by D.J. Vanas

I was flying home after a visit with the wonderful people of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe in Kansas and settled into my seat next to the window. Boarding last, and very reluctantly, was a young woman who meekly climbed into the middle seat. My nose was buried in a book but I noticed the strange hand motions, as if trying to push away bad dreams, from my seatmate and looked up at her in curiosity. Her eyes were squeezed shut and leaking tears, her upper lip was pulled up and trembling as a painful grimace spread across her face. It was the face of abject fear.

We made eye contact and I gave her a reassuring smile. Seconds later she tapped me on the shoulder and I took off my headphones. She could barely get the words out. “I-I-I don’t mean to bother you. B-b-but can you please talk to me?” I put my book down and found out she was on her way to Colorado to get married up in the mountains in forty-eight hours. Due to a severe fear of flying, her doctor had prescribed Xanax. In her rush to get the flight, she had forgotten to take it until she boarded so it hadn’t kicked in yet. With each bump (and there were many on the flight) she clenched her face and fists in terror. I tried to joke with her, but it’s hard to laugh when you feel like you might die – plus, I wasn’t that funny anyway. Read the rest of this article »

by Anna Conrad

“Making change part of the organization’s internal dialogue is critical to successful firm management.”

Fear, anxiety, and resistance can quickly take over an organization during tough times, causing employee productivity, morale, and engagement to plummet. When change occurs — or is simply rumored to occur — stress can take over and cause serious disruption to firm operations.

A recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management showed that gossip and rumor-spreading among employees has increased 54 percent since the recession began. Such practices may seem harmless, but they can quickly hijack emotions and productivity among your firm’s attorneys and staff alike. If talk around the water cooler goes unchecked, an innocent closed-door meeting to discuss travel limitations could turn into (in the minds of the uniformed) a massive layoff plan. Consider the following strategies to keep this from happening at your firm. Read the rest of this article »