“How to Proactively Seek Feedback & Receive It Well,” Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute

Next Gen Leadership: Advancing Lawyers of Color

“The most important thing [for career success] is to be proactive, not passive in your career, and that includes getting out there and seeking feedback and not stopping with just some generic feedback,” says Ann Jenrette-Thomas, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Stinson and co-author of Thomson Reuters Next Gen LoC’s new white paper, 5 Steps to Proactively Seek Feedback & Receive It Well.

In addition to Jenrette-Thomas, Dr. Larry Richard, CEO of Lawyer Brain; and Betsy Miller and Tory Nugent, co-chairs of the public client practice at the law firm Cohen Milstein, acted as contributors to this white paper. The group also discussed the context of this new white paper in a new podcast episode (available below).

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Miller and Nugent, as regular feedback-givers at their firm, provide additional insights on how identity triggers — which, for a lawyer, can threaten the perception of who they are — produce the body’s natural flight, fight, or freeze stress response to danger. However, this dynamic also interrupts the ability of attorneys to hear and learn from constructive feedback.

When this happens, there are ways to respond effectively, Miller suggests. “Remember that the thing you have most control over is your own ability to practice how you receive [the feedback] and how you engage in some habit-forming practices that change a neurological pathway so that your body knows what to do when it is confronted by one of those moments that feels like an attack,” Miller explains.

Betsy Miller and Tory Nugent’s portion of the podcast can be accessed here.

The complete 20 minute podcast can be accessed here.