legal sanity

In my last post, I mentioned that I was participating in a Haitian earthquake relief fundraiser organized by my brother, Steven Herz, and his team at New York’s If Management.  

On only 48 hours notice, over 200 people attended the event last night and raised more than $3,500 for relief work being done through the nonprofit Esperanza International Foundation. NBC News correspondent Jenna Wolfe spoke poignantly about her experiences covering the disaster. She left us with a deep impression that the images we see every day can’t possibly capture the real human toll and devastation in Haiti.

The evening’s tremendous success is a tribute to the generosity of many. It also evidences the importance and power of building and nurturing a vibrant business network. My brother has always been a skilled networker. But, much more than that, he’s always channeled this talent to benefit and uplift others.

If you’re interested, you can learn more about Esperanza’s Haitian disaster relief initiatives here and can make an online donation here.

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The other day, I attended my son’s holiday celebration in his third-grade classroom. To capture the true spirit and meaning of the season, the kids took turns standing up in pairs and reading narratives about one another.

These weren’t fill-in-the-blank recitations. They were insightful and moving reflections. With their teacher’s guidance, the kids had taken the time to see and chronicle the world through their classmates’ eyes. This, of course, left nary a dry eye among us parents.

In my last post, I suggested that lawyers can benefit from seeing matters through our clients’ eyes. This requires us to set our own preconceptions aside. As John Baldoni notes in his recent post at (the just-revamped) Harvard Business Review, it also requires us to keep our egos in check.

Adding to the conversation, Seth Godin comments that gaining and keeping this other-focus can be tough when we’re so used to trying to get people to see things our way. (Lawyers are, after all, in the persuasion business.)

But, it can be done.

Pamela Slim offers us some pointers in a recent post on creating a client-centered, natural business model. Like Kathie Conway of Brains on Fire, you might also find that sharing personal stories is a direct route to learning about the people we work with and want to work with.

On the flip side, some suggest that you can’t really know others if you don’t have a strong sense of who you are. Those in need of some guided self-reflection can start with Seth Godin’s engaging 8 questions and a why.

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When it comes to continuing legal education (CLE), most of us think in the very black and white terms of meeting our state’s mandate. But, my thinking has been colorized a bit by the convergence of three forces:

• A Ms. JD post on extending legal education
• Recent coverage of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s new ACC Value Index (allowing/encouraging its members to "share ratings of law firms based on client satisfaction")
• Dispute resolution expert Diane Levin’s compelling look at self-awareness.

As I’ve been exploring here for a while, the recession-driven shake-up - along with other changes in the legal profession and larger cultural shifts - have created an unprecedented opportunity for us to remake our legal services. The first step in this redesign process is to set our foundation. This is a composite of our own interests, skills and strengths and the interests, needs and concerns of the people we want to help.

Establishing this base involves a good amount of self-study. Beyond spending time in self-reflection, we can gather input from trusted colleagues and friends. We can also tap the wisdom of experts and influencers outside the legal profession (here a list to source courtesy of Inc.). For example, Seth Godin offers these insightful posts:

• Everyone is clueless
• Help your customers avoid taking responsibility
• The why imperative

We can also gain some perspective from this Fast Company article on redesigning the worst NFL helmet graphics and this NYT piece on reinventing America's cities.

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For the last few years, I’ve devoted a lot of space here to the idea and practice of client-centricity. You can sample my take on the topic via posts like these:

evangelizing legal service delivery 

client experience management 

legal service delivery: what controls the client experience 

are you remarkable?

client centered care 

(re)designing legal service delivery around the client experience (introducing my legal sanity mentor series

why it’s a great time to be a village lawyer 

I based these posts on insights gained from business and marketing experts outside the legal profession. But, client-centricity isn’t unknown in the law. To the contrary, our profession is firmly rooted in this kind of intimate, human-to-human service. Arguably, like the mom and pop shops on main street, it was a norm until larger market forces emerged in the form of BigLaw and the billable hour.

