We are currently digesting the ACC Chief Legal Officer Survey, which was published this week. There are many interesting takeaways relevant to our mission on InhouseGo2, one of which is the topic of professional development, management and leadership. In 2015, headcount in corporate legal departments continued to increase, and many indicated that they will continue to hire in 2016. In addition, according to the survey, many CLOs consider attracting, retaining and managing their talent a top priority. Perhaps the only thing more complicated than a difficult legal issue is managing people on a day-to-day basis. It's harder still to push ourselves and our teams to grow. In the end, managing is just, well, managing. Our leaders want us to optimize, lead and excel relative to the competition.

Law firms are in the midst of this challenge too, so let's share our resources and understanding of the topic. Below are some great articles for you to use in your legal department. Two are from Harvard Business Review and two are from our very own Director of Professional Development, Ojen Sirin.

• How to Decide What Skill to Work on Next (HBR) - Have you ever wondered why some people excel and improve and others stand still? This article explores how executives can best improve their skills by focusing on both what their organizations need and what gives them the most satisfaction.
• Three Reasons to Use Self Evaluations in your Legal Department - Self evaluations can be a big help in the annual review process. This post includes a helpful template to get you started.

• How Work Surveys Can Help You Manage Your Team While Enhancing Their Career Development - You can better organize your workload and help your staff acquire skills with work surveys. Ojen Sirin explains how and includes a form for a head start.

• A Simple Formula for Changing Our Behavior (HBR) - Sometimes conflicts and problems seem intractable. This post suggests that understanding the problem isn't enough. We need to move past the frustration and ask, "How can I help make this better?"