The blog for all things Apochromatik.
Farther, Faster…
8 Tips to Fit More Reading into Your Schedule
There are plenty of reasons reading more is important for professionals, from improving brain functions to keeping up on trends and developments in your industry, giving you something to talk about and think about outside work and family, to just feeling like you are using your brain. But when was the last time you sat down with a novel or any other book you didn’t have to read for work? In fact, 31% of Americans report that they have read just 1-5 books in the last year.
One Life Changing Day
After the waking nightmare that was 2020, I wanted to enter 2021 focused and ready to reclaim some feeling of control in my life. If I learned anything from Covid-19 and months of quarantine, it is to be grateful for each day that I wake up in good health with the power to determine my own destiny. I graduated college and law school, but as I haven't won a Nobel Prize or a MacArthur Genius Grant (yet), I reckoned there was more I could learn about goal setting - so I decided to check out Achievement 21: Goalapalooza on January 2, 2021.
Vulnerability Based Trust and Change Management: Keys to Team Driven Leadership
Change is an inevitable part of any organization's journey toward growth and success. Yet whether it's a new manager, a change in team dynamics, or a merger or acquisition, change can be disruptive and challenging to manage. It requires more than just implementing new initiatives or processes; it demands a strong foundation of trust and open communication within the team.
3 Lessons from a Visit to the United Airlines Inflight Training Center
Last Friday, Keith Sbiral and I had the incredible opportunity to join 18 other people in going behind the scenes at the United Airlines Inflight Training Center in Houston. We were part of the first outside group to ever visit the new facility, which is in use 23 hours, 7 days each week to onboard and train 4,000 flight attendants this year alone.
9 Ways to Go Beyond the Imposter Syndrome
We recently taught a webinar on the imposter syndrome for the American Bar Association. (ABA members can access the webinar and earn CLE free of charge here. Non-ABA members can access the webinar with a 15% discount by using the discount code FACMARK at checkout.)
In conversation with the ABA and program moderator Lacy Durham in advance of the webinar, one of the issues identified was that many people who feel they are a fraud or imposter think they’re unusual or alone, which adds to their shame and difficulty understanding that these feelings are common and not related to qualifications or skill. We’re prepared this blog post as part of an effort to normalize the feelings of imposterism and help lawyers and other professionals build awareness. It’s based on the remarks we and Lacy made during the webinar and is intended, in a more cursory way, to provide some brief background and resources. We encourage you to share it with colleagues and your network to spur more discussion of the imposter syndrome and, in so doing, help remove the stigma around it.
6 Hacks to Crush Anxiety About Writing
This week, we're excited to share a guest post. Julie Schrager is an attorney and the legal writing coach at Faegre Dinker, a full-service law firm of more than 1200 attorneys, consultants, and professionals in 21 offices. She works closely with summer associates, associates, and partners to improve their legal writing. Julie firmly believes that everyone can improve their written communication skills. Below, she shares practical tips that can help anyone feeling anxious or overwhelmed about a written assignment, regardless of industry. Thank you, Julie!
Making the summer associate experience a win-win
The summer experience has big stakes for both the law firm and the summer associate.
Most firms hire summer associates as a talent pipeline for their full-time associate ranks. The summer is an important evaluation period and recruiting period. The firm wants summers to be excited about full-time employment. This process, done annually, fosters a firm’s growth and evolution.
The summer program is equally important to the summer associate. The summer wants a full-time job; it’s harder to find a permanent spot as a rising 3L without an offer in hand. The summer also wants to create a positive reputation at the firm, because that reputation lays the foundation for long-term success at the firm.
One Life Changing Day
As we welcome 2023…read the words of one past Achieve! attendee about how the workshop changed her life.
Team Transformation: Employee Engagement
This article from Law.com has prompted a lot of discussion among our team.
'Be More Intentional': How GCs Are Building Camaraderie Amid Hybrid Work
"It is so much easier to trust someone at work when you know the whole person and trust them with your whole person," said Theresa Shea, general counsel of Utz Brands.
Feedback Mindset
In this week’s ApochroMinute: “Feedback Mindset,” Amy discusses the mindset you should adopt toward feedback as mid-year reviews begin.
Making the summer associate experience a win-win
The summer experience has big stakes for both the law firm and the summer associate.
Most firms hire summer associates as a talent pipeline for their full-time associate ranks. The summer is an important evaluation period and recruiting period. The firm wants summers to be excited about full-time employment. This process, done annually, fosters a firm’s growth and evolution.
The summer program is equally important to the summer associate. The summer wants a full-time job; it’s harder to find a permanent spot as a rising 3L without an offer in hand. The summer also wants to create a positive reputation at the firm, because that reputation lays the foundation for long-term success at the firm.
6 Hacks to Crush Anxiety in Legal Writing
Summer associates and newer lawyers can relate to this situation: your supervisor hands you a writing assignment, and you face a deadline that’s a week or so away. At the moment the deadline feels remote. But you know that legal writing takes a lot longer than any writing you’ve done before and that you should get started now. But you can’t. Why is that?
Team Development, Leadership, and Employee Engagement
If you think your team is operating at the same level of engagement and passion as they were a year ago, the studies are clear that you’re fooling yourself.
Employees are tired.
Employee Engagement & Business Performance
According to a 2022 report from Gallup, companies that score high in employee engagement more than double their odds for success compared to those who score low in employee engagement.
So what is employee engagement and how can you use it for the betterment of your employees and company? We’ve prepared a free resource on employee engagement and first steps to increase yours.
Team Engagement
Much of the work we do at Apochromatik involves team and leadership development. This week we’re sharing a strategy that can have huge benefits whether you share an assistant or lead a team of full-time employees.
Empathy: A Critical Leadership Skill
This week we focus on empathy, an important part of the emotional intelligence leaders need. Dr. Brené Brown explains the difference between sympathy and empathy and how to respond when someone else is struggling.
This three minute RSA Short will stay with you long after the week is over.
Employee Engagement and Team Development
If you think your team is operating at the same level of engagement and passion as they were a year ago, the studies are clear that you’re fooling yourself.
Employees are tired.
One Life Changing Day
After the waking nightmare that was 2020, I wanted to enter 2021 focused and ready to reclaim some feeling of control in my life. If I learned anything from Covid-19 and months of quarantine, it is to be grateful for each day that I wake up in good health with the power to determine my own destiny. I graduated college and law school, but as I haven't won a Nobel Prize or a MacArthur Genius Grant (yet), I reckoned there was more I could learn about goal setting - so I decided to check out Achievement 21: Goalapalooza on January 2, 2021.
When it comes to setting goals, 10 x 10 % ≠ 1
In the next few weeks many of us will write our goals for 2022. Unfortunately, though, many of us set ourselves up for failure before we even get started.