Foley & Lardner endeavors to create a high-performance culture that also prioritizes well-being — a culture where every member of the firm can be their "Best Self." Our firmwide well-being initiative Foley Best Self marked the start of Mental Health Month this year by launching "The Year of Meaningful Connections" to support the social connections that literally anchor, drive, and nourish the legal profession.
As part of this initiative, all our attorneys, business professionals, and summer associates were invited to attend High-Quality Connections: Small Actions, Big Impact on Your Well-Being and Workday led by Cultivate founder Tara Owens Antonipillai. The program explored the science and benefits of high-quality connections and provided attendees with simple, practical strategies to build connection habits into common law firm situations.
Owens opened with a personal story to highlight the central theme of the program: brief but high-quality interactions have the power to boost well-being, strengthen relationships, and elevate individual and team performance.
To help attendees recognize what high-quality connections (HQCs) look like in the workplace, Owens shared three ways that those in high-demand roles can communicate appreciation and support to others they work with:
- Trust-Building: Establish connection rituals like morning check-ins or team debriefs to increase trust and reduce isolation.
- Task Enabling: Support others' performance by offering a quick resource, on-the-spot coaching, or time to walk through their work.
- Respectful Engagement: Show genuine interest in colleagues through eye contact, active listening, and thoughtful responses.
By contrast, she explained, low-quality connections (LQCs) — interactions marked by dismissiveness, disrespect, or distrust — can erode psychological safety and diminish motivation.
"HQCs have been shown to lead to higher performance, engagement, retention, and satisfaction at an individual and organizational level," Owens said. "Having more HQCs elevates a person's ability to deal with negative circumstances, while one LQC can wipe out all the good things that happened that day."
Owens closed out the program with tips for integrating high-quality connection into the rhythm of daily law firm life to strengthen relationships and workplace culture:
- Greet colleagues by name in the hallway or in virtual meetings.
- Make eye contact and smile (or share a quick emoji or thumbs up when virtual).
- Begin meetings by asking attendees how they're doing.
- Pause to listen for 60 seconds when a colleague shares something personal or stressful.
When these simple HQCs become routine, Owens said, they can provide greater psychological safety to the receiver while also benefitting the psychological well-being of the giver.
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