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September 12, 2007
W-L balance as a non-issue: first, choose the life you want.
I should be catching up on lawyering this morning, but a fine thinker-lawyer-blogger just sent me an enlightening article. Work-life balance is an issue we've made fun of a lot at this blog; don't worry, we'll continue to do that. To me, W-L balance is a "concept" (1) stifling verve, passion, creativity and achievement, (2) ignoring that good and great things are hard-won and (3) advanced by people who really don't like what they do all day. Still, our blog, What About Clients? likely failed to pick up on the better threads of the "issue":
For me, the point is and always has been making my/your life a work of art. That's it. If you think there is something selfish or grandiose about that, fine. Art is intended to make sense of our world and our selves. First, though, what life--indeed, what world?--do you want? Have you even made that choice? Choose your life. That's the hard part, especially if you need to change it (it's not supposed to be easy).
And then fill in the blanks. Blood, family and relationships for most of us will be the priority, and a major complexity, in the life canvas. Whoa, you don't even choose all those people. You struggle, you grow,
you compromise where you must, you try to surround yourself with people who stretch you. You work, you give and you increase love. Hopefully, people in your life want you to chase a dream or two. It makes you happy.
This stuff blends together--and needs to blend so we can be happy. For many of us, "life" and "work" are not capable of a bright-line separation--especially if you love your existence, the people in it and what you do. And, hey, communication technologies, and the lemming-like madness often surrounding it all, are no cure-all--but technologies do make work-life "blurring" possible, easier on others and often fun. Someone just said this all a lot better than I can or have here, and thanks to Stephanie West Allen of Idealawg, I just read it. See Marci Alboher's piece in the New York Times small business section, "Blurring by Choice and Passion".
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Real Bloggers will read Kevin O'Keefe's Blawg Review #125
Here's one straight from Olympus: the Art of The Blog. Save it now on your computer desktop. This week's Blawg Review, issue #125, is hosted by Seattle-based Kevin O'Keefe at his highly-regarded Real Lawyers Have Blogs. He has gathered posts of experts, gurus and leading lights in blogging and marketing who tell you "how to build and maintain" a first-rate blog. These folks generally are not, thank God, lawyers--at least not practicing ones--and so they (1) have business instincts, (2) make sense, (3) write clearly, and (4) tell you what they actually think in a non-weenie way. Mark Cuban, Guy Kawasaki, Steve Rubel and Shel Israel are a few of the stars at Kevin's #125. A visionary, thought leader and doer in blogging/blawging himself, Kevin knows what's going on nationally and internationally in the blogosphere, legal and non-legal, how to use blogs as a marketing tool, and who's who. He understands blog quality--form, content and practical aspects. So his selections for #125 are informed. Read and save if you or your firm have a blog, or plan to launch one.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
John Remsen: Looking like a lawyer
Medieval, old school, vain and running dog lackey of good GCs at good companies, WAC? (Dan Hull) met Atlanta-based law firm marketer John Remsen at an IBLC meeting last September in Milwaukee, was impressed, "liked his play" and loved his presentation. From The Remsen Group's website, here's "Enough is Enough: Lawyers Should Look Like Lawyers!"
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:24 PM | Comments (0)