As  many, if not most of you know, I am a Virginia Tech grad. So, my Labor Day weekend was consumed with thinking about our big game against third ranked Boise State. Virginia Tech has opened the season with top notch teams over several years, including USC in 2004 when they won the national championship and Alabama last year when they won the national championship.

I watched on Monday night as we lost a fumble on the second play, had a punt blocked on the next possession and were down 17-0 early. Then we started to come back and with 5:14 left in the fourth quarter we had the lead 30-26 and we had the ball. We made one first down and things were looking even better. Then we couldn't make the second and we punted. 

Roanoke Times writer Randy King penned an accurate headline Deflation in D.C.: Boise State's Broncos negate Virginia Tech rally and opening line:

On the brink of producing the biggest comeback victory in Frank Beamer's 24 years as coach, 10th-ranked Virginia Tech watched it fade away. 

Needless to say, it was a very disappointing defeat for the team, the alumni and fans, just as the USC and Alabama losses were disappointing. I am sure there were a lot of "woulda, coulda, shoulda's in and out of the stadium.  Yet, unlike fans, the team will have to put it behind them and work hard for the rest of the long season. How the team reacts to a disappointing big loss in the first game will determine the quality of the season.

What is the point for you? As a lawyer you rarely challenged to become a better lawyer by your successes. But, you will eventually lose, even if you are a transactional lawyer. You will eventually have to deal with disappointment of letting one get away that you could have won. You have a long career and how you deal with the disappointment will determine what kind of lawyer you are.

 In 1980 I tried a case in West Virginia. One issue in the case was the reasonable cost of completing a construction project. I represented the owner and argued $130,000. The contractor's lawyer argued $30,000. We had jury interrogatories with the specific question: "What was the reasonable cost to complete the project?" The jury answered: "0." I was devastated. I asked the judge to send the jury back. After all, the amount had to be somewhere between $30,000 and $130,000. He refused. On the way home I was devastated and it took me several days to get over it. Yet, losing this case caused me to work even harder to communicate to juries and over the two years that followed I won several jury trials. 

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I am able to look back now and see how a few things I figured out when I was a young lawyer contributed to my career success and life fulfillment. Let me share those with you in the hope it will enable you to figure out some important things on your own. Here is what I figured out:

1. What I wanted in my career and life. I really gave a lot of thought to what was important to me.
2. What would motivate me and help me stay on track. I found motivation very necessary to get through difficult times.
3. That I had to have a plan to achieve it and stay focused on what was important to me. I discovered I can easily get distracted by unimportant things.
4. What my clients and potential clients wanted and needed. After I developed my legal skills, I spent a great deal of my non-billable time focusing on clients.
5. Different ways I could give them what they wanted and needed. I thought creatively and out of the box.
6. That having the right attitude and not ever giving up were essential.
7. Each of the people who worked for me was unique and different. This was a major breakthrough because for a time I thought what motivated me would motivate each of them.
8.  The importance of focusing on my family and to the extent that I could do it, arrange my work schedule to enable me to do things with them that they value. 
9. Finally, each and every day, I wanted to try to get better at what I did in my professional life and personal life. I spent an entire career studying successful and fulfilled people and borrowing from each something that would work for me.

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I still know a number of you who are not setting goals. I am hopeful that if you read what scientists have written, it might give you an idea of why setting goals is important and how to do it.

Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham, both professors, have summarized 35 years of empirical research on goal-setting theory in a professional paper titled: Building a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation. Here is what they found:

1. The highest or most difficult goals produced the highest levels of effort and performance, until the limits of ability are reached. I have found very few lawyers set goals that are beyond the limits of their ability. So, coaches should encourage junior partners to set goals that “stretch” them.
2. It is very important to have goals that are specific rather than something general like to do one’s best. In their view when people are asked to “do their best” they generally don’t do it, in part because there is no external reference point. 

How do goals affect performance? For me they have always helped me set priorities on my non-billable time. Locke and Latham recognize this function of goals. They say: “…they direct attention and effort toward goal-relevant activities and away form goal-irrelevant activities.”

As illustrated in the scientific research, the problem many people have is setting their goals too low. I like what Evertt Bogue recently wrote How to Succeed by Being Completely Unrealistic. Check out his list of 13 ways to start thinking.
 

