Every successful law firm leader shares a common paradox: the very skills that made them a spectacular practitioner are often the exact traits that hinder their success as a leader. To become a top-tier lawyer, you must master the art of looking backward. You analyze precedent, anticipate worst-case scenarios, and maintain a healthy level of [...]
For lawyers who are concerned about job stability, or those who wish to eventually move into the Partnership, it is time to focus on positioning yourself to transition from a technical service provider to a work generator. In my experience (primarily based on firms with one to 45 lawyers), true rainmakers represent less than 1% [...]
Through a recent podcast featuring 24-year-old Harvard-educated author Adam Aleksic on the influence of internet language, I was reminded of the incredible speed of change we are all now facing. Take, for example, use of the phrase “unalive” as a way of saying “dead” which might result in algorithmic censorship. Similarly, a watermelon now represents [...]
When I give presentations, I’m often asked “what is the biggest contributor to a law firm’s business success?” There are so many possible answers to that question, but I know those who know me would guess I would say “planning”. Yes, I do heavily endorse personal and business planning. But that wouldn’t be my answer. [...]
As a gardener, I love this time of year. In my part of the world, the May long-weekend is the traditional time to prepare the soil and plant all of the vegetables and flowers that I’ve been growing from seed, or bought as little plants six weeks ago. They’ve been safely tucked away in my [...]
“Survival mode is supposed to be a phase that helps save your life. It’s not meant to be how you live”. Michele Rosenthal, Author and Trauma Therapist. Whether I’m coaching individual lawyers or assisting a firm with a strategic plan, inevitably the concept of stress management will arise. It could be at the heart of [...]
Business coaching provides a supportive environment in which to admit to and work on challenges and weaknesses that are holding us back at work in some way. These weaknesses rarely relate to legal knowledge. More often, they involve practice management concerns such as delegation, financial management, file management, time management, leadership, how to deal with [...]
If you aren’t preparing for every interaction with a client or prospect, you may be wasting your time and theirs. Here’s some food for thought on lunches and other planned client interactions. Lawyers who “do lunch” do so because it seems like part of a healthy marketing strategy. And it is. But just showing up [...]
Most businesses – especially law firms – must market to some degree. And they do. They have a website. They print business cards. They make sure the logo is used on tombstone ads and sponsorship programs. Law firms do spend some money on marketing, and some of their lawyers even spend time on marketing – [...]
Lawyers know when something isn’t working; and they can usually find a way to get business back on track. But everyone has weaknesses or blind spots. When things aren’t going the way you feel they should – despite your best efforts at improvement – it might be time to hire a coach. When I ask [...]