My husband and I always agree that we are not going to buy into the commercialism of Valentine’s Day and we are definitely not going to do gifts. I do love a card and always spend time finding the cutest one and think about what I’m going to write. After almost thirty years I am never lost for words for how I feel about him. He always, always breaks the no gift rule but I have to say I don’t really mind his one-upmanship on this!
I do think that love in all its forms is the greatest of all gifts. Love for your life partner if you are lucky enough to have one. Love for your friends, family, pets, love for your work. If you love your work, you are also lucky. It’s not a love match for everyone but it really makes getting out of bed easier if you jump to a job that fulfils you on many levels. I am lucky in this regard too: I am definitely doing the work I was put on this planet to do and it is an honour to represent clients in their time of need.
The other thing I love and want to celebrate today is my team. I truly love this group of people I have built around me and which supports and allows didlaw to thrive every day. I didn’t start out to build a team but it grew along the way and has taken many years to develop. You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your tribe and adding to it is no easy feat when you have such a great vibe among team members. I have also never felt so supported as a leader and often it can be a lonely place.
I have always said that a didlaw person is a collaborator, someone who is easy to get along with (rubs along nicely), someone who respects every other person in the team. We cannot be a team unless we support one another. We celebrate our victories together and share our sorrows and problems. We are open with one another about what we do and don’t know. No BS. No pretence needed. We pool our knowledge and experience for the benefit of one another and every client. We sound off against one another before jumping off the ledge. No one in my team will ever feel alone or not knowing where to turn. This too is important because we do difficult work: it is hard to see others in pain day in day out. It is a privilege to turn bad situations into better ones and this is what gives the work reward.
I can’t say I have had the best mentors in my career. I have self-propelled myself along a lot of the way. The various bosses I have had left mostly a negative impression on me and I have set out to be the antithesis of some of those very poor role models. My people can tell me as much or as little about what is going on in their lives and I am here for them. If you don’t have happy people in the office you won’t be able to give happy service to our deserving clients. We can’t all bounce every day but providing a supportive environment where you can genuinely be your authentic self and where blame is not a culture is I think about as good as it can get. Some people cannot handle the directness of such an approach but at didlaw we are about honesty and authenticity and if that’s not your vibe you would not want to be part of this team.
On Valentine’s Day I salute my team. With love. And gratitude. Without you none of this would be possible.
This blog was written by Karen Jackson, Managing Director of didlaw.
