Influencing Lawyers

Trying to change lawyer behavior by “persuading” them usually fails miserably. Why? Because every lawyer is trained as an advocate, even if they now work in a transactional practice. The lawyer brain is adept at detecting any attempt to influence them — and responds immediately by taking a contrary position. In fact, trying to persuade a lawyer usually ends of making them dig their heels in even more!

And “coercion” also fails — it may work initially, but as soon as you relax your vigilance or remove the threat, the previous behavior resumes. And sometimes the resumed behavior is even more tenacious than before you attempted to change it!

Finally, many lawyer-leaders think that “incentivizing” is the way to go. “If I can only figure out the right incentive,” they reason, “I can change this lawyer’s behavior.” This, too, may work in the short term, but introduces additional headaches. And, it often doesn’t work as predicted.

So what works? Harnessing social psychology principles of influence, like “Social Proof”, “Autonomy”, and “Role Modeling”. Talk to us for more details.