Category Archives: Coaching for lawyers

Newsletters offer a way to stay in contact with a large number of contacts easily, consistently, and productively.  Newsletters focus on substantive information, and assuming you’ve defined your areas of practice carefully enough, your content will be valuable to recipients and therefore welcome.  Better yet, if your topics are timely and if you include an… Continue Reading

One of the primary objections lawyers have to business development is that business development equals sales, and “sales” is a four-letter word.  (Sometimes the stereotype of math-challenged lawyers does stick!)  The word may conjure the stereotpyical used car salesman, ready to unload a lemon just to make a quick buck.  And, of course, no one… Continue Reading

A few years ago, I had to drive to an important business meeting in an unfamiliar city.  Because this was before I had GPS, I printed out directions before leaving my office, so I had a good idea of where I was going.  The sun was beaming down and my “pump me up” playlist was… Continue Reading

The statement “I’ve got your back” is one of the most powerful business development messages there is.  When you have someone capable and attentive on your side to offer assistance and cheer you on, you’re likely to be more willing to undertake new, difficult, or risky-feeling activity. Consider this:  a child learning to walk or… Continue Reading

“Creativity, as has been said, consists largely of rearranging what we know in order to find out what we do not know.  Hence, to think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.” ~George Kneller   “It’s easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is… Continue Reading

New behaviors, especially those that play out in public for others to see, can be difficult.  We lawyers especially, who tend to fall toward the perfectionist side of things, perceived a high risk in trying something new.  What if we fail?  What if we look stupid?  What if we really mess up? Last Sunday, I… Continue Reading

Clients, especially those who are not legally sophisticated, often see lawyers as fungible…  At least until they come to know, like, and trust a particular lawyer. If you are simply one of a pool of fungible practitioners, you will be forced to rely on non-legal factors such as fee or fee structure, location, and sheer… Continue Reading

I spent all of last weekend outlining and getting started on my next two books.  They’re both about business development, of course, but one is designed to be an idea-generator and action-prompter, while the other is more of a teaching book.  I got outlines done for both and started working on the actual writing.  By… Continue Reading

Why “Inspirational Quotes” Don’t Work (and what does).  Peter Shankman, founder of Help A Reporter Out(“HARO”) writes convincingly on the short-lived motivation from inspirational quotes.  I love quotes, but I agree that they won’t carry you for the long haul. Shankman suggests this instead:  ”Do today, what you know you can do tomorrow.” In business development… Continue Reading

I hope you took time over the last few weeks to think about how 2012 went for you and your practice, and especially what you’d like to do differently in 2013.  Change requires action, but unconsidered action relies too heavily on luck.  That’s why planning is a must. Have you ever been so eager to… Continue Reading

Last week on Twitter, I posted this innocuous (I thought) statement:  “Writing and speaking tend to be time-sensitive activities with low immediate payoff.” And then the firestorm started.  It seemed that people just had to remind me that writing and speaking are good long-term strategies for business development.  To which I’d respond, of course! When… Continue Reading