Given our rich history, I prefer to look at client-centricity as a lost art that’s poised for rediscovery now that the legal profession is shifting under the weight (or, jolt) of the economic downturn. As we reclaim this part of our past – and adapt it to a new generation of clients – we can take some tips from articles on creating client-centric services, including a recent one from Business Week on The Art of the Soft Sell.

The article discusses the customer-centric, or consultative, sales process that’s based on “showing how your product or service can help solve a customer's problem.” One of the quoted experts is my friend and colleague Adrian Miller, founder of Adrian Miller Sales Training. According to Adrian, "Consultative salespeople are problem solvers and conceptual thinkers and tend to look at the big picture."

If you want to learn more about offering client-centric legal services as an adept problem solver, stay tuned for my interview with Adrian Miller in the next installment of the legal sanity mentor

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Last week, I discussed why clients and prospective clients view lawyers as commodities. I suggested that we can avoid this type of identity crisis (yes, I think that being labeled a commodity is not a good thing) by taking some time to figure out what the people we help really want from us beyond fairly priced services.

I found some good guidance and inspiration on this front in a remarkablogger post titled Why You Are Not A Service Provider. In it, blogger Michael Martine notes that consumers of services “suffer from pain, but it’s more of a situational, logistical, or anxiety-based kind of pain. Our clients don’t necessarily want services. [ ] They want their problem to go away—preferably with as little involvement as possible on their part.” He goes on to suggest that we, and our businesses, will fare much better if we think of ourselves as “problems solvers” rather than “service providers.”

Martine adds some meat to this anti-commodity bone in a related post on How to Be a Godsend. He suggests that answering this “one simple question” can make our practices thrive: What is the painful and protracted problem you solve? When you solve this kind of problem (or, these kinds of problems) for your clients, you’re a godsend in their eyes.

For some additional insight into ways to avoid the commodity label, you can read Anthony Tjan’s recent Harvard Business post on the way small companies succeed by infusing their customer service with common sense and empathy.

If you’re in the NYC on November 5, 2009, you can gain practical tips on being the problem solver your clients need by participating in the New York City Bar’s Sixth Annual Law Practice Management Symposium. This year’s event offers a range of workshops on Jumping In and Staying Afloat in Your Solo or Small Firm Practice. I’ll be speaking as part of a plenary session on Cultivating Work-Life Synergy.

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Through my daily reads, I tapped into an interesting conversation about the commoditization of design services. One point that stood out for me is how the traditional client-provider relationship gets flipped when the service and its offerer are seen as commodities. As one observer puts it: “Suddenly a client can define all aspects of a job from price to design, causing the designer’s role to change from that of a professional to that of a technician.”

This isn’t a wholly client-led phenomenon. It’s been fueled by the advent of online job boards and tournaments as well as a proliferation of designers who are quick to lower their rates in order to book the job.

Of course, this flip isn’t unique to the design world. As I’ve posted here before, a lot of people believe that lawyers are unremarkable and interchangeable. According to a Chicago Lawyer article on law as a commodity, there may be something to this since technology has taken the craft and nuance out of many tasks lawyers routinely undertake.

Some lawyers might not mind being considered commodities. Certainly, you can try to build and sustain a business on a platform of out-pricing the competition. But, my guess is that many more of us bristle at the commodity label. We want to be valued for more than just a competitive rate. We want to be recognized for the high quality of the services we provide our clients. So, what do we do to get the valuing and recognition we want and deserve?

One way is to get a better fix on what the people we help really want from us. Yes, they need fairly priced services. But, according to a range of experts, they’re also looking for service providers who share their interests, needs and concerns – who are part of their tribe. Putting his spin on the issue, marketing expert John Jantsch encourages us to pierce the commodity veil by giving clients what they’re hungry for: Community, experience, information and transformation.

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Due to the summer posting hiatus, it’s been a little while since the last installment in my series of posts on redesigning legal services around the client experience.  

