Paul Hally

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I was born and educated in Scotland where I was a partner, managing partner and chair in a UK 100 legal firm until April 2021. I am now living in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. with my wife. I work primarily from Atlanta but maintain a property in Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom.

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Taking instructions is a bit like having a really good conversation, both involve actively listening to the other person. My father, who was a thoughtful man, once told me, we have two ears and one mouth for a reason and we should use them in the same ratio!

I was reminded of this when I listened recently to an excellent Ted talk by Celeste Headlee called “10 ways to have a better conversation”. I thoroughly recommend it to you. Her rules were very clear, I have summarised my interpretation of them each after the colon.Continue Reading Active Listening

Nothing breaks trust as quickly as a broken promise. That is why I am constantly bemused by how often people set themselves deadlines that they seem incapable of meeting. As a client one has that constant let down feeling. Self-doubt creeps in, my work is not interesting enough, I am not important enough, I don’t matter to the other person. We all deal with competing pressures and clients – why put yourself under pressure? Allow time for things to go wrong, to take longer than expected, to require more analysis. Don not put unnecesssary strains on your client relationship.Continue Reading Under promise and over deliver

Early in my career as a lawyer I heard about the two rules adopted by a grocery chain in the North-eastern United States called Stew Leonard’s. It encapsulated their policy and they were so proud of it they had it chiseled into a granite rock outside the store. It was very simple:

“Our Policy – Rule 1: The customer is always right! Rule 2: If the customer is ever wrong, reread Rule 1!”

I recently re-read this when thinking about this article. Steve King”s article on it, which I can thoroughly recommend, gives a fuller picture: https://stevekeating.me/2021/01/11/the-customer-is-always-right/.Continue Reading The customer is always right.

What do you do if you cannot think of the answer?

I was out walking my dog on our usual loop early the other day. It is now dark in the morning so rather than do our normal anti-clockwise route we went clockwise to avoid the unlit part of the path early in the walk. Coming back on the unlit part once it had got light I was struck by how different the route seemed despite the number of times we had walked it in the other direction. It really struck me that there was a metaphor here for life and work.Continue Reading Change your perspective

How do you reply to a friend or colleague you trust and respect but do not know how to help? I believe starting with the truth is the best way forward. Sounds easy but do we observe it? The important thing is the respect and trust you have for each other. Don’t do anything to injure that. Your friend deserves your support and encouragement , and if appropriate constructive criticism. Continue Reading Give and Earn Respect

Key aspects of being a successful professional is being Able, Available and Accessible. I am therefore constantly shocked by how many people do not think about Availability and Accessibility when setting up their Out of Office (0-o-O) messages. This is a key sales message to clients, contacts and colleagues. It immediately says volumes about you, your office and your systems.Continue Reading Selling yourself