Orchestrate Your Future

Does your team know what it takes to be an “A” player?

I talk with my clients a lot about the importance of working with “A” clients.  Why?  “A” clients are a pleasure to work with, they listen to your advice, they pay their bills, and they refer other “A” clients to you.  “D” clients on the other hand . . . well.  The other great thing about “A” clients is that you love working with them.  While there are some universal truths about “A” clients, like the ones I’ve listed above, every attorney can add to the list with specific characteristics that are key for their “A” clients.  One more thing: “A” clients also generate most of your firm’s profit.  It is very important for you to know what constitutes an “A” client for your firm.

It’s equally important for you to know what constitutes an “A” player on your team.  And you need to let your team members know what you expect – clearly and unambiguously.  Why not create specific, written criteria for A, B, C and D players?   Let your team know what it takes to be an “A” player.  Create a written agreement, ask them to sign it, and commit to being an “A” player.  Then, if they should start to fall short of the mark, you can pull out the agreement and use it as a coaching tool to get them back on track. 

People cannot excel if they don’t know what’s expected of them.  Let your players know what you want from them, and they will either hit the target or they won’t.  But at least they’ll be able to see it.

Marketing Rule #1: Become a natural marketer.

Attorneys tell me all the time, “Nora, I’m no good at marketing. I’m just not a natural marketer.  I don’t like talking about myself.”  I tell them, “Phooey!  You can learn to be a natural marketer.”  Before we go any further, let’s define marketing.  According to the American Marketing Association, “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”  Whew.  That’s a mouthful.  Here’s a simpler way to say it: Marketing is about knowing what you do, knowing who your ideal clients are, and building relationships that get those clients knocking on your door. 

So you’re thinking, “Of course, I know what I do.  I’m a lawyer.  And a fine one, at that.”   OK, but being a lawyer is part of who you are, not what you “do.” As a lawyer, you guide people through some of the most difficult and challenging times of their lives.  Maybe you help them survive the break-up of a marriage or a business.  Maybe you help them find a way to survive after an injury leaves them unable to work or they’ve been illegally fired from a job.  Knowing what you “do,” and how you help people is critical to marketing your services.  It might be difficult for you to talk about yourself, but you should be able to speak with passion about what you do for your clients.

Next you need to know who your ideal clients are.  When you know who your ideal clients are, then you can begin to develop relationships with those people that surround your ideal clients.  Let’s say, you’re a family law attorney, and your ideal clients are professional people with a high net worth. Who are those types of people surrounded by?  How about starting with financial planners, investment bankers, and business law attorneys?  Once you know who your ideal clients are and the types of people they are surrounded by, then you can get to work building relationships with the right people.

Finally, you need to build real relationships that create great referrals for you.  The focus here is on “real relationships,” not relationships just for the purpose of getting referrals, but relationships out of which great referrals grow.  In my example above, I mentioned business law attorneys as great referral source for a family law attorney.  There are a lot of business law attorneys out there.  But you’re not going to build relationships with all of them. You’re going to meet as many business law attorneys as you can, and then, you’re going to build relationships with the one, or two or three that you really hit it off with.  You’re going to build real relationships with people you like, and you’re going to get to know them and trust them.  And they’re going to get to know, like and trust you.  You’re going to become a great referral source for them, and they for you.  It’s a beautiful thing!

Want to be a better leader? Get to know yourself.

In Hamlet, Polonius prepares his son, Laertes for travel with the following advice – “This above all: To thine own self be true.” Unless leaders can first be true to themselves, they cannot be true to others.  Great leaders follow Polonius’ advice, although it is no easy task.  To be true to yourself, means to know yourself.  To know yourself you must be self-aware.  Self-awareness means understanding ourselves – and understanding how we are perceived by others.  

Why is self-awareness important?  Because without self-awareness we can get caught up in behaviors that are inconsistent with our own values and beliefs.  Without self-awareness, we may not have the courage to say “no” to the unimportant things in life so that we can focus on the truly important.  Without self-awareness, leaders may fear appearing vulnerable.  Without self-awareness, leaders can’t understand how their characteristics and behaviors are impacting other people.  Self-awareness is the ability to understand ourselves and our characteristics, and utilize our characteristics in ways that serve us best. 

In her book, Lawyer, Know Thyself, Susan Daicoff explains that some of the very characteristics that make lawyers successful in the courtroom can lead to problems in a more collaborative environment.

"For example, being a predominantly rational, objective, competitive and argumentative sort of person may allow one to function well as an advocate during the workday, but be quite destructive to one’s interpersonal relationships.  It may bleed over into being hostile, argumentative, and aggressive in all situations, which could hamper one’s ability to relate well with others, and thus impair one’s ability to garner social and collegial support."

In other words, when you’re leading your next staff meeting, remember, it’s not an adversarial contest.  If you lack self-awareness, you may not realize that the characteristics that serve you well in the courtroom, may not serve you well at all in your work as the leader of your firm – or your family. 

Ironically, you may notice certain characteristics in your colleagues, yet not be aware of them in yourself. All too often, behavior we dislike in others is the very behavior we sometimes exhibit.  And while we may refuse to recognize our own problem behaviors, they may be very obvious to those around us.