I’ve always been a proponent of the idea that it’s really hard for unhappy lawyers to provide great client service. To put it another way: The lawyer experience and client experience are two sides of the same coin. You can get a good sense of what I’m driving at by sampling some of my archived posts on the subject:

lawyer experience management 

creating a firm culture that enhances the lawyer experience 

lawyers as user-innovators

can law firms change to meet user demand?

With the recession-fueled law firm shake-ups, the lawyer experience has become a front burner issue for many displaced practitioners as they contemplate their next professional steps.

Kathleen Brady is an expert in career planning for lawyers. I first met Kathy when I was a student and she was Assistant Dean of Career Services at Fordham University School of Law. I asked her to dialogue with me about her work with lawyers going through career transition.

AH You must be busy.

KB Yes, I’m incredibility busy doing outplacement work for law firms.

AH Is it frustrating? How do you deal with fact that there are more lawyers than jobs?

KB We’re not head hunters, so our success isn’t measured by the number of jobs we help people get. Rather, we help lawyers move through the transition process.

AH I like that, helping people through a process. What emotions do you come across?

KB Emotions across the board – from truly relieved because they hated what they were doing to shocked, devastated and appalled because they did everything they were supposed to do and still find themselves out of work.

AH How do you help people deal with the emotions?

KB It’s really important to let them feel what they’re feeling and work through that. If they don’t, the emotions come out at the worst times, like, during job interviews.

AH What does it mean to let them feel what they’re feeling?

KB  It means encouraging them to express their feelings – to vent, cry, etc. We let them know it's OK to be emotional. But, the key is to not let them get stuck in their emotions. To prevent this immobility, we help people focus on effective steps they can take to move forward in their career. That said, when people present additional issues – such as depression, eating disorders or substance abuse - it’s important to recognize the limitations of your counseling abilities. A few psych courses in college or grad school doesn’t qualify me, or most other career counselors, to address those issues. You have to know enough to know when you need to make a referral.

AH  What’s the biggest challenge to getting lawyers-in-transition to experience and embrace this forward momentum?

KB The biggest challenge is convincing them that the job loss, especially a layoff, isn’t personal. It’s challenging because there’s nothing more personal than losing your job. This is where support groups and other resources (bar associations, alumni groups and virtual communities) are vital. Being able to see the common ground, how the recession is hitting everyone, makes it less of a personal slight.

AH Is there a silver lining here when it comes to the lawyer experience?

KB Yes there’s a huge one; particularly for new lawyers. Before the most recent recession, many lawyers moved into their careers without thinking about long-term goals. After a few years, they’d look up and realize they were miserable. Then, they would go through a process of figuring out what they wanted from their career. This process of taking a hard look at your career is happening en masse now and it’s a good thing. Lawyers have a chance to be more deliberate in how they shape their career in the law or on a more non-traditional path.

AH Is there one skill that’s vital to successfully navigating this path to a positive lawyer experience?

KB I’d say networking and business relationship skills are vital. For example, many lawyers spend all their time searching for a job on the internet. They send out 500 resumes to little or no avail. The best way to find a job is to use all your resources. If you see something online, find someone you know at the firm and get your resume to them. If you don’t know anyone there, use your network to make a connection. Connecting with people can be hard work, but it’s a great skill to hone because it’s the same skill set that helps you build relationships for business development and career advancement.

AH Any final words of advice?

KB Young lawyers need to reset their expectations. Some still are convinced that they need to work at the biggest and most prestigious firms. But, they really need to consider where they can acquire the skills they need to get where they want to be in the long term  They need to seriously consider: “Does this job take me closer to my dreams or take me away from them?”

Thank you, Kathleen, for helping us better understand how we can optimize the lawyer experience, even in these difficult times.

