Welcome to the Blawgosphere Making the Jump

We're happy to see that friends Stephanie West Allen (idealawg) and Kevin O'Keefe (LexBlog) have inspired yet another newcomer to the Blawgosphere, Karen Eton of the new Making the Jump Blog.

PWNSC member and Career Coach Margalit Ward and I were just talking the other day about why so many women find the practice of law limiting. Then at last night's monthly PWNSC meeting, Business Development & Marketing Consultant Renée Barrett was talking about the benefit of "weak ties" in our social networks for job hunting and career change.

All of these threads came together today when I stumbled over Karen's post Renaissance Souls and Career Change -- how Stephanie has enriched my own life; how I wanted give Margalit an idea of how difficult it sometimes is for women to find career satisfaction in the law and how the "weak links" that bring me full circle to Karen Eton close the circle of one network (of ADR and work-life balance bloggers) and open another (of career coaches).

Herewith, an excerpt from and link to Karen's post Renaissance Souls and Career Change:

. . . prior to starting this blog, I . . . read[] one that has particularly inspired me . . . Stephanie West Allen’s idealawg. I was sifting through some of her archives when I came across her very first post about Renaissance Souls by Margaret Lobenstine.

In the first chapter of her book (PDF offered free on her website), author Margaret Lobenstine states: Renaissance Souls, then, are people whose preference is for variety over concentration; whose process involves widening their options rather than narrowing their choices as they go with their energy flow, and whose success involves moving on to something different rather than going on and doing more of
the same. Renaissance Souls are not required to be geniuses, do not necessarily
have disorders such as ADD, and are not doomed to a life of poverty or economic
insecurity.

My clients and workshop participants always smile knowingly when we get to this
summary. They easily relate to the three characteristics identified. They are also relieved that the way they naturally go through life is healthy, not dysfunctional, and does not require them to be geniuses to be successful.

I can see why Renaissance souls do not do well in the law. Traditional law practice seems to require associates to pick a practice area and steadily move up the ladder toward partnership. Also, the way law itself is designed, specialists are rewarded over generalists. Stephanie West Allen does identify some Renaissance Souls who have stuck with the law - it would be interesting to see how they’ve managed to succeed at this.

For the remainder of the post, click here. And for the address of at least one renaissance soul who "stuck with the law" for 25 years, Karen and her clients can check out my Negotiation Law Blog here.