4 minute read
What’s Love Got To Do With It…..
What’s Love Got To Do With It…..
The ideal strengths of a lawyer.
Well, the late great Tina Turner said it’s a second-hand emotion. The question is what has love got to do with the law? Absolutely nothing, zilch, nada…. That is how it is dismissed when I ask law students, friends and family about the character strengths of lawyers. Love goes to the bottom of the list of the necessary character strengths of lawyers, along with humility, spirituality and forgiveness.
Character Strengths are the foundation of Positive Psychology (science of happiness) which focusses on human flourishing and what is right with us. Martin Seligman and Christopher Peterson spent over three years researching across cultures, religions, and philosophies to identify what is positive about people and they scientifically identified 24 Character Strengths.
The Character Strengths are divided into these core virtues:
• Widom and knowledge: creativity, curiosity, judgement, love
of learning, perspective.
• Courage: bravery, persistence, integrity, zest.
• Love and humanity: love, kindness, social intelligence.
• Justice: teamwork, fairness, leadership.
• Temperance: forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-control.
• Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence,
gratitude, hope, humour, spirituality.
The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues did research on the place of character in the legal profession: :https://www.jubileecentre. ac.uk/?project=virtuous-character-for-the-practice-of-law
The Report was launched by the former President of the Supreme Court, Lord Neuberge, in 2014. The Report is based on a survey of 996 lawyers (both barristers and solicitors) and aspiring lawyers at various stages of their careers. It included a survey on the top character strengths of the “ideal lawyer”. So, were there any surprises in the findings? Well, honesty, fairness, perseverance, judgement and perspective were among the top character strengths for an “ideal lawyer”. No great surprises. This list is echoed by students in my character strengths’ workshops. These strengths are classified as the “mind strengths” compared to the “heart strengths” of kindness and love.
You might say that the ideal lawyer is someone with these mind strengths – good judgment and perspective. However, these are strengths of the job. What about strengths of the person? A lawyer is much more than the job. The practice of law is a people’s business. In this current challenging and competitive environment, it is essential to be able to relate to clients and their needs and also to work happily with team members. To do this heart strengths are needed e.g. kindness, social intelligence and dare I say it love! Just like a couple in love, a client wants to believe that he or she is the most important person to that solicitor. A lawyer who is able to make the client think that he or she is the centre of the universe will probably retain the client’s business. It’s not rocket science, but common sense is not necessarily common practice.
In addition, self-love and compassion are important for wellbeing. It goes without saying that sod’s law exists so if anything can go wrong it will. We have all experienced that. Despite our best efforts a case or transaction has not gone as expected. There will be failures and mistakes. Self-love and being kind to oneself are essential for resilience.
What are your top Character Strengths? You can find out by doing a free Character Strengths Survey at viacharacterstrengths.org. The research states that when we use our top Character Strengths we feel more energised, authentic and happier. The heart strengths are just as important as the mind strengths.
All 24 Character Strengths are essential to practice law and to flourish. Let’s celebrate what is positive in our character rather than looking at the negatives and love definitely has a lot to do with it! ■
Elizabeth Ajai-Ajagbe
• Skills Coach - Solicitor Apprenticeship Programme at University of Law
• Speaker on happiness skills for aspiring solicitors
• https:// www.linkedin/in/ elizabethajagbe/