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As we were driving from one weekend activity to the next in our small New York suburb, my middle child looked up from her cell phone and, in an iPod-induced-too-loud-voice, said, “I love this town. It’s pretty, friendly and makes me feel safe.” I think she gave voice to what many of us feel and experience in our personal and professional lives.

When people engage lawyers – especially in contentious matters - they often arrive at our door feeling unsafe and insecure. As much as they want our legal advice and guidance, they’re also expecting that we’ll help them gain/regain a sense of safety and security. The problem is that many lawyers are unaware of their clients’ emotional needs. As a result, clients quickly frustrate and the attorney-client relationship becomes stressful and unproductive all around.

One good solution stems from knowing what it means to be a village lawyer. Put a bit differently, lawyers benefit from understanding what millions of people, including my daughter, so positively respond to about the villages in their lives. With that knowledge and understanding, we can focus on figuring out how to recreate that village sensibility for our clients’ (and our own) benefit. 

Addressing this topic, one of my favorite bloggers, Sonia Simone, writes that it’s a great time to start and nurture a village business.

While village businesses aren’t bound by brick and mortar or geographical limits, they are “personal, intimate, and human-scaled” and “serve a relatively small number of people.” Even if you’re a lawyer in a large firm, you can still be a village lawyer because you’re likely dealing with a small number of clients. As village lawyers, we share a common bond with our clients because we understand and relate to their common needs, interests and concerns.

When it comes to client service, Simone notes the importance of giving people “a place to get together. To know you better, and know one another better.” We can accomplish this virtually or face-to-face.

If you’re excited by the prospect of creating an online community for your villagers, you’ll find some thought-provoking considerations in this Social media Strategy Checklist by ClickZ’s Sean Carton. Chris Brogan enhances the dialogue by detailing 5 Things Small Business Owners Should Do Today Online.

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Yes, I know. A lot of lawyers recoil at the thought of being salespeople. We develop business. We network. But, we don’t sell our legal services.

With the economy remaining tight and consumers becoming even more discerning, maybe the time has come to reconsider this hardline stance. Or, maybe it’s time to rephrase the question to make it a bit more palatable.

How about: What are your clients buying?

According to marketing expert John Jantsch; no matter what’s in the sales hopper (greeting cards, HVAC supplies or legal services), “at the end of the day, [people] buy some variation of the same five things.” They buy products and solutions that:

• Make them more money
• Save them more time
• Allow them to avoid the frustration of doing stuff they don’t like
• Help them save or not lose money today and in future
• Help them feel better about themselves

Jantsch goes on to note that we can focus our energy on just one of these selling points or “come up with ways to mix and match” them. Of course, no matter how we decide to go, we need to have a solid sense of who our clients are and the problems they have that we can and want to help them solve with our legal services.

If you need some insight into the psyche of today’s consumers (a/k/a our clients), this article on recession-proof products offers some good food for thought (think chocolate and alcohol).

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When it comes to the topic of (re)designing client-centric legal services, I’ve found a muse in Spike Jones. One of the visionaries at Brains on Fire, a company at the crossroads of identity development and word of mouth marketing, Spike helps organizations build movements.

Having drawn from his observations a bunch of times, I was delighted to have the chance to talk to Spike about his work and how it relates to the law. We opened the conversation by recognizing that we’re kindred spirits of sorts in that lawyers belong to the #1 most mistrusted profession while advertisers rank at #2.

AH: What’s the essence of your work at Brains on Fire?

SJ: We specialize in creating word of mouth movements by helping organizations roll up their sleeves and forge deep connections with their customers and employees.

AH: Can this work for modern-day law firms?

SJ: Well, I’ll use our company as an example of why it can. Marketing firms, even niche ones, are commodities. For each one, there are thousands of others doing the same thing. At Brains on Fire, we differentiate ourselves by trying really hard to make sure people know who we are and what we stand for. We got rid of time sheets, which are standard in our industry. This was huge. We try to embrace our kindred spirits by offering resources to a range of people - even those who won’t end up working with us; even our competitors. Differentiation happens when people come to you because you’re the thought leader who has new ideas and is trying new things.

