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The Renegade Lawyer Podcast
I am more convinced than ever that nothing that traditional bar organizations are doing is going to move the needle on the sad stats on lawyer happiness ...
The root cause of all lawyers' problems is financial stress. Financial stress holds you back from getting the right people on the bus, running the right systems, and being able to only do work for clients you want to work with. Financial stress keeps you in the office on nights and weekends, often doing work you hate for people you don't like, and doing that work alone.
(Yes, you have permission to do only work you like doing and doing it with people you like working with.)
The money stress is not because the lawyers are bad lawyers or bad people. In fact, most lawyers are good at the lawyering part and they are good people.
The money stress is caused by the general lack of both business skills and an entrepreneurial mindset.
Thus, good lawyers who are good people get caught up and slowed down in bringing their gifts to the world. Their families, teams, clients, and communities are not well-served because you can't serve others at your top level when you are constantly worrying about money.
We can blame the law schools and the elites of the profession who are running bar organizations, but to blame anyone else for your own woes is a loser's game. It is, in itself, a restrictive, narrow, mindset that will keep you from ever seeing, let alone experiencing, a better future.
Lawyers need to be in rooms with other entrepreneurs. They need to hang with people who won't tell you that your dreams are too big or that "they" or "the system "won't allow you to achieve them. They need to be in rooms where people will be in their ear telling them that their dreams are too small.
Get in better rooms. That would be the first step.
Second step, ignore every piece of advice any general organized bar is giving about how to make your firm or your life better.
The Renegade Lawyer Podcast
Ep. 231 – The One Question That Stops Conflict Cold
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What can 50 years as a soccer referee teach lawyers, leaders, and entrepreneurs?
In this episode, Ben Glass shares lessons from officiating more than 2,000 soccer matches and explains why the best leaders don't rush to prove they're right—they make people feel heard. Through stories from the field, he reveals practical strategies for handling conflict, communicating with empathy, and leading under pressure.
Ben Glass is a nationally recognized personal injury and long-term disability insurance attorney in Fairfax, VA. Since 2005, Ben Glass and Great Legal Marketing have been helping solo and small firm lawyers make more money, get more clients and still get home in time for dinner. We call this TheGLMTribe.com
What Makes The GLM Tribe Special?
In short, we are the only organization within the "business builder for lawyers" space that is led by two practicing lawyers.
One thing we're sure you've noticed is that despite the variety of options within our space, no one else is mixing
the actual practice of law with business building in the way that we are.
There are no other organizations who understand the highs and lows of running a small law firm and are engaged in talking to real clients. That is what sets GLM apart from every other organization, and it is why we have had loyal members that have been with us for two-decades.
Meet A Renegade Referee
SPEAKER_00Here's more from the renegade lawyer Ben Glass.
SPEAKER_01And now my real passion, and I think the real reason Bill asked me is that for almost 50 years now, I've been a soccer referee, I've refereed over 2,000 soccer games. I still referee at the high school level, doing about 50 games a year.
Building A Teenage Ref Mindset
SPEAKER_01I wrote a book last year. It's you, a teenage soccer referee. Does anyone in the room have a youngin' who's a teenage soccer referee? The book is about the mindset. How do we get a kiddo who's learning to do something new and hard and it's really impossible to be a good referee for the first two, three years? Meanwhile, people are screaming crap at you, and the first time in your life, someone is not your teacher, your mom, your dad, or your coach is yelling at you. How do you get you through mentally? It's just a mindset book. Here's just real quick state quarter, final girls game with my three partners, none of whom were born at the time I refereed my first soccer game. So it's the weirdest thing in the world, like to be a sports official. Who wants to do that? I mapped out my time for the high school season. It's $18 an hour. It's a lot of travel. And so a lot of times, like a coach is going off or players going out. By the way, teenage athletes are fantastic. I don't care what you think about, I don't care what your experience or what you heard about teenagers. If you don't have them, you may have one view. I would tell you that a teenage athlete on an athletic field is a fabulous person. The guys and the gals are highly respectful. They work very hard. They get it. And I can have conversations with them that you're not seeing in the stands. And if you could listen in, because we were these mics, if you could listen to the conversation, you'd be really impressed with that.
De-Escalating A Coach In Rage
SPEAKER_01But a coach is screaming at me. The last thing I want to do if I want the game to go well is like power back. I have the whistle. I have a yellow card and a red card. I can send you home. I can send you to the stands. That's nothing. Like his brain isn't even logical. I have to remember that what that on-fire brain needs to know, first of all, is that it has been heard. Bill's mad at me. I don't have to agree with Bill. But I'm going to give him the time and the space to download. And I'm going to have the self-control to just listen. And to not use my lawyer logic, superhuman logical brain to go, nah, that's wrong. You really shouldn't feel that way, Johnny. You lost your game. You really shouldn't feel the game doesn't matter. Just because I made a bad call, it doesn't matter. Like you shouldn't feel that's logic. No. Your job is to absorb, first of all, because what that brain wants to know. You understand what it said. Doesn't mean I have to agree that you are being logical, that your fear is rational, but at least reflect back that I understand that for you who has the on-fire brain to me, that this is important to you. And then I want to give that on-fire brain some power. What a line stopper with a coach I've used before is, and what do you want me to do about that? Because they're used to people coming up and saying, No, I'm the referee, I'm the whistle, shut up. I go, okay, I hear you. Because you know what? 50% of the time they're actually right. Like, I'm running five miles in a game, but I don't see everything. They had a different angle. I'm listening. Okay, what do you want me to do about it? No one's ever asked them that question before it's a showstopper, it's a pattern interrupt. But that's what that brain wants
Respecting Teen Athletes And Protecting Sports
SPEAKER_01to do. By the way, that's really hard work. If you have kids who are playing you sports, do not be the one. I'll come and get you, and I'll put you on YouTube and I'll make you famous if you're out there giving the referee of the umpire, the match official, a hard time. Just don't be that person, right? We have ruined it. We are ruining it for our children. And there's a whole bunch of us who are fierce tiger moms with our teenage referees and our umpires.
SPEAKER_00Like what you heard? Keep the conversation going. Explore the archive, listen to another episode, and subscribe for more conversations that challenge the ordinary.
