Peer to Peer Magazine

Profiles Leadership Lisa Gianakos Reed Smith LLP DIRECTOR OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT WASHINGTON, DC Number of Attorneys: 1,750 Your most successful method of overcoming fear or meeting a challenge: I try not to think about the fear and use the nervous energy as a positive! And I’m not afraid to ask for help or clarification. My biggest fears are when I’m asked to do something and I’m not entirely clear on what is being asked of me. Once I get the clarification, and break it down into smaller chunks, the difficult becomes doable. We turned to our volunteer leadership ranks to gather some thoughts about personal motivation. A nice cross-section of firm sizes, job titles and geographies are reflected in the profiles below. Even with the diversity of contributors, it’s easy to spot common themes around motivation and inspiration toward better leadership. Ask yourselves some of the profile questions to explore your own carrots and sticks. Your favorite quotation about leadership: Yoda in the original Star Wars –– “Do or do not . . . there is no try.” But I would alter this to say that trying and doing are pretty much the same thing. Leaders need to take the fear out of trying and failing and focus on the positive outcomes of failures. Your favorite reward for a job well done: A simple but meaningful “thank you” is the very best reward I have ever received. Your motivators (what gets you out of bed in the morning): Interesting, meaningful work and looking forward to that next “thank you.” Your demotivators (what keeps you awake at night): Fear of dropping one of the too many balls I am juggling. As for actual demotivators, not being appreciated and/or given appropriate credit for your work and efforts. ILTA Maritta Terrell Lloyd Gosselink Rochelle & Townsend, P.C. TRAINER AND HELP DESK SPECIALIST AUSTIN, TX Number of Attorneys: 38 Your most successful method of overcoming fear or meeting a challenge: To overcome fear or face a challenge, I try to break the fear or challenge into little parts, and do or face one step or part at a time. I also think about different scenarios –– what would happen if I failed or succeeded for each part, and for the whole. By doing that, I realize that my fears of “dying if I fail” are unwarranted. If I am really challenged or fearful of trying something, I will reach out to a group of trusted people knowledgeable on that particular subject and brainstorm ideas. Each challenge is an opportunity to grow 32 www.iltanet.org Peer to Peer in knowledge and experience. One of my favorite quotes about challenges is this: “Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge. It’s okay to fail. If you’re not failing, you’re not growing.” Your favorite book that portrays leadership: I love “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You” by John C. Maxwell. John clearly sets out how to be a leader that people want to follow, no matter what, based on strong positive principles. Your demotivators (what keeps you awake at night): I’m bothered by people who are too stubborn to figure out that life is their choice, and they can make their days and moments better, by choice, and not let past events pretend to influence them. The best advice you’ve ever received: Don’t whine, and LISTEN (don’t just “hear”, but LISTEN). ILTA

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