LawBiz® TIPS - Week of March 1, 2011
LawBiz Management
The motivation for making New Year's resolutions is still fresh enough to justify taking stock of where you are and where you want to go in 2011. Every lawyer doubtless wants to have a successful year, but those who don't have the right perspective can see their striving for success become counterproductive. Success is not just more billable hours - the real motivation comes from loving what we do, from wanting to help people and from needing to take care of our families and ourselves. So, how to define success for 2011 in this context? The answer lies in moving your professional life down as many of these paths as possible.
* Do what you love. Passionate, satisfied attorneys perform better, deliver higher quality legal services and get better results for their clients. Attorneys who are not happy need to refocus.
* Treat every client like your only client. Clients are primarily concerned about the commitment of their attorney to their matter and their relationship with their attorney. Grateful and appreciative clients will always be there when this attitude is genuinely felt.
* Think like an owner, taking responsibility for everything that occurs in the firm's day-to-day operation. That is the best way to keep clients happy, and to keep the firm strong.
* Be a problem-solver. Instead of just reacting, look ahead for solutions. Too many good attorneys are so busy with immediate concerns that they cannot look forward for ways to solve future problems.
* Never stop learning. Successful attorneys always continue their education and take more than the minimum CLE requirements. It is impossible to know everything in any one field of endeavor, but you should continue to learn new trends and update old thinking.
* Develop business competency. It's important to speak the language of business clients, not offer just shallow chit-chat about the family or golf. Advice from a lawyer who knows the client's business and industry builds the client's trust and confidence.
* Treat colleagues as clients and integrate your practice with others in the firm. Your own colleagues and their relationships with the outside world are an outstanding and underused source of new business, and working to expand them gives others a stake in your success.
* Make yourself invaluable by going the extra mile and identifying clients' future needs. Suggest articles or webinars on new business trends and don't charge for it. When you become truly invaluable to a client, you will always compete successfully for their business.
A final thought is implicit in traveling each path. Treat everyone - clients, colleagues and vendors alike - with the same civility and respect you wish to receive. The truly successful person never has to worry about the comments made by others when out of earshot.