Today I chuckled when I received a package from “Pink, Inc.”
I met (virtually) Dan Pink after he launched his New York Times bestseller A Whole New Mind. Now, he’s turned out a new–albeit very different–book titled The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need. Gen Y is bound to love the Japanese manga-style cartoons, sprinkled with very sensible career advice. (And, for parent-eschewing youths, what better way to get career advice?)
For those of you who read A Whole New Mind, this book is a surprise. And then again… it’s not. The new book’s format and verbiage show that it’s geared for a much younger audience, and in this way, it’s totally different than its predecessor. Yet, it epitomizes what A Whole New Mind talks about: the need to comprehend and creatively respond to new trends. Dan Pink noticed a hole in the market (for a Gen Y-friendly career guide)–and filled it creatively.
And so, what can we international lawyers learn from Dan Pink’s example? Research and understand market trends; anticipate your clients’ needs; and then adapt your products (and marketing) appropriately. Just so, Dan developed A Whole New Mind for the NY Times bestseller set, and his recent release for the Millennials. Experienced international lawyers do the same thing when they customize client communication to Saudi male oil execs on the one hand, and Chinese female high tech entrepreneurs on the other. International lawyers who fail to customize, limit their own success.
One final lesson from Pink, Inc.: if you happen to have a catchy surname, capture it for your business. Now that’s a lesson that lawyers really understand.
The following article just appeared in The Complete Lawyer.
So You Want to Work Abroad?
There are many opportunities to work overseas;
the more you plan, the more success you’ll meet
By Janet H. Moore
As international lawyer coach, I get many email inquiries from lawyers who are interested in working abroad. Some want to gain a particular legal expertise by practicing abroad. Other lawyers are being—or want to be—transferred abroad by their employers. Still others simply seek the thrill and adventure of practicing law in a foreign country. Whatever the reason, lawyers face many challenges as well as exciting possibilities when contemplating an international move.
Plan Well
Attorneys wishing to relocate abroad should examine their real motivation and formulate clear strategies for doing so. According to Nicholas Rumin, founder and principal of New York-based Rumin Search Consulting, “An integral part of this process is being clear about why you are moving, what exactly you want to achieve, and whether your plans are realistic.” He notes that lawyers with a clear vision of their goals “move forward more quickly.”
Rumin, who practiced law internationally for many years before becoming a legal recruiter, recommends significant market research to understand the opportunities, trends and challenges in a given market. After analyzing the foreign market, lawyers need to strategize carefully before taking the plunge. Those who are well positioned (such as those with stellar international credentials, or those poised to move with an existing employer) need to weigh the professional and personal realities of starting over in a new land.
Lawyers who are not well positioned for such a move, such as those without top-notch credentials or “in demand” expertise, face an additional hurdle: how to make themselves marketable to foreign employers. These lawyers must figure out which talents or expertise they currently have—or can obtain—to make them employable abroad.
Rumin also suggests that lawyers honestly assess their strengths and weaknesses, and how those will impact their success abroad. The analysis could be straightforward, such as whether a lawyer has the requisite language skills to build a strong network of local business relationships. Or, he says, the analysis might be complex, such as: “How can I market my technical expertise and existing business relationships in structured finance so that I can be immediately relevant to the current practice needs of a law firm in Beijing, and also be perceived as a practice leader in my area of expertise within the capital markets bar?”
Michael Ellenhorn, who heads the international division of London-based Longbridge Search & Selection, helps many law firms launch offices abroad or expand existing foreign offices by acquiring practice groups. In this capacity, he works with many lawyers who want to work abroad. He recommends that such a lawyer start by talking to prospective employers close to home “about their ability and willingness to post you overseas.” Moreover, lawyers must make sure that they communicate their desire to work abroad to “the right decision-makers.” Ellenhorn, a dual-qualified US lawyer/English solicitor living and working in Europe as a search consultant, also suggests that candidates become qualified to practice in a foreign jurisdiction. Foreign languages, if written and spoken at a business level, are also helpful.