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The young lawyers I have coached have been from big firms and smaller firms, different parts of the United States and Canada, different practice areas, different personality types and a variety of other unique characteristics. Yet, to the person, the most successful young lawyers  I have coached share these attributes

1. They are patient, persistent and persevere
2. They are focusing client development on things they are passionate about
3. They have a plan for their non-billable time and written goals
4. They are regularly working on client development
5. They are seeking to become more visible and credible to their target market
6. They are getting feedback on their ideas and how they are doing
7. They find ways to hold themselves accountable
8. They find meaningful ways to stay in touch with their contacts
9. They all wish they had started their efforts earlier in their career

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Recently I saw a blog 18 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I was 18. It made me think: What do I wish someone had told me when I was a first year lawyer? What do you wish someone had told you?

Here is my current thinking: I wish someone had told me:

1. You may think your education was completed when you finished law school. In truth it has only begun and you are moving into a more important and challenging phase of learning.
2. Passing the bar and later when you make partner are events. Being an outstanding lawyer and outstanding partner are achievements.
3. Find your purpose for being a lawyer, your passion and your core values.
4. Never be content. Always strive to get better. 
5. Create a plan each year that includes what you want to learn.
6. Your trusty assistant is a great resource.
7. Treat everyone in your office with respect.
8. Focus as much, or more, on what your clients do as you focus on what you do.
9. Learn to ask good questions and listen intently.
10. Having your own clients is the best security you will ever have.
11. Don't buy into the myth that you are too young to develop business.
12. Also, don't buy into the myth that the only way to develop business is the way some senior lawyer did it. Figure out what will work for you.
13. Make client development and building relationships with clients part of your every day habits. There should be no such thing as random lunches.
14. Build your network of weak ties as broadly as you can and make sure, without coming across as a salesman, that your weak ties know what you do and that you do it well.
15. Make sure your clients know how much you care. Never take a client for granted.
16. Find something you love to do just for your own enjoyment. You will be serving clients, your family and others. You will only do it effectively if you also serve yourself.
17. Don't spend all day, every day, in front of your computer. First, doing so will exhaust you and second, doing so will prevent you from effectively building relationships with your clients, potential clients and referral sources.
18. Figure out what might impact your clients before other lawyers and your clients do.
19. To be successful you will have to learn to lead, delegate and supervise. You can't make rain by yourself.
20. Pay it forward. Always help younger lawyers develop their career, as lawyers have helped you develop yours.

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On June 4, the LA Times posted a blog: John Wooden quotes: Some of Coach John Wooden's favorite maxims ('Woodenisms'). Take a look and I think you will see that many Woodenisms apply to lawyers.

I want to focus on two of those Woodenisms today:

Never mistake activity for achievement.

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

I have met and have coached some lawyers who believe doing as many client development activities as possible will cause clients to find them and hire them, Some of those lawyers take as many potential clients and referral sources to lunch as possible, or they join several organizations. If they are blogging, they post just because they think they need to rather than because they have something important to say.

I encourage the lawyers I coach to make focused efforts. Sometimes less is more. Focus on the right contacts. Join one organization and work to be the leader. Research and then write about things that your clients need to know and speak to the organizations where your clients and potential clients will be in the audience.

I have run into many lawyers who are content with where they are and think they know all they need to know. The law has not changed a great deal during my career, but clients and client needs have changed dramatically. Think about how much has changed in your work with clients in just the last two years If you are not continuing to learn about your clients and their new needs, you are moving backwards.

So, here is a short assignment you can do. Either download from iTunes or click here to listen to my two most recent podcast interviews of Alison Rowe and Christy Crider. I think you will conclude that their client development efforts are purposeful and focused and that even though they think they know a lot, they believe there is way more they can learn. 

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This is the second in my series of posts this week on life and career lessons from John Wooden. They say Coach Wooden's highest annual salary at UCLA was $36,000. It is hard to imagine that today.

In April of 2009 I posted a blog What is Success? Listen to John Wooden. If you have a moment today, I hope you will go back and read it and watch the short video. As you might recall Coach Wooden said:

Success is the peace of mind which is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing that you made the effort to become the best at what you are capable of becoming.

