After the start of the special operation in Ukraine and the announcement of partial mobilization, the level of anxiety in society increased. Lawyers, like everyone else, are looking for ways to cope with stress.

Elena Gladysheva, Advocate, Managing Partner of RI-Consulting, on how to cope with anxiety. Why is it important for employers to support their employees in difficult times? How exactly do Managing Partners support employees? How does the team respond to that support? Have you noticed that the reduction of team anxiety affects their ability to work as well?

"The legal business has always been one of the most stressful. In our business, even if you work in a Be-to-Be system, you're still working with people and being human yourself. Each client's representative has a different way of life (early birds or late, huddled owls, all have their own tempers and morals). In our work we deal with people (whether they are business representatives or private clients), and therefore the amount of our own stress is always at a critical level. Professional lawyers are used to working under conditions of increased anxiety, increased emotional stress. Over the years, we develop the practice of self-discharging and developing the habit of reducing this stress and tension. Everyone has their own hobbies (yachting, sports, traveling), their own emotional anchor not allowing them to succumb to general panic (work, children, family). Of course, the help of a coach or psychologist is an aid in this work (working on yourself and with your fears and emotions). Anxiety is part of fear. Fear is an emotion. The right thing to do here is to work through this emotion, to channel it in a favorable direction. Fear, emotion, and anxiety are normal and should be allowed to happen. It's not a "wake-up call" from the psyche that things are bad for you, it's just a way of expressing your psyche. It needs to be dealt with (not fought!).

The easiest thing to do is to discuss. Discuss carefully, so as not to cause more panic in yourself or in the person you are talking to. Ask yourself a question through your interlocutor: What are you afraid of: losing your job, your fortune, your health? If you give in to the general panic and "run", then where will you run to, and don't forget that when running away you will take yourself with you. The answer to this question will help you to direct your strength and attention in this direction.

I cope with my stress in family and reading. I began to really pay more attention to my children, try to spend more time with them, take short trips to get more positive emotions. I gave up most of my media subscriptions, keeping only those that are necessary for work. Reading. I suddenly realized that I stopped just reading a very long time ago. Literature is different: from classics, to psychological literature aimed at learning.

How does the overall situation affect you?

Rather positively than negatively. I am aware of the value of my own life, of having "life around" (yes, yes, many lawyers will understand me. We FORGET that there is life around besides work). For our own team and clients, we often act instead of a psychologist. Their anchors. If a manager succumbs to anxiety, what do employees do? Only panic. I honestly talk to employees about my fears, but remember to emphasize that fear is normal, it allows a more balanced approach to any issue. I have friendly and supportive conversations both with the team as a whole and individually with everyone. Is it working? Probably, yes. We can say that it works. Since February of this year, we have increased the number of employees without losing a single one, not a single employee has been sent to work 'remotely'. I am strongly against this way of working. A person is left alone with his fears, and he will hammer them (fears) down, either by negating his work or by using additional methods: alcohol, as the easiest way.

Why is it important to support employees? If you don't support them, who will the employer be left with? With himself? And responsibility for commitments made to clients? The employer himself will not break into 1,000 pieces. It will ruin the business you are investing your soul, time, and money.

Certainly, a person who stays alone with his fears is not able to work. He is immersed in himself and everything around him becomes unimportant and uninteresting. The task and duty of the employer and business owner is to cope with himself, and with the fears of his employees. That alone is the key to success and advancement. Again, let's not forget that lawyers are "narcissists" by nature; we like to win and praise ourselves for it. It's okay, it's also a promotional tool. Almost none of us has a tendency to be self-defeating. Rather, we admire ourselves and what we have accomplished. If you start to cherish self-pity, what will you do? Nothing, rather destroy, so we need employees and our employees need us. It's important, of course, to separate other people's fears from your own and not appropriate them for yourself by building up your own negativity and anxiety. This is just as much a job as working on a client project. It takes time, effort and desire," - noted the advocate.

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