Tracy LaLonde provides law firm leaders with a common sense approach to improving relationships with her more than 30 years of training, consulting and professional development. She emphasizes the role that trust has in a client-attorney relationship, and how cultivating trust daily might make an attorney the “trusted advisor” for a client. However, LaLonde also cautions that firm leaders also need to cultivate trust at internal settings within the firm. Building trust with colleagues and younger employees at the firm will help contribute to a stronger bottom line.
LaLonde breaks down the importance of trust down to six factors:
-Competence refers to the ability to perform tasks effectively and reliably.
-Openness is the practice of being transparent and candid in communications.
-Integrity signifies the consistency of actions aligning with ethical and moral principles.
-Empathy involves understanding and sharing the feelings of another.
-Empowerment entails enabling others by trusting their capability and decision-making.
-Consistency is the act of being dependable and stable in one’s actions and decisions over time.
Are you interested in more examples of building trust and damaging trust in the legal workplace? Read more in this law.com article.