Coach Wooden loved to tell the story of Bill Walton's hair. Coach had a rule that hair could be no longer than two inches and there could be no facial hair. Walton, the star of the team showed up for the first practice one year  with long hair and a beard and announced it was his right to have long hair. Coach Wooden agreed and said: "That's good Bill. I admire people who have strong beliefs and stick by them, I really do. We're going to miss you." Walton raced to a barber shop to get his hair cut and beard shaved. I loved watching this video of the story.

When I went back to Coach Wooden's webpage on Saturday, I found a tribute from Bill Walton on the first page. Walton said:

I thank Coach Wooden every day for all his selfless gifts, his lessons, his time, his vison and especially his patience.

That seemed fitting because one of Coach Wooden's famous quotes was:

You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you

This really leaves two questions for you to ponder:

1. Are you making the effort to  become the best you are capable of becoming?
2. When was the last time you lived a perfect day?

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The other day I was looking at some of my old bookmarks and I found an on line article by Kerry Salls. Kerry talks about Daniel Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind and the importance of storytelling. Stories are easier to remember than facts.

She tells a story she heard about Wal-Mart employees. It seems that employees started as baggers. Sam Walton came up with a system for ranking all baggers. You were a 1 bagger, a 2 bagger or a 3 bagger. I will let you read the description of each.

I am pretty sure lawyers in your firm fall into three categories:

• One baggers are average lawyers. They know what they are doing and they are technically proficient. They get “their hours” and get their work done during normal business hours. They do not see things beyond the details of the assignment. They are not overly passionate about their work or their clients.
• Two baggers are good lawyers. They also know what they are doing and they are technically competent. They are more inquisitive so they see more than the details of the assignment. They are typically capable of managing an assignment.
• Three baggers are great lawyers.They are cut from different cloth. They are passionate about their work and their clients and they are self-motivated. For them, work is fun and so they work harder than good lawyers. They are never content with  what they know. They are always learning new things. They try to become comfortable outside their comfort zone. They see potential issues that impact their clients before other lawyers do. They have high energy and they are enthusiastic. They sacrifice when necessary to help their clients. 

Suppose for a moment you are a client with a complex legal situation. Which type of lawyer would you trust to help you?
 

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 A group I coach has decided to focus on motivation when we meet in May. So, I have been reading some materials on motivation. I also read a good post on closing by Charles Green and a good post on blogging:

• How Rewards Can Backfire and Reduce Motivation This blog focuses on how rewards can actually reduce motivation and also focuses on intrinsic motivation.
• 5 Fundamentals for Success in Life Good list of 5 fundamentals for success
• Closing the Book on Closing I like what Charles Green writes about trust based selling
• 23 Rules of Thumb for Effective Blogging Good ideas for lawyer bloggers

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 When I was practice group leader and the partner in charge of attorney development in my firm, our HR director asked me for the one attribute in associates that separated the future stars from others. What do you suppose my answer was?

Sometimes it is hard to boil down what separates the best from others to one attribute, but for me the answer was easy. I replied: "The burning desire to keep learning and growing as a lawyer." I intuitively believed that was the one attribute. I later learned scientists believe it also.

In a July, 2008 New York Times article: If You’re Open to Growth, You Tend to Grow, the writer shares findings by Stanford professor, Carol Dweck on people with a fixed mindset and people with a growth mindset. "People with a growth mind-set tend to demonstrate the kind of perseverance and resilience required to convert life’s setbacks into future successes." You can't practice law for an entire career without setbacks.

All the associates who have worked for me and the lawyers I have coached are talented. Yet, the associates who stand out are not content with what they have achieved or learned. They do not waste time proving how good they are or get stressed comparing themselves to others. Instead, they have a passion for learning, believe success is a long term commitment and they are open to my help. The lawyers who do not have the burning desire to learn, are also generally more stressed out. Why? They feel the pressure to prove themselves over and over and they are constantly comparing themselves to others. I cannot really help those lawyers.

If you want to be a future star, focus on learning, growing and becoming a better lawyer each and every day.

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Yesterday I wrote about inner motivation and made the point that no one can motivate you for a significant time. You have to motivate yourself.