A lawyer’s level of seniority further impacts the analysis. Ellenhorn advises younger attorneys to focus on developing their key legal competencies. “For partners—focus on the clients. Culture and personal fit are, of course, important, but start your thought process by analyzing your clients, the work you do for them, the price point for that work, and your core skills sets. Examining the possible synergies (of a different platform) with an experienced international consultant can take you a great distance in both testing the viability of your practice in the market and finding the right fit.”
Network At Home And Abroad
When I coach attorneys wanting to move within or into the international field, we formulate—and implement—a networking plan almost immediately. Organizations such as the international law sections of the American Bar Association or an attorney’s local bar association are good places to connect with international practitioners. The London-based International Bar Association, foreign chambers of commerce and a host of other international bar groups (conveniently listed by Hieros Gamos at hg.org), also facilitate connections.
Networking with members of these organizations, as well as former clients and employers, can be fruitful. According to Rumin, “In my experience, the best business and in-house opportunities arise as a direct result of a positive existing client or business relationship”.
Once living abroad, lawyers must establish relationships within the local business and legal community. Building contacts abroad is critical because most lawyers relocate to a new market without any significant existing contacts.
Once again, speaking the local language becomes critical to creating a successful practice. The foreign languages most in demand at the moment are, according to Ellenhorn, “Mandarin, Arabic, and various dialects of Hindi.” Rumin concurs: “With the tremendous economic growth in China, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and potentially the Indian subcontinent, the prospects of these attorneys—particularly where they have local language skills—will continue to grow brighter every year.”
However, for any given lawyer, the most important foreign language to learn is certainly the local language. “The sole exception to this,” notes Rumin, “is the lawyer with a particular technical expertise and/or English language drafting skills where the expertise or the language skills are needed in the new office over and above every other criteria.
Opportunities Exist Even For Lawyers Without Top Tier Credentials Or Experience
Because hiring attorneys to work abroad is very expensive, employers generally do insist on hiring those with top credentials and experience. Rumin advises lawyers who lack these to “think more creatively about entrepreneurial options to use your specific skill set with your chosen market or else choose a less popular market where some legal employers might be more flexible as to their hiring criteria.”
According to Ellenhorn, several things can help to counteract unimpressive credentials, including becoming qualified in a foreign jurisdiction, earning a foreign LLM certification, and publishing articles and papers on international law topics. Both recruiters strongly recommend getting practical legal experience. Says Ellenhorn, “Experience counts—get involved in cross-border deals and develop a meaningful track record.”
“Some lawyers may have success finding international positions with the government or various NGOs through websites like www.state.gov <http://www.state.gov/> or www.usajobs.gov <http://www.usajobs.gov/> . Checking job websites like www.monster.com <http://www.monster.com/> can also be fruitful.”
Lawyers Face Real Challenges Working Abroad
When I was a young international lawyer, I was seconded to a large Mexico City-based firm. Although delighted by the experience, I had to adjust to a very different legal practice. Not only was I working in a civil law jurisdiction, but I also faced different cultural norms and expectations about work—differences in punctuality, client responsiveness, research techniques, support staff and the like. Grappling with these differences far from home—and without my trusty paralegals and assistant—made some days difficult.
Recognizing that lawyers who relocate abroad face such challenges, Rumin discourages them from moving overseas unless they have at least 2-3 years of significant legal experience. After all, most lawyers will be expected to “hit the ground running” without additional formal training. He notes, “The smaller size of offices in many overseas jurisdictions and the often unfamiliar levels of support services (as compared to a what one is used to in Manhattan or London) make it essential that the lawyer have a level of maturity sufficient to deal fairly independently with the uncertainties and changes that go with practicing law in developing markets.”
Lawyers face still other challenges after they return home. Some are well positioned, having developed a unique expertise that they can leverage with their old employer or a new one (such as an existing client.) In my own case, having worked in Mexico City as a visiting attorney proved invaluable years later when I moved to the legal department of a Fortune 100 company to focus on Latin American business transactions. Similarly, many of my coaching clients find that their expertise gained during stints abroad gives them added credibility—and overcomes shortcomings in their academic transcripts and the like.
