Thursday, May 31st, 2007
I was chatting with a lawyer friend over breakfast this morning and she recalled for me, with a shudder, a business development torture session from her days as a first year securities lawyer. She was told to attend a basketball game with a group of stockbrokers. “I can’t stand basketball, and the stockbrokers were appalling. I couldn’t understand why I was there. All I got out of the experience was being asked out on a date that I didn’t want to go on.”
What was wrong with this picture?
Alignment. Business development is effective when the lawyer’s goals, values, interests, and strengths are in alignment with the business development activity. In my friend’s case there was no fit beyond the fact that she was a securities lawyer and those were securities clients. This was a case of the classic rainmaker turn off.
One associates basketball horror story would be another’s great night at the game.
Sometimes you get just one chance.
So often when we are introducing marketing and business development to associates we really only get one chance. As soon as you make the mistake of sending the wrong person to the basketball game you are sending a powerful message to that lawyer. The message they get is:
“Business development is a painful and useless activity.”
“This is not me.”
“I don’t do this.”
Business development becomes something other people do.
Values are important. I have found that the clearest statements on personal values come from lawyers when you are trying to get them to do some “business development” activity that is in conflict with their values.
For example, one associate told me he couldn’t stand going to a particular industry networking event. There always seemed to be more lawyers than potential clients and it appeared to him that the non-lawyers in the room were surrounded by a pack of lawyers with carefully prepared elevator speeches and business cards at the ready.
So does this mean this associate is not a rainmaker? Does it mean that he is going to have to get over his inhibitions and jump into the fray?
No. In further conversation it became apparent that he values relationships. He values sincerity. He is truly interested in the industry and is interested in getting meaningfully involved. It’s simply a question of developing opportunities for him to meet with people from the industry that support his own further education and give him a chance to interact with the potential clients in a different setting. We found just the thing for him but as it is still in progress I can’t reveal more!
All of this is to say that there are many different paths to business development.
One partner I know in Victoria got involved in a cooperative daycare program when she had her first child. She got to know all the parents, contributed her one day a week at the centre, and no surprise, the parents who chose to trust their children to her care naturally decided to trust her to handle their legal affairs as well.
There are as many unique paths to developing business as there are individuals. The key is to support lawyers in building an approach to business development that aligns with their own goals, distinct skills, interests, and values.
Ban meaningless acts of business development. If it turns your stomach or makes your skin crawl you know that it is not for you. Instead, discover what is for you, and set it in motion.
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Wednesday, March 14th, 2007
You are faced with a tough decision to make about a complex real estate transaction. Should you purchase the property, or give it a miss? To get the best answer should you:
A. Go with your gut instinct.
B. Take the time to carefully consider all angles, discuss it with your friends, and weigh the pros and cons.
C. Sleep on it.
This question was the example used in the February edition of the Harvard Business Review’s list of Breakthrough Ideas for 2007.
And the answer is:
C. Sleep on it.
The breakthrough idea for 2007 is that our much valued and vaunted conscious mind is really just a wind-up toy on top of a super computer - our unconscious mind. It turns out that there is a real limit to the analytic powers of our conscious mind. The result is that when we try to analyze complex problems the longer we try to think it through, the more likely we are to take into account random and unimportant bits of information and stray farther and farther from the best answer.
While this is the breakthrough idea for 2007, one of the definitive books on the subject was actually published in 2002 - Strangers to Ourselves, Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious by Timothy D. Wilson.
I remember first learning in practice about how the unconscious mind can be put to work when I was an undergraduate at McGill. At essay time, I would read a pile of books, but when I sat down at the computer to write I would find that I wasn’t ready. The ideas wouldn’t come, but doing more research wasn’t the answer. Instead I found that putting the essay on my mental backburner and heading out to the pool hall with some friends did the trick. After some time off, and a sleep, the next morning I was ready to write. And the ideas and arguments were all there and ready to be typed out.
I’m sure you have experienced this yourself in numerous ways. Being able to take a complex issue, send it to the powerful unconscious mind to do the heavy lifting while you take some time out for fun and relaxation, and pick up the answer later in the day or the next morning has got to be one of the great advantages of our human minds.
One Managing Partner was known to take her thorniest issues with her on the Grouse Grind. Two hours later, and at the top of the mountain, she would have her answer.
So why don’t you try an experiment? Next time you have something complex you are struggling to figure out, take a moment to consciously place it on the mental back burner and then take the night off. The next morning find out if you have your answer.
Sleep your way to success!
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