Simple Leadership Lessons for Lawyers from a Navy SEAL

Team Leader (We)Platform Builder (Its)Law Firm Leadership
Written By Darin M. Klemchuk

I was lucky to attend the Unbeatable Mind Annual Summit in December 2017, where retired Navy SEAL Andy Stumpf presented his thoughts on leadership. The following is my summary of leadership lesson takeaways for lawyers.

Leadership Types

Good or bad. We all know which one it is when we experience the leader. It’s not more complicated than that.

Leadership Styles

  1. Micromanagement — This form of management style results in people asking “what do you want me to do” instead of being proactive. The micromanagement style relies on external forces and discipline.

  2. Inspirational — This style is about pulling people along through inspiration. It asks the question, “How hard would you work not to let that person down.” This is about actions, not words.

2 Ways to Lead

By position or by example. In my experience, leading by example is far more effective than leading by position. One is inspirational; the other can be command and control authoritarian.

Additional Thoughts on Leadership

  • Set the standard for your team every day through actions and maintaining integrity.

  • What you tolerate is your standard.

  • Resilience is the important ability to spring back from adversity stronger.

  • Seek adversity - take the hard road every time.

  • Think like and act like the leader you want to be.

  • Being an effective leader is the best way to change the world.

You can find more information about Andy Stumpf through his podcast, Cleared Hot.

You can find more information about this year’s Unbeatable Mind Summit.

Read on LinkedIn.

Important Caveat - These are simply my notes and thoughts and shouldn’t be attributed to anyone.

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In addition to Thriving Attorney, Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas. Click to read more about Darin Klemchuk's practice as an intellectual property lawyer as well as IP mediation services. For more on the latest developments in IP law, see Ideate blog and IP Questions Answered blog.

Darin M. Klemchuk

Darin M. Klemchuk is the Managing Partner and founder of Klemchuk PLLC.  He focuses his law practice on intellectual property and commercial litigation, anti-counterfeiting and IP enforcement programs, and legal strategy for growing businesses.  You can connect with Darin via email or follow up on LinkedIn.

http://www.klemchuk.com/team/darin-klemchuk/
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