AH: I can see this approach working for a smaller law firm. But, I wonder if it can work for bigger firms.

SJ: It can. Big companies like Microsoft are doing it. We call it opening the kimono. They’ve given hundreds, if not thousands, of their employees the freedom to blog on company time. In this way, they’re connecting with customers, each other and others in very authentic and meaningful ways. They’re letting people see Microsoft for the bumps and bruises it has, as well as the stuff it does really well. Southwest Airlines has a similarly open company culture. It starts on the inside, with this willingness to give individual employees their voice.

AH: This kind of transparency, this willingness to expose bumps, bruises and missteps, doesn’t seem to exist right now in the legal profession. Firms are very guarded and, at best, give their lawyers limited freedom to blog on the firm’s time.

SJ: This is huge. Companies are made up of people and people are fallible. When you go around saying “our company never messes up,” people see right through that and they can’t wait for you to mess up because then they can call you on it. So, if you say, “look, we don’t do this well, but the only way we can get better is with your help,” this is a refreshing entry into a conversation that goes on with or without you.

AH: I love that “we need your help.” It’s a wonderful way for law firms to engage their clients and employees. These are people who want to step up and be valuable and important.

SJ: Yes, and this plays into the point that there’s a need inside people to be part of something that’s bigger than they are. The firms who figure this out win. You’re no longer a law firm made up of lawyers, you’re a law firm made up of people. And people connect with people.

AH: Yes, that’s right. When you connect with other human beings in meaningful ways, you’re no longer a commodity. You’re a service provider in the true sense.

This was a very inspiring dialogue and I thank Spike for offering his insights on how law firms can engage clients and employees to ignite a movement.

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At this very moment (and now …. and now), thousands of lawyers are wondering where to go and what to do next.

You’ve been laid off.

You just graduated law school and can’t find a job.

You’re an associate in a firm where morale is at rock bottom and you never see daylight.

Finances, family obligations, pride and other real and imagined forces compel you to take some sort of action.

So, you weigh your options: You can network (on social sites and old school). You can identify and build your personal brand. You can go solo and start your own practice. Or, harnessing you interests, passions, concerns and lawyer skills, you can lead a tribe and create a movement.

According to thinkers/experts like Seth Godin and Spike Jones, most of us – yes, including most of us lawyers - yearn to connect around common interests, goals and passions. People sharing this kind of common bond form a single, but scattered, tribe. Tribes are everywhere.

And, today, leadership is about recognizing a tribe (either because you’re in it or committed to its goals) and helping its members satisfy their desperation to connect. You don’t have to reach out to thousands of people at once. You just need to make the initial connection to a small group (Godin calls them the True Believers) and the next group will follow, and so on, bit by bit, until you have a genuine movement.

So …

If you’re a lawyer who’s navigated the difficult road to adopting a child overseas and are passionate about helping others involved in that journey, there’s a tribe for you to lead in your personal and professional capacities.

If you’re a cycling enthusiast who’s seen one too many preventable accidents that caused major injuries, there’s a tribe for you to organize and lead by engaging your legal skill set and other talents.

If you’re a lawyer who loves animals and believe that they deserve to be treated humanely in life and after, you have a tribe that’s waiting for your leadership and the positive change that can come from it.

Whether you lead your tribe as a solo practitioner, a partner in a boutique firm or a biglaw associate, the opportunity is there to challenge the status quo, build a culture and forge a career path that’s rewarding on many levels.

If you want to learn more about tribal leadership and igniting a movement, you can watch Seth Godin’s TED conference talk and read his interview with Brian Clark of Copyblogger.

Later this month, I’ll post on the dialogue I recently had with Spike Jones as part of my Legal Sanity Mentor series on redesigning legal services around the client experience. In the interim, you can read the ChangeThis Manifesto his company, Brains on Fire, just published on Igniting Word of Mouth Movements and this follow-up post.