Other attorney clients of mine have had to “retool” when they return home. Not only do they face the culture shock that hits any expat upon reentry, but also they find that their work environment has changed. Perhaps office politics have shifted, or their old niche has now been filled by others. Perhaps they feel unappreciated or out of synch with co-workers. As Rumin describes it, “You can’t go home”—and any lawyers who think that after two years working abroad they can return to their old firms and simply take up where they left off will very likely be sorely disappointed.”
However, these lawyers return home with fresh skills and heightened experience. After the initial shock of reentry, most such lawyers learn to use these skills effectively in a thriving career with the same employer—or another.
Excitement, challenges and rewards await lawyers who thoughtfully strategize before relocating abroad. Says Ellenhorn, “International opportunities can arise from any direction. You just need to be attuned to identifying and going after these opportunities as they present themselves.” And for adventurous attorneys willing to work in developing countries, tremendous opportunities exist. “The great thing about developing markets is that virtually no idea is out of the question,” Rumin concludes, “as long as you have a practical plan to make that idea a reality.”
Thank you to everyone who has emailed me their thoughts on my March 28 post discussing when and whether to greet clients with a kiss. As one lawyer pointed out in her email to me, the geographic location may determine which greeting is appropriate:
“Whether it’s one, two, three [kisses], more or none, always creates that hesitation when greeting for the first time. Or, it gets even more confusing when you meet the same non-US person in a different country and the rules change again. When I … spent several weeks every month in the Netherlands, the 3 kiss was the standard with my boss, colleagues and clients. But when they came to the US, depending on the setting, we would switch to one or a handshake! Or, when meeting legal colleagues at meetings in the US from different countries, I would have to remember their standard - 3 for the Dutch, 2 for the Argentinians, 1 for the Mexicans, etc.”
Confusing? Perhaps–but at least interesting! As globalization spreads and customs blend across the borders, might a “standard global greeting” evolve? Let’s hope not. If that happens, life will certainly be less exciting.
How does a lawyer properly greet a client? With a handshake…or perhaps a kiss? Well, it depends. To use the title of one book, lawyers working across cultures need to be savvy enough to know whether to Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands when greeting someone.
And yet many lawyers working across cultures know how difficult–and potentially uncomfortable– it can be to greet a client properly. Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal explored this topic in Americans Learn the Global Art of the Cheek Kiss. As the article discusses, choosing the right form of greeting–such as determining whether to kiss once, twice or thrice– can be most complex.
For example, let’s imagine that you, an American lawyer, are meeting a foreign client in a third country which is not native to either of you. Your client may prefer to greet you with his or her native greeting, or opt for yours, or perhaps choose another greeting entirely–such whichever greeting is favored by the local country. Confusing.
Just yesterday I faced this issue when I greeted another international lawyer. Although we were Americans and were lunching in America, we spontaneously greeted each other with a continental style air kiss–and we actually laughed about whether to make it a single or double. Later, when I ran across the WSJ article, I mulled over my earlier encounter and why we–both being Americans–hadn’t opted for the traditional American-style business handshake. I concluded that because we always meet at international business events, we think of each other in an international context. This influenced which greeting we chose.
The WSJ article advises that the more senior party of the pair should determine the style of greeting. This means that the junior person should remain alert to clues (an outstretched hand etc…) about which form of greeting to anticipate.
In my opinion, gender also plays a role. In cross cultural situations, I’ve watched many businessmen–even those senior to me–wait for me, as a female, to initiate the form greeting. Perhaps this is done as a courtesy, or out of a desire not to offend.
So, do your clients expect you to kiss them? Increasingly so, according to the Wall Street Journal, as continental manners spread across the globe. All the more reason to ramp up your cultural intelligence and tune in–from the moment of greeting on–to your clients’ wishes.
Yesterday I was proud to launch the International Department of The Complete Lawyer (an online magazine for lawyers) with my article on how to Avoid Cross Cultural Communication Snafus. Stay tuned for my article in the next edition about how international lawyers must remain professionally versatile and flexible.
