In-House Counsel

Personally Professional

Try as we might, we cannot completely isolate our work and personal lives.

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Any profession involves a lot more than just showing up at work, doing what you’re expected to do, then going home, totally clearing our minds of anything work-related. Try as we might, we cannot completely isolate our work and personal lives. Neither exists in isolation, which means that it is both our personal and professional responsibility to pay attention to our interpersonal, personal, and interpersonal relationships.

According to Ari Redbord, the head of legal and government affairs at TRM Labs, the quintessential element for success in any profession is the team (or teams) with which you work. This is the aforementioned interpersonal element. As a team member, you need to understand and adopt the mission given by your leader and to work on creating tight, interpersonal relationships with everyone on your team, emphasizing closeness in your working dynamic.

If you have more flexibility in choosing your team, then you should seek out people who are mission-driven in a field in which you are interested. It has always been my maxim that the future is for builders and that builders rally people who are excited about the building and who understand the blueprints. For further insights on teams and cryptocurrencies, listen to the interview here:

Next is the personal front. On the lighter side, this includes the manner in which your background and other interests filter into your work life. In the case of K Royal, her background in nursing led to her doing legal work for various medical companies — a unique niche and a prime example of leveraging personal interests.

There is also a more serious side to the personal factors worth noting; regardless of what is happening at home, you almost always have to show up to work and keep doing what you are expected to do. You should be wary of burying all of that, though. K — who endured some incredible hardships herself — found that the three most important aspects of acknowledging the impact of her personal life were that she was open about her abusive experience, she was persistent, and she had a driving factor other than her own strength, namely her children.

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When asked about the tricky business of finding balance, she said that was the wrong question. At the end of the day, balance is not about equal amounts of time; rather, it is about doing what is important to you — spending time with your kids, pouring your heart and soul into a project, pursuing an alternative interest. Let the personal drive the professional and the professional fulfill aspects of the personal.

 

Last is the inner-personal. This is a more introspective and psychological take on the business of work and being. Nearly everyone wants to be the best version of themselves, but fear is a great inhibitor to that.

It was this very sentiment that drove Monica Philips to focus on mindfulness in work environments; as a result, she is now the president and founder of Spark Plug Labs. She instills habits in the people she trains, aligning them with the principles of presence, empathy, and progress. It is incredible how much things like showing up and being kind can benefit the bottom line.

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The same goes for the “Yes, and…” technique, whereby one must agree with someone and search for additional positives about their point. Even if a point is 90% wrong, looking for the good 10% will bring out innovation at its best. Find out more here:

Olga MackOlga V. Mack is the CEO of Parley Pro, a next-generation contract management company that has pioneered online negotiation technology. Olga embraces legal innovation and had dedicated her career to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive than before by embracing technology. Olga is also an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. She founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to participate on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat and Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security. You can follow Olga on Twitter @olgavmack.

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