A lawyer cannot be objective in questioning the lawyer’s own thinking without perspective, and that perspective can be achieved by understanding the Ladder of Inference. The Ladder of Inference is the process by which the mind makes giant leaps from simple observations to what the observations mean, to taking action based on the observations. When a person is under stress, the meaning attributed to the observation is exponentially magnified, misguided and negative. Consider the example in figure 1. The lawyer climbs up from learning about the facts of a case, to focusing on negative implications, to concluding that the matter can’t be won, further concluding he or she is a failure and is going to be fired or lose the client. The lawyer then becomes micromanaging, obsessive and pessimistic, working a counterproductively excessive number of hours because the lawyer is unable to maintain judgment and efficacy. The wheels are spinning but going nowhere.
The Ladder of Inference never goes anywhere good or productive. For example, every lawyer has received constructive feedback from a colleague or client at some point. The lawyer usually does not embrace the feedback, thinking, “Isn’t this great! I am so lucky someone took the time to critique my work. I’ll be a better lawyer for it!” Instead, the typical lawyer climbs up the ladder even if for just a minute, worrying about career and financial security. How long the lawyer stays in the shadow—up the Ladder of Inference—depends on how quickly the lawyer realizes he or she has lost perspective and climbs down the ladder, out of the shadow.
Initiating the Climb Down the Ladder of Inference An occasional climb up the Ladder of Inference is almost inevitable. The key to achieving good client outcomes and maintaining personal efficacy and resilience is to climb down, and to do so quickly. This requires the lawyer to be objective about the lawyer’s own thought processes, which means distinguishing between what happened and the meaning the lawyer has attributed to what happened. To do so, the lawyer must ask him- or herself several questions:
- What happened here?
- What am I making it mean?
- What is going on?
- What else could it be?
- What perspective will be most productive?
Once the lawyer has answered these questions, the lawyer can choose both a different interpretation, causing the lawyer to choose different behaviors. This is because what a person thinks about a situation influences what the person does. How does a lawyer know which alternative interpretation and behaviors to select? The best choice is the one that results in the lawyer feeling a sense of relief and even excitement about moving toward resolution and success. If the lawyer is anxious or paralyzed, then the lawyer is still in the fear of failure shadow, at the top of the ladder. While these concepts are simple, they are assuredly not easy to implement when most needed. And yet, it’s worth developing this intellectual muscle. It’s worth it because the swirl of doubt and fear is debilitating. It’s worth it because being the oasis of calm in the middle of the storm makes you a leader. It’s worth it because resilient lawyers lead, succeed and enjoy their practice.
To learn your primary leadership style and corresponding shadow—which is based on the work of Dr. William Sparks, who also developed the Actualized Leader Framework and Profile—take the free short form version at www.alpfree.com.