You might have wondered why motivation is even important. Put simply, to become more successful and more fulfilled, you have to continue growing as a lawyer and a person. That involves change and the problem is that change is incredibly difficult. 

A few years ago Fast Company magazine published a fascinating article Change or Die. Please click and read it to better understand why changing is so difficult. You will learn that fear of dying is not a motivator. Heart patients know exactly what lifestyle changes they need to make to avoid dying, yet they do not make them. On the other hand the joy of living can be a powerful motivator.

Let's see how the joy of living type of motivation might apply to practicing law. I recently listened to  Daniel Pink's new  book titled: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. If you search you will find that some have criticized the conclusions Pink reaches. I happen to agree with Pink's main points. You can find my similar thoughts in my book Prepare to Win: A Lawyer's Guide to Rainmaking, Career Success and Life Fulfillment. 

One of Pink's main points is that the carrot-stick (change or die) approach only works in limited situations when the work is so boring or lacking creativity that it is about the only tool to motivate the workers. I suppose it might work for the lawyer who is stuck in a warehouse reviewing 1000s of emails a day to determine whether they are relevant and whether they are privileged. Almost nothing a lawyer does could be more boring. So, rewarding the lawyer by the number of hours he or she puts in might be an appropriate incentive.

Pink believes that intrinsic motivation (joy of living) is what is needed in every other circumstance. He believes that intrinsic motivation comes from autonomy, mastery and purpose. When you have autonomy you feel like you can direct your own life. To have autonomy you must take responsibility for your career success and life fulfillment. Mastery means you are constantly striving to become a better lawyer knowing you will never achieve total mastery. Purpose means you are working on client matters that are meaningful, doing them well and doing your work for a purpose greater than yourself.

Pink tells a story about finding purpose.  In 1962, Clare Booth Luce met with President Kennedy about his diffuse priorities. “A great man,” she advised him, “is one sentence.” President Lincoln’s sentence was obvious: “He preserved the union and freed the slaves.” So was FDR’s: “He lifted us out of a great depression and helped us win a world war.” What, Luce challenged President Kennedy, was to be his sentence? 

• Take responsibility for your career,
• Work every day to become a better lawyer and find ways to better serve clients and
• Focus on the journey, not the destination. In other words, focus on the joy that helping clients achieve their goals bring you rather than focusing on pay, bonuses or promotion,
• Finally, decide what is your sentence.

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This week we have been focusing on career success and life fulfillment. As you know I have worked with hundreds of lawyers at my old firm and have coached hundreds of lawyers. Some of those lawyers are motivated and energized. Others are trying to find their motivation. So, I want to focus on motivation in this post and the one tomorrow.

I have been told I am a motivational speaker. In fact, I am frequently asked to do Bar and Law Firm programs designed to motivate lawyers. A few years ago I was asked to give a presentation to the ABA Young Lawyers Division at their Spring meeting. The ABA YLD came up with " Come on Baby Light My Fire - How to Reignite Your Flame with the Law."  The title they chose intrigued me, so I posted a blog about it in January 2007, Listen to Maya Angelou. 

I began my presentation to the ABA young lawyers by showing a short video clip of the Doors singing on the Ed Sullivan show in 1967. You likely don't know that they got in trouble for not changing the "girl we couldn't get much higher" lyrics, as they had promised. Then I told the young lawyers: "I have some really good news and some really bad news. The good news is I believe strongly I can light your fire and reignite your flame with the law. The bad news is that unless you are self motivated, the flame I ignited will burn out within a week." 

A few years ago I read The Best Damn Sales Book Ever: 16 Rock-Solid Rules for Achieving Sales Success!  by Warren Greshes. The book title doesn’t do the book justice because the principles in the book are broader than sales.

Early in the book Greshes talks about motivation. You might hear a speaker that motivates you, but that is external motivation and it does not last. What he said reminded me of a Stephen Covey quote: "Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly."

If you find your inner motivation, it will burn forever. I doubt you will find it by getting your billable hours, getting promoted or making a lot of money. If that is your focus, there will always be someone who gets more hours, gets promoted sooner and  makes more money.

