Technology

The LinkedIn Lawyer

The LinkedIn lawyer is connected, savvy, and rarely phased by the unexpected.

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Staying on your A-game requires constant improvement. You must check and double-check your progress, as well as keep up on industry standards — and that’s just the base level of what you’ll need to do. If you really want to get ahead, you need to follow industry innovators as much as the standard practices. I have had the privilege of engaging with such trailblazing individuals regularly on my podcast, Notes to My (Legal) Self. And it is from these conversations that I would like to share some crucial tips.

First up, I spoke to the renowned Frank Ramos. Frank holds all sorts of positions, and his experience is quite impressive. Though I imagine his resume to be high-end, his focus seems to be on another kind of resume entirely –- what he calls the “LinkedIn Resume.”

When looking for people to hire, Frank’s priority is finding people who fit the mold of the company’s vision, mission, and values. In order to do this, he combs through the potential hires’ LinkedIn profiles to see their posts, their engagement with other profiles, and their contributions to the community.

He believes that every one of his hires should have integrity and leadership potential. How does he assess this? His choices are based on their extra-career activities and how much they have dabbled in public speaking. He really stresses the importance of legal employees being comfortable talking to others. That being said, he acknowledges that you will never find someone who has everything you’re looking for. The trick is to find and place people where their strengths can best be outworked.

Deb Feder also sees the value of LinkedIn, but, instead of looking for insight into how potential employees could work, Deb thinks that everyone should already be sharing those insights to aid other workers in the industry. Lawyers work in a tricky business, and finding any form of optimized process or creative approach is highly valued.

LinkedIn is not just for educational purposes, however, as it also has relational outcomes. COVID-19 forced us to network in ways that we might not have before because everything has had to take place online.

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LinkedIn is the ideal place to find people that you know work in the same industry, and it gives you the chance to look more into such people before you reach out. You can see examples of their work to make a more informed decision. COVID-19 spelled out the end of the “airbrushed” world, and Deb highlights, that, at the end of the day, people are looking for real relationships with real people — they are searching for authenticity.

That can all be a little overwhelming; it certainly was when I started. After my interview with Vandana Dhamija, however, I felt like I had the tools to tackle any kind of change. This made sense since she is in legal operations and deals with change management all the time. She laid out four steps detailing where a legal team or legal ops can start when it comes to strategic planning.

Fortunately, these steps apply just as much to personal branding as they do to strategic planning.

  1. Assess your situation. Get to know your team, tools, and tasks.
  2. Document it. Clearly layout your policies and procedures.
  3. Lay down your priorities. She recommends starting with your foundations. An Eisenhower Matrix is a useful tool for prioritizing.
  4. This is where change management comes into play. Socialize what you are doing and break down resistance by listening to the people who are resisting.

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The LinkedIn lawyer is connected, savvy, and rarely phased by the unexpected. Why? Because they have learned through constant sharing and teaching; they have connections with an established network of real relationships; and, when the responsibility lies squarely on their shoulders, they are well-equipped to handle whatever comes their way.

Olga V. Mack is the CEO of Parley Pro, a next-generation contract management company that has pioneered online negotiation technology. Olga embraces legal innovation and had dedicated her career to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive than before by embracing technology. Olga is also an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. She founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to participate on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat and Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security. You can follow Olga on Twitter @olgavmack.

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