Science that Says it All

Hi friend,

As a self-described “Recovering Type A+ Perfectionist,” I’ve long been acutely aware of the pernicious effects that perfectionism can take on both well-being and professional performance.

So it was no surprise that when I started helping other lawyers and high-achieving professionals enhance their well-being and professional development, perfectionism quickly emerged as a common pain point underlying many of their struggles.

🙋‍♀️ Distracting levels of anxiety?

🙋‍♀️ Confidence-destroying self-criticism?

🙋‍♀️ Hours lost to procrastination/perfectionist paralysis?

🙋‍♀️ Running yourself into the ground to rack up achievements, but moving the goal post further the second you reach it?

🙋‍♀️ Agonizing over even the slightest slip up or piece of feedback?

I’ve experienced it all firsthand and seen it in the lives of countless students and clients.

But I’ve also been privy to just how resistant many high-achievers (my younger self included) are to even the prospect of reining in the perfectionism they’ve long perceived as their secret weapon.

Who can blame us?  We’re operating in a profession that’s historically glorified perfectionism, and our employers and clients seemingly demand it.

And while there’s substantial research demonstrating the negative effects of perfectionism in other populations – and while I’ve seen life-changing results in the lives of my students and clients who’ve been courageous enough to tackle this issue – until now, no study has explored this issue in a lawyer-specific population.

So it was a true vision board moment (seriously, for years now, it’s been staring at me from the top of the white board I use for goal-setting) to team up with the National Association of Law Placement (NALP), Krill Strategies, and Ambitionprofile to gather the lawyer-specific data that we knew would be necessary to secure buy-in from the understandably skeptical members of the profession.

And so the 2024 Lawyer Perfectionism & Well-Being Survey was born.

The results are striking.

High-perfectionism lawyers were significantly more likely to display clinical indicators of depression, extreme stress, and workaholism than their low-perfectionism counterparts.

But even more illuminating – and undoubtedly more compelling for law firm leaders and the countless perfectionist lawyers who stand to benefit from this research – the data show that the workaholism displayed by high-perfectionism lawyers is NOT correlated with higher levels of drive, productivity, or performance.

To the contrary, high-perfectionism lawyers displayed slightly LOWER ambition and reported significantly MORE difficulty managing their workload and prioritizing objectives than their low-perfectionism counterparts.

They were also more likely to exhibit multiple other impediments to professional development and performance, such as lower willingness to tackle challenges, greater fear of feedback (both giving and receiving), and stronger intentions to quit. 

That’s right, it turns out that in addition to being disastrous for mental health, perfectionism may also be bad for business – *even* in the legal profession.

The good news is that research shows that perfectionism is both changeable (thank you neuroplasticity!) and distinct from positive qualities like drive and commitment to excellence, which suggests that lawyers and other high-achievers may take steps to curtail the perfectionistic tendencies that are harming them without “losing their edge.”

I am living proof that this is possible, and I’ve seen it in the lives of countless students and clients.

But identifying a compelling reason to evoke change (especially when you’ve long inhabited an environment that’s seemed to discourage it) is a critical first step.

It is my hope, friend, that this new research will inspire and empower you to take that first step.

You can access the full report and an article summarizing its key takeaways via these links.

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or would like support reining in your own perfectionism and/or helping shift your organization’s culture from one of perfectionism to one of sustainable high performance.  I would love to speak with you.

Until then, know that I am rooting for you.

With love,

Jordana