Left Brain--Right Brain Lawyering

Heavy in visuals, modern technology also has led to greater right-brain stimulation  (Nurco & Lerner, 1999). Users of modern technology tend to multitask, quickly shift their attention, and engage in shorthand communication (Prensky, 2001). The Internet has also resulted in an explosion of social networking by electronic means. All of these trends affect lawyers, as they do individuals in other professions. Tyler (2007) comments, “The millennial generation brings new challenges to the workplace”  (p. 40). Lawyer leaders must be prepared to meet these challenges. Effective leaders tend to score high in emotional intelligence, as measured by the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i; Bar-On & Handley, 2003). They show empathy, flexibility, and social awareness (Bar-On & Handley, 2003). As stated by Goleman (2005), “Emotional intelligence is a master aptitude, a capacity that profoundly affects all other abilities, either facilitating or interfering with them” (p. 80). According to Wong and Law (2002), the “emotional intelligence of followers affects job performance and job satisfaction,” and “the emotional intelligence of leaders affects their [followers’] satisfaction and extra-role behavior” (p. 243).  Do you think millennial lawyers process and think differently than past lawyers?  Do you think emotional intelligence can bridge the gap between traditional lawyer leadership and the millennial lawyers?