So, what is the best way for you to find your inner motivation? Focus on the journey, not the destination. Do not compare how you are doing with others, Think about how the work you are doing is helping your clients. Finally, work each and every day to become a better lawyer.

I will share some more specific motivation ideas with you tomorrow. 
 

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Yogi Berra said it well: "If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else." I would say: "if you don't know what you want out of your life, you might wind up unfulfilled."

A few years ago I spoke at a Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA) event. I began by asking the lawyers who attended: "How many of you are totally satisfied with your career and life?" Only a few raised their hand. I actually thought that was a good thing. Anyone who is totally satisfied is not growing as a person.

I shared with the group my thoughts on finding your "major definite purpose." I got the idea originally from Napoleon Hill. Two years ago I posted a blog titled: Definiteness of Purpose with a links to Napoleon Hill materials.

For me major definite purpose is the intersection of your passion, talent and clients' needs. Years ago I decided that my major definite purpose was to help transportation construction contractors successfully build the nation's highway, bridge, rail and airport projects. You can see that my purpose was not about me. Instead it was about my clients. Making that change in focus from me to clients gave more meaning to each matter I handled.

Instead of calling it major definite purpose, Stephen Covey talks about finding your voice. He shares a way to find it in The 4 Steps to Finding Your Voice. If you are having any challenges finding what you are meant to do and become, answer these four questions from Covey's blog post.

1. What are you good at? That’s your mind.
2. What do you love doing? That’s your heart.
3. What need can you serve? That’s the body.
4. What is life asking of you? What gives your life meaning and purpose? What do you feel like you should be doing? In short, what is your conscience directing you to do? That is your spirit.

Remember back to that day you decided you wanted to be a lawyer. There had to be something that drove you towards our profession. (Hopefully, it wasn't because you and your parents couldn't think of anything else to do with your political science degree.) Rekindle that sense of purpose.

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This week I want to focus on career success and life fulfillment. Over many years I have studied and personally experienced career success and life fulfillment. While each of you is unique, there are certain principles I believe apply to all of you. So, let's get started.

Have you taken responsibility for your career success? You are responsible for creating the career and life you desire. Your firm is not responsible for your success. The partners for whom you work are not responsible for your success. You are.

Let’s discuss what that means. Here are some of the salient points:

• You are the architect of your career. That means you have the chance to design the career you want.
• Focus on opportunities and solutions not problems and obstacles. You will tend to get more enjoyment by aiming at something rather than aiming away from something.
• Develop a plan for your career by focusing on what you want to be in the future. Stephen Covey says: “begin with the end in mind.” I agree with the premise.
• Execute your plan and stay on track. Do not be one of those lawyers who quits when instant results are not achieved.
• Discover what you need to do to achieve your goals and have the discipline to do them. Create a system to hold yourself accountable. It might be a journal. It might be working with a colleague who will be like a fitness partner.
• Define your personal and professional roles (husband/wife, father/mother, productive attorney, developing attorney, etc.). Stephen Covey discusses planning each week around your roles.

More on how to do this in a later post.
 

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 This week most of my reading has focused on success. 

Are You Trapped In A Fixed Mindset? Fix It! Stanford professor Carol Dweck through 20 plus years of research shows how having a fixed mindset or growth mindset influences your life. I have read her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. It is really quite enlightening.

The Art of Shameless Self Promotion This is the art of sharing ideas, concepts and a greater vision rather than sharing your accomplishments. No one wants to be around the second type of self promoter.

Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us – in conversation with author Dan Pink  and Drive by Dan Pink I listened to Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us this week so I enjoyed reading these two reviews of it.

Linchpin by Seth Godin – Video Book Review I am reading Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? so I enjoyed Chris Brogan's video book review.

The First Chapter of Switch the new book by the Heath Brothers, authors of Made to Stick. In the first chapter the authors tell us that  Switch is about helping us change things and dealing with the challenges that make change difficult. I think you will enjoy reading the first chapter as it explains why change is difficult. Since coaching is about helping others change, I plan to read the book.

Finally, as you may know, I just finished a new e-book Client Development in a Nutshell. if you get a chance over the weekend, take a look. I have filled it with things I did as a lawyer and things the lawyers I am coaching are doing now. 

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