Chapter 4 Health

• Library: Accelerating Lawyer Success: How to Make Partner, Stay Healthy, and Flourish in a Law Firm (ABA) (2015 Ed.)

Lawyers who are sick more often are also . . .

• Less concerned with continual growth

• Less learning-oriented
• Less likely to enjoy difficult tasks

• More pessimistic
• More dependent on others for their self-image

• Need others to see them as smart
• Less likely to set clear boundaries

• Less direct with conflict
• Less master of fate

• Less strategic in their career investment
• Likely to feel less in control

Context also matters: Lawyers who suffer from minor ailments also tend to say . . .

• They have less autonomy at work (are more micromanaged)
• They are flourishing less

"Call 911!" yelled a colleague. Sarah could not believe it had come to this point. She had gotten stressed about work before, but never like this. Her chest hurt; it became hard to breathe. Her client and her coworkers could tell she was in a bad place—and all because she hadn't been checking in with her client regularly enough. Now, it looked like she may have negotiated a deal unfavorable to her client. But the partners had been piling on work, and she had never wanted to say no. They constantly looked over her shoulder, which only increased her stress. Somehow, though, despite the micromanaging, they had overlooked this mishap. Sarah's worrying had made her physically sick.

While Sarah's case is an extreme example, it is not uncommon for aspects of our work environments to lead to minor ailments, such as colds and headaches. While we often attribute these maladies to stress that makes us run-down and reduces our immunities, that stress is a product of the components that make up our lives, including our mind-set. There are other lawyers who have experienced situations similar to Sarah's but did not require hospitalization. While some of the elements that influence stress and health are functions of the environment, others relate to internal mind-set—and these can be changed or modified.

The Ailing Personality

We didn't go as far as to study what characteristics and mind-set relate to different types of ailments. We asked one simple question: How often do you suffer from minor ailments such as colds and headaches? We targeted minor ailments rather than major ailments for several reasons. First, minor ailments simply occur more frequently than major ailments, especially among the somewhat younger lawyers and partners we studied. Second, public health research shows that the work environment can profoundly impact workers' health in terms of both major and minor events.¹⁵

We found that more passive personality characteristics are related to the tendency to suffer from minor ailments. That is, passive individuals who let their careers and lives happen to them rather than reaching out and taking charge tend to be a little unhealthier. More specifically, lawyers...