From the first day of practice, lawyers are rewarded for a very specific kind of strength: being right, being certain, and never letting the other side see a crack. Over years, that strength hardens into something I call the armor of infallibility — the belief that a leader must always have the answer, must never show doubt, and must never be seen to need anyone.
It is a magnificent asset in a courtroom. It is a quiet liability in a conference room.
The skill that wins cases can lose teams
Partners who can dismantle any argument often struggle to build consensus. The instinct to control every detail becomes an inability to delegate. The perfectionism that protects a client becomes a standard no associate can ever meet. The very traits that got you promoted are now the ceiling on how high your team can rise.
People do not follow the person who is never wrong. They follow the person who is honest about being human — and steady anyway.
Taking the armor off is not weakness
Vulnerability, done well, is not confession or oversharing. It is the disciplined willingness to say "I do not know yet," to ask for help, to name the hard thing in the room. That is what builds trust. And trust is the currency great teams run on.
You do not have to choose between being a formidable lawyer and being a leader people want to follow. But you do have to learn a second discipline — and it starts with recognizing the armor for what it has become.
Carl Shawn Watkins, BA, MPA
Leadership Consultant & Attorney Coach — “Mr. Vulnerability”