"If we can stop, listen, and think about what others are seeing in us, we have a great opportunity.  We can compare the self that we want to be with the self that we are presenting to the world.  We can then begin to make real changes that are needed to close the gap between our stated values and our actual behavior."

From What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, by Marshall Goldsmith

Are you tweeting yet? IMHO U shld be.

Lawyers are not what you call “early adapters.”  I’ve heard lots of stories over the years about the attorney who had a computer “just for show,” but never actually used it.  You’ve probably heard similar tales.  After all, the profession is based on precedent.  Attorneys focus on the past . . . a lot.  Well, here’s an answer for everyone who’s wondering whether they should . . . be on Facebook?  start Tweeting?  get LinkedIn?  The answer is a resounding YES.  These web-based services, and others like AVVO, are all part of social media marketing.  And if you don’t have a presence on these sites you are missing out on some great marketing opportunities.

What is Social Media Marketing?  Social media marketing is the equivalent of good old relationship-based marketing, with one big difference – the interactions occur on-line rather than face-to-face.  Think of developing your on-line presence in the same way you develop personal relationships with your referral sources and influencers.  Be genuine.  Be trustworthy. Give more than you take.  Be a “connector” – introduce colleagues who have mutual interests or who can assist each other.  Be professional, but friendly.  If you follow these simple guidelines as you grow your on-line presence, you’ll not only grow your practice, you just might have some fun in the process.  

If you’d like to dip your toe in the social media marketing pool, Twitter is a great place to start.  Before you get started, check out Twitter For Lawyers, by Charleston divorce and custody attorney, Melissa F. Brown.  Check out Melissa’s Twitter page, too: www.twitter.com/ComplexDivorce 

Is Your Firm at Risk for Fraud and Embezzlement?

The answer to that question is an unsettling, “Yes.”  A recent study conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) found that increased financial pressures during the economic crisis have led to an overall increase in fraud.  The survey also found that “employees pose the greatest fraud thread in the current economy.”  And law firms are especially vulnerable.  An article in the June 8 issue of the National Law Journal reported that “law firms make easy pickings for embezzlers,” and embezzlement in law firms happens most frequently in solo and small firm practices.  Why?

Michael Downey, a partner in the St. Louis office of Chicago-based Hinshaw & Culbertson, whose practice focuses on legal ethics and professional services risk management told the National Law Journalthat “attorneys tend to delegate business matters to employees and provide too little oversight.” Does that sound familiar?  Moreover, according to Downey, “In small firms, one person often handles accounts payable and receivable. It's someone whom they rely on for almost everything," Downey said. Lawyers are more interested in practicing law and too seldom trained to run businesses, he said; they're eager to hand over financial responsibilities to staff.

According to ACFE President James D. Ratley, "Loyal employees have bills to pay and families to feed. In a good economy, they would never think of committing fraud against their employers. But especially now, organizations must be vigilant during these turbulent times by ensuring proper fraud prevention procedures are in place." 

Does your firm need a fraud prevention checkup?  Click here for free fraud prevention tools from the ACFE.

Understand Influence to Influence Your Influencers

One sure fire way to be more persuasive is to engage in not-so-random acts of reciprocity.  Reciprocity is the theory that one good turn deserves another.  In Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive, by Robert Cialdini, with co-authors Noah J. Goldstein and Steve J. Martin, the law of reciprocity is defined as “the social glue that helps bring people together in cooperative relationships.” 

So how do you activate the law of reciprocity?  One simple way is to ask for favors.  By asking for favors, you’re giving people the opportunity to help you.  Having the ability to genuinely help someone makes us feel good.   So look for opportunities to ask for favors.  Be sincere and straightforward.  In D.A. Benton’s book, Executive Charisma, she suggests the following approach: “Would you do me a favor? . . . I’d be grateful,” and later, “Thank you.”

The key is sincerity.  If you are insincere or manipulative, people will know it.  For more on reciprocity, click here to visit the Harvard Business Blog.

Get Rapt

For years I’ve been telling my clients that each interruption they deal with during the day is costing them, on average, 10 minutes.  Well, it looks like I’ve been wrong.  It’s more like 20 minutes!  According to research in Winifred Gallagher’s new book, Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life, it can take the brain up to 20 minutes to recover from an interruption.  So, if you’re dealing with only six unnecessary interruptions during your day, you’re losing up to two hours.  Two hours – gone.  Two hours you could be working.  Do that math over the course of a year!  Two hours you could be spending with your loved ones or golfing or biking or on your boat.  You get the idea.  But there is something you can do about it. 

 

The research in Gallagher’s book makes crystal clear that the idea of multi-tasking is a myth.  Our brains cannot multi-task.  They can only focus on one thing at a time.  And as we age, our ability to jump quickly from one task to another diminishes.  Maybe you’ve experienced this myth first-hand by hitting accidentally hitting “Reply to all” while talking on the phone and returning emails.

