legal sanity

Like many lawyers – solos and others – I often emerge from the whirlwind that’s work and life to find that I’ve fallen out of touch with people in my business network. Especially at this time of year, when closing out the old and ringing in the new, I’m pulled to fix these broken connections.

I know that many professionals send out holiday cards and gifts as means to this end. While these offerings certainly can connect us with clients and business associates we’ve lost touch with, they’re largely one-way lines of communication.

A better route to re-connection runs two ways. It’s an organic dialogue that lends a human dimension to our business relationships.

Curt Rosengren illustrated this point when he invited me to be part of his Reconnection Revolution. Noting that “there's something about that real time ear-to-ear interaction that just takes the connection to the next level,” Curt pledged to have “30 conversations in 30 days with people I've never actually spoken with (as in voice) before. No particular agenda to the conversations – just seeing what I learn, how I’m inspired, and what new ideas pop up.”

I “know” Curt from the blogosphere and regularly link to his work from legal sanity. Still, ours was an arms-length association at best. We reduced a good bit of that distance during our hour-long phone conversation. We discussed our personal and professional backgrounds, goals and challenges and offered one another advice and support.

Reflecting on his 30-day mission, Curt said: “People start talking, building relationships, exchanging ideas, even finding ways to collaborate. Next thing you know – hey presto! – the positive potential has just grown exponentially.”

Lawyers and other service providers can use Curt’s model to repair the broken connections in our business network. As he points out, we don’t have to follow his 30-in-30 formula. We can customize it to make it workable for us: think 5-in-5 or even 5-in-10 and see what happens over time.