Case Studies

Midlife career management; career planning; leadership; finding satisfaction in the law and making career adjustments.

Jake was a 42-year-old finance partner for a large regional firm. He had worked diligently for his firm for 15 years and had been a partner for seven of those years. By all accounts, he was successful — he had an active practice, he was well-respected by his clients and his colleagues, he had a large home in the suburbs, and he had a loving family. But he was deeply unhappy with his work and he did not know why. More and more, he was disengaging from his clients. His practice group head suggested that he engage an executive coach to get him through what she termed his “burn-out.”

Jake was an eager client, ready to engage in the hard work required to get to the source of his unhappiness. In coaching, he admitted that he had actually never liked his work, even though he was very good at it. He had not, however, taken the time to reflect on why this was so.

Jake’s coach administered several skill and personality assessments to help him understand his natural skills and preferences. The results of those assessments indicated that Jake was an extrovert (and so needed to be around other people to feel energized) and that he did not have a natural ability for detail work (the very type of work that he was doing on a daily basis). This information explained for Jake why he had been unhappy for so many years. For Jake, working on complex finance documents and spending 90% of his time alone in his office every day sapped his energy. This information alone affirmed for Jake what he knew intuitively all along — that finance work was not a natural fit for him.

The issue that Jake then had to face was how to reorganize his life and his career in order to feel more fulfilled and satisfied. The results of Jake’s assessments indicated that he was a natural leader and that he was an “idea” and “people” person. His natural warmth and enthusiasm had likely been primary factors in his firm asking him to be involved in their recruiting and professional development efforts since his associate days. As Jake reflected on this, he realized that, in fact, these aspects of his career gave him the most satisfaction.

For practical reasons, Jake did not want to give up his lucrative practice or leave his firm. However, armed with the self-awareness that he acquired through the coaching process, he was able to reorient himself within his firm. He convinced his firm that they needed a more focused approach to their recruiting, professional development, diversity and mentoring programs and that he should lead these efforts. The firm agreed to credit him for part of the time he spent on these activities so that his partnership draw would not be substantially reduced, provided that he continue to maintain his relationship with his major clients and be involved with their projects. Jake was able to throw himself back into his client work with renewed vigor arising from spending a larger portion of his time on work that energized him and felt natural.