Soft skills

Soft skills

This subtopic contains guidance and tools relating to soft skills.

Improving your assertiveness

Being able to put your point of view across in an assertive, confident manner is an essential skill for any legal professional, but for most of us there are times when we feel anything but assertive. Practice Note: Improving your assertiveness will help you understand what the triggers are for changes in your levels of assertiveness and what you can do to help yourself.

This Practice Note covers:

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what is assertiveness
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recognising your triggers, eg what makes you behave in a certain way
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understanding what drives your behaviours and reactions, eg adult, child or parent-like behaviour
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quick fixes for a lack of assertiveness
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dealing with, rather than dwelling on, failure

Standing your ground

When faced with a situation where someone is behaving in a childlike manner, a parental response will only make the situation worse. A parental approach tends

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