 

According to Gallagher, one of the first steps in gaining the laser-like focus we need to be most effective is to start our work day by concentrating for 90 minutes on our most important tasks.  Instead of a Power Hour, think Power 90.  After 90 minutes, you need a break, so you can answer emails and return phone calls. Schedule another Power 90 in the afternoon, if you can.  Gallagher also suggests wearing ear plugs during your Power 90 if you are easily distracted by voices or sounds.  I began using ear plugs to block out distractions when I was studying for the bar in 1992.  I recommend this strategy to my clients, as well.  These two strategies alone can dramatically improve your focus and productivity.

 

Gallagher says that attention is a finite resource, like money. The bottom line is that we have to make choices about where we “spend” our attention.  As William James said, “My experience is what I attend to.”  So get really clear about what’s most important to you and spend your attention on those things.

 

Check out Rapt for other strategies on gaining more focus and effectiveness in your work and life.

Does your team ROCK?

Before I went to law school, I was a professional musician.  I played the guitar and sang.  Still do – sometimes.  Music has always been a really big part of my life.  In fact, my first TV memory was when the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan Show. (I was only four years old, and after the show my dad bought me the “Meet the Beatles!” album.  I still have it.)  I think of just about everything in terms of music.  So when I think of a law firm, I think about it in terms of a band and all the “players” in the band.  So how’s your band?  Are you totally awesome or would Simon Cowell shame you off the stage of American Idol?  I hope you’re thinking, “We are totally awesome! We ROCK!”

But if you’re thinking, “Geez, we’d be laughed off the stage,” it’s time to do something about it.  Here’s what you can do to get started moving from laughing stock karaoke wannabes to rock stars.

First: Start paying attention to your players.  Do you have the right people in your band?  I can’t stress how important this is!  Think of the Beach Boys backing up Mick Jagger or anybody other than The Boss fronting the E Street Band.

Second: As the leader of your band, you get to write the songs and pick the playlist.  You decide who plays a solo, and when.  You even get to demand only green m&m’s in your dressing room. You get the picture.  You’re the leader.  You set the stage for success. You’re The Boss . . . literally.

Third: Practice, practice practice.  No matter how good the players, the band will never be awesome without lots and lots and lots of practice.  That means you, too, Boss. So, meet with your band every day.  Make sure everybody knows their part. Make sure the bass player is in step with the drummer and everybody is playing the same song at the same time.

Start doing these three things on a really consistent basis.  Then give your band a “shout out,” or raise your lighter (or your cell phone, depending upon your generation) in the air because you’re on your way to stardom.

Of course, like any great band, the practicing never stops.  But taking these first three steps will get you moving in the right direction.  Rock on.

Who are you . . . really?

When you envision yourself and your law practice, what do you see?  Your answer to this question will have a dramatic impact on how well you fare during these scary times.  Are you creating your firm or are you just re-creating what thousands of lawyers before you have done?  If you’ve never thought about these things, now is the time.  You can hum the same tired tune or you can orchestrate your future.  Now is the time, and the choice is yours.  You can do this.

The lawyers who will thrive in the coming years are those who have created their own vision of what their law firm can be.  And who then get busy making that vision a reality.  Those that thrive will bring a true spirit of entrepreneurship to their firms.  They’ll wake up every morning with one burning question: “How can we serve our clients better?” 

So get busy.  Start by asking yourself and your team the question: “How can we serve our clients better?”  Make a list.  Get going.  Start renewing.  Start reinventing.  Take it one step at a time.  You will get there. 

Don’t be overwhelmed by the work that you discover must be done.  One step at a time.  Symphonies aren’t written overnight.  They are written note by note, line by line, measure by measure.  Your life and law practice can be that symphony or samba or rock 'n roll anthem.  Just start.  Now.

Is email driving you crazy?

That’s what they call a rhetorical question – according to Webster’s “a question to which only one answer may be made.”  And I know the answer to this question is a resounding, YES!  Every lawyer I talk to is driven to distraction by email.  - Too many, not enough time to deal with them, an overflowing inbox.  One tip: Your inbox is not your to do list.  It’s not the place to leave emails thinking, “I’ll get to that later.”  If you treat your inbox like your to do list, you’ll soon have hundreds (dare I say thousands?) of emails staring at you each morning just screaming for your attention.

Instead, create folders that work for you.  Create folders for each client, with sub-folders for specific matters or projects.  You may also want to create folders for administrative tasks, volunteer or bar association work, and other projects. And for each email in your inbox decide whether to: 1) Do it – Answer it, if you can “do it” in two minutes or less. 2) Defer it – If it is something that requires more thought or research, file it in an appropriate folder for follow-up. 3) Delegate it – If it is something someone else can handle for you, then delegate it. 4) Delete it! 
 
Block time to work through your inbox applying these rules. I like to refer to this block & tackle time as "trashing my inbox" because that's where so many emails land. Then set a magic number for yourself: “No more than 15 (or some other relatively low number) emails in my inbox.”  Of course, sometimes (most days) you’ll exceed this.  But make it your goal to get back to 15 as soon as you can, and don’t let email creep take over your inbox.  Block at least one hour each week to trash your inbox.  Make it a game, and reward yourself with something fun when you back to your magic number.