3 Ways to Build Gravitas as a Partner
Gravitas is the Holy Grail for a partner. It is the embodiment of knowledge effectively deployed. It is that dreamed of moment:
You, as a partner, are the centre of attention. The assembled collection of peers, clients and advisors listen and ponder your well-chosen words; words which go on to change the course of events.
Some partners hoped that gravitas was just a function of age. Sadly, many discover that they can be considered lightweight well into senior years. Many struggle with the concept of gravitas, because they know that their research and legal points are valid, yet can’t understand why they can’t get the respect they feel they deserve. And many younger partners believe that their youth is a handicap.
But gravitas is not a function of age, knowledge or even experience. Gravitas relies on others’ perception of you, not reality as you see it. Gravitas is an art, not a science. If you study people who you believe have gravitas, you will learn a lot. But for those who are impatient, here are 3 ways you can immediately increase your gravitas quotient in meetings:
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Remember the aim of the meeting. As the dispassionate counsellor, you should always be volubly drawing the meeting to focus attention on the desired outcome, not your legal prowess. Grow up. We know you’re a great lawyer. You can begin the meeting by checking that everyone present is agreed on what they want from the meeting – even if you’re not chairing the meeting – and summarising the outcome at the end. Make your mark. There is a myriad of tips for keeping the meeting on track, but try this one first.
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Consider your seating position. Ends of tables are very good. Middle of long side can be good if the other key players are there too (consider the cabinet table plan). Opposite the main client is also advantageous. If you are in a naturally powerful seating position, your words are metaphorically rolling downhill, rather than uphill from a runt position just to the left of the coffee machine. Where you are and how you look are huge influencers.
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Be the person who summarises what people have said. People long to be heard and be understood. By being the person who says, regularly “so am I right in thinking……?” you will be subconsciously recognised as the person who is speaking sense (because you’ve just said what we’ve already agreed), who knows what’s going on (ditto) and the one whose voice brings calm and order to the meeting. Which is an excellent platform for any lawyer to build upon.
All 3 things will build your gravitas quotient. Gravitas is a function of influence - gravitas is influence observed. As a partner you should be focusing on these influencing skills as much as your legal skills. Because gravitas is your key differentiator when getting and keeping clients.
In fact it would be remiss of me not to mention that we run sessions to help partners enhance their gravitas. If you're interested finding out more, click on the button below 