Time to Start Thinking About 2008
On this last day of 2007, if you haven't already started planning what you want to accomplish in 2008, this would be a really good time to start.
When I was billing 2000 hours I did not have time to study or understand why some lawyers are successful and have a great family life and why others are not. I also did my client development activities instinctively and some things worked very effectively while other things did not work quite as well.
Now, that I am coaching and working with lawyers, I have a much better idea of the attributes of the most successful lawyers who also have a family life and I understand better why certain client development efforts work. While each of us has unique talents, weaknesses, ambitions and practices, and there is no magic pill or formula, there are principles that I urge you to think about and try.
On my webpage you will find two articles I wrote that were published this year. They both focus on how a lawyer can make 2007 his or her best year ever. The second is kind of a shorter version of the first. I believe becoming more successful begins with our attitude. When we talk to our self do we say: "Yes, but..." or "Sure, how..." do we say: "My problem is..." or "my opportunity is..." do we say: "I don't have time to..." or do we say: "I will find time to..." Next, we must have clarity on what we want in our career and in our life. Our time and energy are our most important assets. If we do not have clarity, we waste precious time. For me to have clarity, I think on paper with written goals and a plan for using my time. Take a look at the two articles as you ponder what you want to accomplish in 2008.
Next, we need to focus on what our clients need. They do not want to be sold on how good we are or our firm is and they do not care about what we do. They hire us to solve their problems, help them achieve opportunities or deal with internal or external changes. To be relevant, what we do has to address those issues or it doesn't matter. The best way to figure out what potential clients need, is to identify your target market and make sure you understand their industry.
We need to build our profile. To borrow a quote: "Being the best in the world is seriously overrated." Over time think about what you can be the "go to lawyer" doing. It should be something clients need and you are passionate about. Building our profile gives us the opportunity to build relationships with clients and potential clients. Client development is all about relationship building. When we become more successful we need to build a team. Young lawyers who will later work with you will be thinking "what is in this for me to work with...?"
Finally, we need to plan our personal time at the very least as well as we plan our work time. We need to be in the moment, not answering blackberry emails, and when we are with our kids, we need to be doing things with them rather than for them. You will see in this Boston Globe article that my grown daughter brought that point home to me well. http://www.boston.com/jobs/news/articles/2006/07/02/businesss_new_task_turning_off/
