As I wrote in my article Seven Steps for Maintaining Motivation, many lawyers struggle to stay motivated. However, finding motivating tools or props can help to propel a lawyer forward.
In his new blog Thoughtful Legal Management, David Bilinsky, discusses how preparing a law practice budget can also be motivating. A budget not only gives a lawyer a clear idea of his/her income and expenses, but also helps a lawyer to visualize the future.
As David explains in his July 17 post, “the process of drafting your business plan and putting numbers into your budget spreadsheet takes you into a visioning mindset - where you contemplate your future and your place in it. You take charge of the future that you wish to have.” Several of my clients have used the budgeting process and accompanying visualization to spur them on; for example, one client was motivated to revitalize his firm’s website, and another to launch a global client development strategy.
Lawyers trying to grow international practices particularly benefit from budgeting. Whether you are a big firm lawyer or a solo, a government lawyer or an in-house attorney, international business travel and related expenses really impact your practice’s bottom line. Budget for the sum that you expect to incur, and be prepared to defend the necessity of this expenditure to your boss–even if you are a solo and the boss is You. Then envision yourself growing your international practice to–and perhaps beyond–what you have already envisioned.
Check David’s new blog regularly for more ideas. I had the pleasure of meeting him last fall in Vancouver (my birthplace) at an ABA Law Practice Management conference, and subsequently writing a few articles for the ABA’s Law Practice magazine, which he edits.
For a different look at the advantages of pro bono work, read my latest article titled The Pro Bono Plus: How Pro Bono Work Can Enhance Your For-Profit Career, which was recently published by The Houston Lawyer Magazine. As mentioned in the article, handling pro bono work can boost a lawyer’s contacts. This is even true for international lawyers; serving on the board of a large international charity may introduce you to prominent businesspersons who are similarly involved in the international arena.
In the current issue of the ABA’s Law Practice Today, Sun Communications Group founder and owner Paramjit Mahli shares tips for cooperating with the press. In Why Attorneys Should Be Working with the Press, Instead of Against Them, she explores ways that lawyers can become valuable resources by alerting journalists to breaking legal news or developing legal trends.
Former CNN journalist Paramjit understands very personally how a journalist appreciates such proactivity by a news source–as long as the story pitched falls into the journalist’s beat and is appropriate to the publication. When I freelanced for the Asian Wall Street Journal and other newspapers and magazines, I was amazed by the number of people who pitched totally inappropriate stories –ones that were complete mismatches for the publication. Doing so can backfire by irritating and alienating a reporter.
Also make sure that the story you pitch hasn’t already been reported. “Not only is it embarrassing, but it also demonstrates to the reporter that you or your public relations team has not done the homework. It is a sure way of lessening your credibility with that reporter,” Paramjit explains in her article.
From my observation, international lawyers are uniquely positioned to get press attention, if they seek it correctly. Because legal developments emerge across the globe, international lawyers have more material and story angles to pitch to reporters than their domestic counterparts do.
For more tips on developing a public relations strategy that deals well with the press, access Paramjit’s article here.
Why do lawyers hire coach? Often, lawyers work with a coach to exceed their prior performance; in other words, they want to develop strategies for bringing in more clients, making partner or getting promoted, becoming a leader within their law firm or field and the like. Sometimes lawyers hire a coach to help them figure out a career change within or outside the law.
Regardless of the reason for hiring a coach, lawyers rely on their coaches to be an objective, third party sounding board. In other words, coaches become “truth speakers,” as Harvard Business School professor Thomas DeLong says.
Paul Michelman quotes Professor DeLong in his article titled What an Executive Coach Can Do for You. The article explores some of the reasons why professionals turn to executive coaches. Many professionals seek coaching to get one-on-one focused attention from an unbiased sounding board/mentor/guide/cheerleader–especially in times of great change or stress. Often, the professional can’t get such unbiased feedback within the professional’s own organization or from family or friends.
And, as Michelman notes, underperforming professionals are not necessarily the ones seeking executive coaching; in fact, top performing professionals are increasingly seeking coaches to help them reach the next career level. What an Executive Coach Can Do for You is available free of charge through the Harvard Business School Archive.
As reported in today’s TheLawyer.com, the London-based associates at Freshfields have published a wish list of topics they want to learn more about during an upcoming associate conference: “work-life balance, reward packages, appraisals, career path, training, knowledge management and business development.”
And the partners are listening. Partner High Crisp was quoted as saying that the firm wants “a happy, motivated group of lawyers”. According to Crisp,the firm is mindful about reducing attrition (which is supposedly already quite low at Freshfields), but recognizes that good partner-associate communication is “also about how the place feels.”
As the associates’ wish list shows, lawyers of all levels are hungering for the same things including: more training on business development and other “soft skills”–and work-life balance. It’s not just true in the US, but also across the Pond.
