The Lawyer’s Well-Being Brief

What kind of social connector are you?

“Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.”- Robert H. Schuller

Welcome back or welcome to, the Lawyer’s Well-being Brief. Every week, I share insights on ways to improve our well-being. We are back to Pillar # 5 today, Connection. Research shows us that social connection is one of our greatest needs after food and shelter. And how we socialize, it turns out, determines most of the major outcomes of our lives. As with the other Well-being pillars, this is important.

According to Yale Professor Marissa King, people tend to fall into one of three categories when it comes to socializing. You’re either a Convener, an Expansionist, or a Broker. King who is a foremost expert on social networks, is also the author of Social Chemistry — Decoding the Patterns of Human Connection. Of course, no type is better than the other, understanding where we best fit can help us maximize our connections and avoid common social pitfalls like loneliness or superficiality.

If you’re an Expansionist, King explains that you’ll have a plethora of connections that tend to be more superficial. In other words, you know a lot of people, but not very well. As an expansionist, you can exert great influence because of your large network. As an expansionist, you’ll have a wide…