The sun is setting on the day of the generalist: Today, a powerful personal brand is essential to business development. When you head out to buy a car, a kitchen appliance – or even a cup of coffee – chances are pretty good that you’ve already narrowed the field down to a small number of […]
Apply new business development skills: Coaching combats the “decay rate” of many training programs. If you build it, they will come. Traditionally, lawyers have taken this approach when the conversation turns to the subject of business development. In other words, just do your job well and the work will come to you. Today, the stakes […]
Are you the right ‘type’ to be a successful law-firm business developer? Coaching helps you build on your strengths. When it comes to business development in the legal industry, many attorneys feel that they don’t have the right “type” of personality to be top rainmakers. They feel that they must try to match the stereotype […]
Can the Lone Ranger join a posse? Law firms reap the benefits of service and business development teams. In today’s law firm, more and more work is being done by teams. In a 2004 study involving interviews with 100 Fortune-500 and 151 Fortune-1000 in-house counsel, effective communication, coordination and teamwork were rated as the most […]
Who does the feeding? Who gets fed? Coaching can help you climb the law-firm food chain. A legal career is an organic thing – constantly evolving. The identity (beliefs, capabilities and behaviors) that make you a good associate differs dramatically from the identity that makes you a good working partner – or a good firm […]
When sidekick gets promoted to superhero: How do junior partners make the business development leap? One day, you’re a highly regarded senior associate, successfully fielding the steady and challenging flow of work that the working partners deposit on your desk. In fact, you do this work so well that you are granted the heady reward […]
In a pitch meeting, it is better to catch: Be receptive to anything the potential client is poised to deliver. Most lawyers are very proud of what they do – as individuals, as groups and as law firms. They attended good law schools, got excellent grades, mastered the practice of law and achieve good results […]
Professional success versus personal fulfillment: Can they coexist in a boot-camp environment? Partner A found himself working such long hours that, when he finally made it to one of his son’s baseball games, he didn’t recognize his son when he took the field. Partner B drove herself so hard that she was able to make […]
It takes a lot of hard work to woo a new client, Here are ten easy ways to lose one. The acquisition of new clients is the reason behind the existence of any business development plan – at the individual, group or law-firm level. Once a new client has been wooed and won, the task […]
Seasoned warriors have new priorities; A good business development plan will reflect this change. Law firms are often described as having a “warrior” culture. Like young soldiers, young lawyers are welcomed to their professions via a period of intense immersion – called boot camp in the military and the associate track in a law firm. […]