Sidebars

Colleen Bear: Career Development Redefined

March 29, 2023 Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP Season 3 Episode 5
Sidebars
Colleen Bear: Career Development Redefined
Show Notes

In this episode, we welcome Colleen Bear, Senior Professional Development Manager at Kilpatrick Townsend. Colleen has more than 20 years of experience in professional development, including organizational development and change talent assessment, leadership development, performance improvement, sales effectiveness, strategic planning, program management, and facilitation. She is an expert facilitator, and a highly impactful executive coach and strategic consultant.

In this conversation, Colleen shares the insights she has gained from helping attorneys understand their goals and then achieve them. She discusses how important it is to stay true to yourself while also being realistic about the constraints of your chosen path, and offers advice on developing a career that suits your personal definition of success.

Highlights include:

  • Being yourself while reading the room
  • The broad umbrella of professional development
  • The different approaches you can take to coaching
  • The unique challenges of coaching lawyers
  • Taking advantage of all the resources that BigLaw has to offer
  • Sponsorship vs. mentorship vs. coaching
  • Understanding the hurdles in your career path and the possibilities for overcoming them
  • How to avoid self-fulfilling prophecies
  • Being authentic to your personal work style
  • Considering the source of any advice and criticism
  •  Ultimate success is being honest with yourself
  • The many benefits of stretch assignments
  • Reevaluating your goals as your career progresses
  • Taking ownership of your career to make it sustainable and enjoyable

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**The opinions expressed are those of the attorneys and do not necessarily reflect the views of the firm or its clients. This podcast is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.