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My introduction to Jason Mendelson came by way of a compelling how-to blog post he wrote titled: Quick Ways To Get Fired as a Lawyer. From the first read through, it's clear that Jason knows what he’s talking about. As a self-proclaimed “recovering lawyer” and successful VC with his own company, Foundry Group. he’s gained insight into the best and worst of legal service delivery from both sides of the fence.

Through the wonders of six-degrees-of-separation (many thanks to Debbie Huttner and Michael Huttner), I connected with Jason and had a lively discussion on the topic of re-designing legal services around the client experience.

AH: How many lawyers have you worked with over the years?

JM: 2,000-3,000.

AH: What percentage of these lawyers were excellent?

JM: 5%

AH: What makes a lawyer that pretty rare kind of advisor that inspires client evangelism – someone who provides such meaningful service that clients voluntarily shout his or her praises?

JM: I think it’s a combination of factors:

1.   Team Feeling/Proactive Representation: You want to get the sense that your lawyer is part of your team and interested in your business. You want them to be there for you and thinking about you/your business when you need them to, and also thinking about you/your business even when you don’t need them for a particular matter. This sounds obvious but it rarely happens.

2.   Consistency: This means not swapping out people. For example, in the initial meeting, you meet with certain lawyers, you build rapport and a connection with them and then you end up with different lawyers working on your deal. 

3.   Creativity: If you can think creatively and strategically on how to manage the legal issue in an efficient and effective way, you will get into the Lawyer Rock Star Hall of Fame.

 AH: That gives us a good sense of the lawyer’s side of the coin. Are clients at all responsible for creating their own positive experiences with legal service consumption/delivery?

 JM: The irony is that people who hire lawyers have no idea if the lawyer is any good. I give entrepreneurs 5-6 questions to ask potential lawyers when interviewing them. But the truth is that any lawyer can get past those questions. The best is to ask present or former clients of that lawyer/law firm and to ask other lawyers who have worked with the lawyer on opposite sides of a deal or dispute. Lots of lawyers can get a great reference, show up and woo you in a board meeting but then they don’t really know how to get the work done. They don’t do quality work.

So, yes, I think the client has some responsibility for ensuring their own positive service delivery experience. I riff on this in my Lawyer Bill of Rights. If a client doesn’t follow it, the client has no right to complain.

Thanks, Jason, for lending your insights into client experience design and helping us build legal sanity.

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Even though there’s been a bit more encouraging news about the state of the economy, the media (mainstream and otherwise) still inundates us with story after story of global, national, local, professional and personal crises in the face of the financial undertow. Even my 8-year-old - who’s mood largely rises and falls with the performance of his beloved New York Mets - told me the other day that people on the news look so unhappy or angry that “they should just call it the ‘bad news hour.’”

He makes a great point. As lawyers, on the professional front alone, we consume huge helpings of bad news every day – from mainstream media coverage of the economic downturn to niche stories on the sorry state of the legal profession and the latest tallies on law firm firings and closures. It can be a real challenge to not get weighed down and stressed out on this steady diet of negativity.

So, I was very heartened to read a great Harvard Business post in which leadership consultant John Baldoni compels us to Find Ways to Make Good News. Baldoni opens by crediting CNN for its coverage of the life and death of Stephen Tyrone Johns, a Holocaust Museum security guard who was shot and killed in the line of duty by a white supremacist. He then asserts that business leaders owe themselves and their “people” a “break from the relentless progress of bad news.” To help them along, Baldoni suggests that they find and share one piece of good news every day. Or, taking it a step further, they can make some good news via their own positive actions.

You’ll find some complementary tips and tools in this New York Times story on Dealing with Recession-Related Stress. If you’re in the Washington, DC Metro Area on June 24-26, my friend and colleague Charlie Badenhop is leading a stress management workshop for coaches, consultants, leaders and other professionals. You can learn more about it here.

