Many lawyers use the lull after the year-end crunch to take stock of their careers and personal lives. Here are some questions to help you evaluate your life, make change as needed, and jumpstart 2007.
CAREER
1. Are you happy in your current position? If not, what would you like to change/improve?
If you are dissatisfied but can’t articulate why, try ranking your job satisfaction, from greatest to least, in the following areas: income; hours worked; quality of work; quantity of work; camaraderie among co-workers; office attributes (location, environment, technology, support staff etc…); mentorship; other job perks; opportunities for advancement; and status.
2. Once you determine which aspects of your job are least satisfactory, articulate one-three steps that you could take to improve your job in each of such area(s), such as: taking to managing partner, purchasing new technology, learning new communication strategies for support staff, exploring career alternatives etc…
3. Even if you are happy with your career status, what can you do to take your career to the next level? Being as specific as possible, articulate three things that you can do in the short-term, and three in the long term, that will enhance your career, such as:
(a) write an article about [specific topic] to showcase my expertise in [area of the law]
(b) develop specific plan for growing international part of my practice, with goal of bringing in [ten] new foreign clients by next summer
(c) learn and implement new strategies for delegating work to secretary/paralegal/associates so that tasks get done
(d) develop specific personal branding strategy to attract more “ideal” clients, and spend 20% of weekly work time on rainmaking
(e) talk to a professional about alternate careers for lawyers
4. What do you need to do to move forward? For example, do you need to hire a lawyer coach, a consultant, new staff, or other people to assist you?
PERSONAL LIFE
1. Rank your satisfaction in the following areas of your life from greatest to least: health; family and home environment; social life; spirituality; finances; and intellectual/personal growth.
2. Identify one-three steps that you could take to improve any of the areas with which you are not satisfied.
3. Describe an enjoyable day. Identify one-three specific steps that you can take to make sure that more of your days (or parts thereof) are enjoyable. What do you need to add to your life? What do you need to say no to, or discard? (This can include people, habits, negative thinking, as well as possessions.)
COMMITMENT
Look at the action items articulated in response to the questions above. Write the “next steps” on your calendar, being as specific as possible. Commit to taking those action steps. Implement a reward system through which you reward yourself for taking action (through a healthy, enjoyable treat) and penalize yourself (in a painful but non-harmful way, such as by sending money to a political candidate you despise) for failing to move forward by the agreed upon date.
JUMPSTART 2007!!!
During the holidays, lawyers look for creative and meaningful client gifts. Some lawyers give charitable donations in a client’s name as a gift. If you do so, consider making a gift to a charity:
1. Of your choosing. If you opt for this, you are sure to pick a worthwhile charity that you value. However, if your goal is to make the gift meaningful to the client, designate your charity carefully lest you designate a charity that doesn’t appeal to the client.
2. Of the client’s choosing. The clear advantage of this option is that the client can designate a charity meaningful to the client. This will be a gift that he or she will remember and appreciate. If you give the client a lot of discretion, however, the charity selected may be one completely opposed to your beliefs (for example, a political or religious charity opposed to your values). Moreover, in the international context, you may need to vet the selected charity carefully lest you inadvertently send money to a charity being monitored by the government. Finally, if you have a lot of clients, donating to a wide range of charities may be administratively cumbersome.
3. Of the client’s choice, selected from a designated list. The clear advantage of this option is that you control where your money goes, but you still let the client have a range of choices. This approach can also enhance your personal branding strategy. For example, if you want to emphasize your firm’s commitment to international work, list a variety of international charities from which the client can choose. You can even offer charities that work in your own field; an international environmental lawyer, for example, might let the client choose from a list of charities that address global warming and other environmental issues. Doing so will reinforce your “brand” by showing your interest in and commitment to that field.
Here’s my review of Business Development for Lawyers which was just published in the November/December 2006 issue of The Houston Lawyer.
Business Development for Lawyers: Strategies for Getting and Keeping Clients
By Sally J. Schmidt
ALM Properties, Inc., ALM Publishing, a division of ALM Media, Inc., 2006
306 pages, reviewed by Janet H. Moore
Although many lawyers think of “marketing” and “business development” as interchangeable, author Sally Schmidt explains how they differ—but also how they can compliment each other. Her new book, Business Development for Lawyers: Strategies for Getting and Keeping Clients, suggests many techniques that lawyers can use to cultivate more clients. For example, the book details how attorneys can best position themselves and their practice by showcasing their expertise and reinforcing their value.
