Working with Deb Howard brightened my life and saved my business.
I can say without reservation that my thriving little law practice would not be here, at least in its current healthy form, without Deb’s help. These days, when I walk in the door of our office, I sometimes feel the energy of teamwork and commitment in a way that causes me to catch my breath. Our work is hard, and our relationships are not always easy, but we are several chapters in to a story of personal and professional growth that started with our work with Deb.
It wasn’t always like this. A few years ago the firm faced a transition from an entrepreneurial beginning to a more mature organization. Our founder had governed through his big personality and personal loyalties, which left scant room for the rest of us to develop as leaders. We needed to grow up as a business and as people. As we talked about transitioning, however, I found myself unexpectedly angry and confused. Our conversations grew awkward, full of recrimination, and misinterpreted communication. We reached out to Deb for help facilitating these discussions, although we really didn’t know what was going wrong or even what we wanted.
Deb joined us and led the whole firm through a personality inventory, an exercise I would recommend to anyone. I learned about myself - about my particular competencies, and about some areas where I was unable to hear people effectively. The process was both exhilarating and excruciating. I think I had managed to avoid learning much about myself after I was about sixteen years old.
With Deb’s help, the partners had a number of meetings that became intense and emotional. We cried. We started calling her our “marriage counselor,” and we were only partly joking. We were committed to each other in our professional lives, but had developed wounds that needed safe and respectful talk to heal. And with Deb’s guidance, we did just that.
These tools have helped me outside of work, too. With friends, family and partner, I am better equipped to recognize when something important is not being said, and I have ways of “calling the process” and resolving the roadblocks.
Deb has always been respectful and professional and honored our confidences. She has remained calm when we most needed it. Her insight into the ways we have missed each other has been enormously helpful. I would recommend her to anyone willing to show up, be honest, and tolerate a bit of growing pains. The benefits are well worth it.
Chris Larson
Partner
Meub Gallivan & Larson Attorneys, PLC
Rutland, Vermont
