Building Resilient Legal Teams Through Recognition and Mattering

Building Resilient Legal Teams Through Recognition and Mattering

How do you build a workplace culture that supports both high performance and personal well-being? For in-house legal teams, this question can become overshadowed by the pace of business. But as founder and CEO of the Stress and Resilience Institute, Paula Davis, reminded us in her recent appearance on the Leveraging Latitude podcast, recognition and mattering are foundational to resilient legal teams.

At the core, recognition is about expressing appreciation in a way that feels specific and meaningful. Mattering goes a step deeper: it’s about making sure people know that their work—and their presence—has purpose. Together, these two forces build trust, connection, and staying power on teams that are under constant pressure.

More than soft skills, recognition and mattering function as practical, evidence-based tools—especially for leaders managing high-performing teams. When team members feel valued and understand the significance of their contributions, they’re more likely to stay engaged and perform at a consistently high level.

Our conversation with Paula touched on a wide range of leadership insights, but one idea rose to the surface again and again: the powerful role of recognition and mattering in building resilient teams. Below are insights especially relevant for legal leaders.

Why Recognition and Mattering Deserve a Place on Every Legal Leader’s Radar

During her recent appearance on the Leveraging Latitude podcast, former attorney and workplace well-being expert Paula Davis shared research-backed insights that can help legal leaders strengthen team resilience and performance. Previewing her research with American Law Media, Paula noted that 44% of attorneys say they rarely or never receive recognition at work. Even more striking, over half (51.4%) report feeling like a “cog in the wheel” at least weekly, with nearly a quarter feeling that way every day.

“When people feel like a cog in the wheel, disengagement sets in.” —Paula Davis

Most legal leaders understand that people want to feel valued. But this data highlights how widespread the experience of being unseen or underappreciated can be—even among high performers.

As Paula explains on the podcast and in her book “Lead Well: 5 Mindsets to Engage, Retain, and Inspire Your Team,” one of the five leadership mindsets she outlines is the importance of prioritizing recognition and mattering. Not as a nicety—but as a practical, research-backed strategy for engagement, retention, and performance.

 “This is not about stroking someone’s ego. This is about igniting psychological fuel that will help people feel engaged, that will help people stay, that will reduce attrition, which will increase the bottom line.” —Paula Davis

She went on to emphasize that building a culture of recognition doesn’t require major change. Small, consistent habits—especially from team leaders—can have an outsized impact.

Among the practical strategies she shared, one that resonated deeply was a tactic she calls a “Thank You Plus”: pairing a basic thank-you with a short explanation of why the contribution mattered.

“If you don’t say ‘thank you’ a lot, start there…but I want you to add what I call the plus piece. This is where people really get to see the evidence of their impact. And that’s simply to recognize, or talk about, or tell the person the behavior that you noticed, the strengths that you noticed that were displayed, that led to the good outcomes. So, you’re literally just attaching and piecing on a little bit of extra…It’s really just being very strategic in how you say it that amplifies that sense of stickiness, which activates that sense of mattering.”  —Paula Davis

As an example: “Thank you for your thorough approach on the compliance review. Your attention to detail flagged risks early, which saved the team valuable time.”

The link between recognition and performance isn’t just backed by research—it’s something many leaders know intuitively. In fast-paced legal environments where much of the work happens behind the scenes, consistent, well-placed acknowledgment helps reinforce commitment and strengthen team resilience.

Elevating Recognition on Your Team

Paula’s insights underscore that recognition doesn’t have to be elaborate to be effective. At Latitude, we’ve seen how small, intentional leadership habits can have a meaningful impact—especially in legal environments where high performance and heavy workloads are often the norm. The strategies below reflect our own perspective, shaped by years of working alongside in-house counsel and law firm leaders, and aligned with the insights Paula Davis shared on the podcast.

While not pulled directly from Paula’s research, these approaches complement her emphasis on recognition and mattering as essential drivers of engagement and resilience.

1. Make Recognition Part of the Routine
Recognition doesn’t have to be formal—or time-consuming. We’ve seen legal leaders build it into existing touchpoints, like weekly huddles or one-on-ones. Even a short, specific comment can reinforce that someone’s effort made a real difference.

2. Connect Contributions to the Bigger Picture
It’s easy to get caught up in immediate deadlines and lose sight of broader goals. Calling out how someone’s work advanced a strategic initiative—such as resolving a vendor issue that helped avoid a compliance delay—can reinforce both purpose and impact.

3. Make Space for Peer Recognition
Encouraging colleagues to acknowledge each other’s wins—via a Slack thread, shared email, or quick moment in team meetings—can foster connection and strengthen trust across the team.

4. Shine a Light on “Invisible Wins”
Not all achievements are high-profile. Legal work often happens behind the scenes, and much of it is designed to prevent problems before they surface. Taking time to acknowledge those types of contributions—whether it’s an extra push to meet a deadline or thoughtful work that headed off a risk—helps people feel seen and appreciated.

5. Talk About How the Work Gets Done
Post-matter debriefs or quarterly team check-ins are an opportunity to go beyond deliverables. Recognizing collaboration, adaptability, or calm leadership under pressure can reinforce the behaviors that contribute to long-term success—not just the outcomes.

Recognition Is a Leadership Practice

As National Wellness Month, August is a natural time to reflect on well-being, yet sustaining a culture of acknowledgment is a year-round investment. Recognition meets a basic human need: the need to be seen, valued, and understood.

For legal teams navigating high expectations and constant demand, small, consistent moments of acknowledgment can support not only morale, but also resilience, retention, and performance. The return on those moments isn’t just cultural—it’s strategic.

Hear More from Paula Davis

Paula Davis has joined us twice on the Leveraging Latitude podcast to share insights on building resilient legal teams and beating burnout at work.

Listen to “Leadership Mindsets to Inspire and Retain Talent” for more on how legal leaders can support resilience at both the team and organizational level. She also explores recognition in the context of other leadership mindsets and offers practical strategies that are both realistic and impactful.

In an earlier episode, Paula shared insights from her first book, “Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-being and Resilience.”

For additional resources—including articles, tools, and information about her books—visit Paula’s website at https://stressandresilience.com/.