I’ve been working exclusively with attorneys since 2002. Put simply, I help them learn how to run their practices even more successfully, while becoming happier practitioners in the process.
My clients speak of my knack for understanding them and motivating them to learn new ways of thinking and new patterns of action that result in less stress and increased profit. I’ve conducted over 90 programs for numerous Bar Associations, law firms, and corporate legal departments on wide-ranging practice management projects.
My lifelong passion for the power of language explains much of the comfortable fit I enjoy with attorneys. Before attending Columbia, I did graduate work in general semantics, semiotics, and progpaganda at NYU. It continues to inspire me that so much of our way of life is rooted in “the rule of law” (as imperfect as it may be), the irreducible element of which is language and how that language it created, interpreted, and argued. It’s why I enjoy listening to Supreme Court oral argument so much: brilliant minds exerting profound influence on current and future affairs.
A long-time C-SPAN junkie, I maintain a strong interest in public policy and stay abreast of leading-edge thought in organizational development, business, marketing, technology, and leadership development. I devour countless books, articles, blogs, and webinars on every aspect of law practice management and personal development.
There are two people from my past who significantly influenced the path I traveled to my “right work” as a lawyer coach (though neither they nor I knew it back then). The first was my father’s good friend, business advisor, and then, sadly, the executor of his estate upon my dad’s passing at age 50, in 1975 (I was 16 years old). “Leonard” was just someone who my dad spoke with (and of) all the time, who helped my mom after his death, and got me a summer job as a runner in his law firm throughout college. I flew the shuttle from LaGuardia to D.C. a few times a week delivering documents to the Securities and Exchange Commision and other federal agencies. I had no idea, of course, what the documents were or that the firm, Wachtel, Lipton, [Leonard] Rosen & Katz was the cutting edge M&A firm it turned out to be. But I loved the experience.
The other person was my closest friend from high school who wound up getting his J.D. from Georgetown and having a distiguished career in at the Department of Justice and later in private practice. I always loved (and still love) our conversations about any and all aspects of the law, from the philosophical to the pragmatic.
I’m proud to be certified in the Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching Model, a truly unique and powerful approach to helping business owners and leaders become even more effective on and off the job.
I hold a Master’s degree from Columbia University in Communications and Technology. Prior to founding SuccessTrackESQ, I founded and ran Connecticut’s first public charter school (The Odyssey Community School, in Manchester). Before that, I served as the founding Technology Coach at The Learning Corridor in Hartford.
Finally, because I’m an advocate of living an enjoyable, fulfilling life while also working hard, here’s one thing I do for fun: I’m an active guitarist and vocalist and perform a range of material from Cole Porter to John Lennon with my band, Vineyard Rhythm. Here’s my band peforming Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World.