The book also explains how to identify referral sources, make client pitches more successful, and ask clients for their business and “close” the sale. Even the most awkward networker will find some useful suggestions for turning social gatherings into business development opportunities.
Attorneys will appreciate her tips for building client loyalty and handling difficult clients—including freeloading prospective clients who call for complimentary advice but never actually retain a lawyer. Although some of the book’s concepts parallel those presented in other rainmaking books, Ms. Schmidt’s clear explanations and bullet-point suggestions make the book a user-friendly and informative guide.
The book also reinforces many crucial points that lawyer coaches and legal marketers regularly emphasize, like the importance of communicating with clients regularly, and tailoring how legal services are rendered to individual client’s needs. “Lawyers often fail to understand that, in many cases, how the service is provided is as important to the clients as the service itself,” explains Schmidt. (p. 118)
In places the author references interesting studies—like one Harvard Business School study about the characteristics of talented salespeople—without footnoting the source; it would have been nice to have this reference for future follow up. However, this does not seriously detract from the book and its positive, proactive business development advice.
Janet H. Moore, JD, provides executive coaching and consulting for lawyers through International Lawyer Coach, Inc. She is a member of the editorial board of The Houston Lawyer.
Here is my book review of Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women’s Success in the Law which was just published in the Nov./Dec. 2006 issue of The Houston Lawyer. (Click and scroll down to read it.)
Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women’s Success in the Law By Lauren Stiller Rikleen
Thompson/Legalworks 2006, 409 pages
Reviewed by Janet H. Moore The compensation and advancement structures at most law firms keep many women lawyers from achieving significant and sustainable professional success, posits Lauren Stiller Rikleen in her recent book Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women’s Success in the Law. Her detailed and thoroughly researched book provides a sobering reminder of just how far women attorneys still have to go to reach professional parity with their male colleagues. Rikleen, a senior partner at Massachusetts-based Bowditch & Dewey LLP and a former president of the Boston Bar Association, has long researched the advancement of women in the legal profession. She draws on confidential interviews with lawyers and extensive secondary sources to tackle thorny issues including reduced-hour schedules, making partner and compensation. The author explains many barriers to women’s success in the law. For example, she discusses the importance to lawyers’ careers of both being mentored and succeeding at client development—and examines why many women attorneys experience neither. Rikleen also discusses work/life balance and the pros and cons of part-time schedules; she notes that many managing partners view part-time schedules as “accommodations” (in other words, favors) for particular, superstar women attorneys rather than as retention strategies to reduce the costs of lawyer attrition. Rikleen extensively quotes from confidential interviews conducted with both male and female partners, associates and in-house attorneys. At times the extensive interview quotes seem to be reiterating the same points. However, substantial research from secondary sources (including several ABA studies) and detailed footnotes counterbalance the quotes and further support the author’s points. One of the most interesting and perhaps disheartening chapters describes a pervasive and serious disconnect between many managing partners and the lawyers they manage. Rikleen explains that many managing partners only manage part-time, and spend the rest of their time trying to keep their own law practices intact. As a result, many managing partners do not fully understand their attorneys’ concerns and issues. The author also believes that many departments within firms are poorly managed by partners who are appointed not for their managerial talent but for their rainmaking success. Rikleen starts her book by suggesting that the legal profession might be at the “tipping point” for change, and concludes her book by calling for a culture change. “Culture is the place where strategic planning, workforce development and law firm economics meet. Firms cannot achieve a more diverse workforce and continue to attract top law students through a culture that demands a uniform billable-hour contribution from everyone.” ( p. 284) Noting that young Generation X and Y lawyers—both male and female—increasingly value quality of life, Rikleen encourages law firms to adapt their policies accordingly to retain top talent. Rikleen firmly believes that strong law firm leadership can change law firm culture in order to attract and retain top women lawyers. In fact, as she explains in the book’s Acknowledgements, her own law firm succeeded at doing just that. Janet H. Moore, JD, provides executive coaching and consulting for lawyers through International
Lawyer Coach, Inc. She is a member of the editorial board of The Houston Lawyer.
