, don’t ask or say things that might make you seem problematic. Your goal is to get the next interview or the job offer. Avoid sour grapes and entitlement. Let your work speak for itself and avoid showing any problems.
Another question: My DISC assessment characterized me as extremely conscientious and steady. I practice corporate law in large firms. Is this a good fit for me? Yes, conscientiousness and steadiness are great traits for corporate law. You should continue to improve and stay in environments where your work is appreciated and praised.
Will this deck be available? Yes, all these texts are available through BCG, and you can find related webinars on our website.
Regarding finance positions, many types of finance roles involve putting together agreements for packaging leases, secured finance transactions, and other finance practice groups. You can find most of these on BCG.
As a lawyer who graduated from a lower-ranked school, can I still join a good law firm? Absolutely. Many attorneys from lower-ranked schools end up in top law firms by specializing in in-demand practice areas, doing excellent work, and building a good reputation.
Is a PhD in law a good idea at 30 if I want to continue as a lawyer? It might hinder your career because law practice is more practical than academic. Firms might prefer hands-on experience over academic qualifications.
Is corporate law a good career for women, considering gender bias? Yes, corporate law is a great career for women. Many firms are actively working to diversify their ranks and promote gender equality.
Should I pursue an LLM or join a good law firm? Joining a good law firm is often better as it provides practical experience that is highly valued in the legal profession.
About Harrison Barnes
Harrison Barnes is a prominent figure in the legal placement industry, known for his expertise in attorney placements and his extensive knowledge of the legal profession.
With over 25 years of experience, he has established himself as a leading voice in the field and has helped thousands of lawyers and law students find their ideal career paths.
Barnes is a former federal law clerk and associate at Quinn Emanuel and a graduate of the University of Chicago College and the University of Virginia Law School. He was a Rhodes Scholar Finalist at the University of Chicago and a member of the University of Virginia Law Review. Early in his legal career, he enrolled in Stanford Business School but dropped out because he missed legal recruiting too much.
Barnes' approach to the legal industry is rooted in his commitment to helping lawyers achieve their full potential. He believes that the key to success in the legal profession is to be proactive, persistent, and disciplined in one's approach to work and life. He encourages lawyers to take ownership of their careers and to focus on developing their skills and expertise in a way that aligns with their passions and interests.
One of how Barnes provides support to lawyers is through his writing. On his blog, HarrisonBarnes.com, and BCGSearch.com, he regularly shares his insights and advice on a range of topics related to the legal profession. Through his writing, he aims to empower lawyers to control their careers and make informed decisions about their professional development.
One of Barnes's fundamental philosophies in his writing is the importance of networking. He believes that networking is a critical component of career success and that it is essential for lawyers to establish relationships with others in their field. He encourages lawyers to attend events, join organizations, and connect with others in the legal community to build their professional networks.
Another central theme in Barnes' writing is the importance of personal and professional development. He believes that lawyers should continuously strive to improve themselves and develop their skills to succeed in their careers. He encourages lawyers to pursue ongoing education and training actively, read widely, and seek new opportunities for growth and development.
In addition to his work in the legal industry, Barnes is also a fitness and lifestyle enthusiast. He sees fitness and wellness as integral to his personal and professional development and encourages others to adopt a similar mindset. He starts his day at 4:00 am and dedicates several daily hours to running, weightlifting, and pursuing spiritual disciplines.
Finally, Barnes is a strong advocate for community service and giving back. He volunteers for the University of Chicago, where he is the former area chair of Los Angeles for the University of Chicago Admissions Office. He also serves as the President of the Young Presidents Organization's Century City Los Angeles Chapter, where he works to support and connect young business leaders.
In conclusion, Harrison Barnes is a visionary legal industry leader committed to helping lawyers achieve their full potential. Through his work at BCG Attorney Search, writing, and community involvement, he empowers lawyers to take control of their careers, develop their skills continuously, and lead fulfilling and successful lives. His philosophy of being proactive, persistent, and disciplined, combined with his focus on personal and professional development, makes him a valuable resource for anyone looking to succeed in the legal profession.
About BCG Attorney Search
BCG Attorney Search matches attorneys and law firms with unparalleled expertise and drive, while achieving results. Known globally for its success in locating and placing attorneys in law firms of all sizes, BCG Attorney Search has placed thousands of attorneys in law firms in thousands of different law firms around the country. Unlike other legal placement firms, BCG Attorney Search brings massive resources of over 150 employees to its placement efforts locating positions and opportunities its competitors simply cannot. Every legal recruiter at BCG Attorney Search is a former successful attorney who attended a top law school, worked in top law firms and brought massive drive and commitment to their work. BCG Attorney Search legal recruiters take your legal career seriously and understand attorneys. For more information, please visit www.BCGSearch.com.
Harrison Barnes does a weekly free webinar with live Q&A for attorneys and law students each Wednesday at 10:00 am PST. You can attend anonymously and ask questions about your career, this article, or any other legal career-related topics. You can sign up for the weekly webinar here: Register on Zoom
Harrison also does a weekly free webinar with live Q&A for law firms, companies, and others who hire attorneys each Wednesday at 10:00 am PST. You can sign up for the weekly webinar here: Register on Zoom
You can browse a list of past webinars here: Webinar Replays
You can also listen to Harrison Barnes Podcasts here: Attorney Career Advice Podcasts
You can also read Harrison Barnes' articles and books here: Harrison's Perspectives
Harrison Barnes is the legal profession's mentor and may be the only person in your legal career who will tell you why you are not reaching your full potential and what you really need to do to grow as an attorney--regardless of how much it hurts. If you prefer truth to stagnation, growth to comfort, and actionable ideas instead of fluffy concepts, you and Harrison will get along just fine. If, however, you want to stay where you are, talk about your past successes, and feel comfortable, Harrison is not for you.
Truly great mentors are like parents, doctors, therapists, spiritual figures, and others because in order to help you they need to expose you to pain and expose your weaknesses. But suppose you act on the advice and pain created by a mentor. In that case, you will become better: a better attorney, better employees, a better boss, know where you are going, and appreciate where you have been--you will hopefully also become a happier and better person. As you learn from Harrison, he hopes he will become your mentor.
To read more career and life advice articles visit Harrison's personal blog.