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Regular readers here know that I’m a big fan of author/right-brain-champion Daniel Pink and his take on our new Conceptual Economy that places a premium on creativity in business.

Lawyers aren’t known for being a creative lot. This is evidenced by the enduring nature of the billable hour over alternative fee structures, among other business practices. Some will undoubtedly say: “You can’t change our stripes. Creativity is best left to other professions.” But, I think this is a copout. There’s a wealth of creativity to be tapped in our ranks if we can just find the right inspiration and outlets.

On the inspiration side, you can take a look at a great series of Fast Company posts on the business of creativity, including one featuring the 10 Most Creative People in Sports and one on the Top 10 Most Creative People in Health Care. Imagine what a post on the Top 10 Most Creative People in the Law would include.

On the outlet side, maybe it’s about taking baby steps to tapping and expressing our creativity. Marketing is one area that’s creativity-friendly. Lawyers are already venturing into this creative realm via LinkedIn; Twitter and Facebook.

For more on the marketing front, there’s a great new book from legal marketing expert Paula Black titled: The Little Black Book: A Lawyer’s Guide to Creating a Marketing Habit in 21 Days. If you purchase the book in the next 48 hours, you’ll also receive The Smart Lawyer’s Toolkit, a compilation of advice from more than 30 sought-after experts in the legal arena (including yours truly). My advice comes by way of an interview I did with Gerry Riskin, author of The Successful Lawyer, about the challenges facing attorneys in today's economy. You can learn more about Paula’s book and complementary toolkit here.

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Lately, when I’ve been out and about for business and socially, I’ve noticed that conversations often turn to the topic of happiness – what true happiness is; what makes us happy; what makes us unhappy (and variations on these themes). The topic also seems to be winding its way through the commercial space, where you’ll find sentimental/upbeat ads like this one from Allsate and this from Target. I suppose this all makes a lot of sense. When we’re challenged in our lives – physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually – we start asking the “big questions” about meaning and fulfillment.

In its first incarnation, this blog focused quite a bit on the malaise plaguing the legal profession and people who inhabit it. As part of my investigation into the problem and search for solutions, I read and commented on the rocky road to lawyer happiness. In one of the more recent posts on the subject, I mentioned the important work attorney Daniel Lukasik is doing through his website, Lawyers with Depression.

Part of decoding happiness in any given population is getting an honest accounting of what might put that milestone out of reach. Daniel offers us that candid insight via his website and new companion blog. You can gain additional insight from lawyer Timothy A. Tosta’s article on Overcoming Stickiness, this post on lawyer burnout and this article offering help for attorneys in crisis.

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A couple of months ago, I wrote a post around this question: What inspires you in the law and in life?

I’m very drawn to the topic, and exploration, of inspiration. In these uncertain times, discovering what inspires us can be both grounding and uplifting.

Over at her blog, Build a Solo Practice @ SPU, Susan Cartier Liebel tells us about the lifelong inspiration she’s gained from her mom’s aversion to the words “I Can’t." We can also find inspiration in great design and natural beauty.

Some times, when we’re feeling particularly challenged professionally or personally, inspiration comes in the form of another human being; a friend, colleague or total stranger who gives us a sense of hope or much-needed perspective on the possibility life holds. My mother recently sent me a video story about golf enthusiast D.J. Gregory.

Born with cerebral palsy, the 30-year-old, against all odds, walked every hole of every 2008 PGA tournament. In all, he traveled through 44 tournaments, 180 rounds, 3256 holes and over 900 miles on foot. I was so inspired by his story and believe you will be, too.  Watch the video. It's well worth the 12 minutes. 

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Chrysler has let me down big time. I know, you’re probably thinking, “take a number and get in line, it’s a long one.” The company’s financial woes are already old news. But, that’s not what this is about.

This about the 2008 minivan that my kids practically live in. The subject of multiple recalls, it’s currently without A/C due to a defective hose. Chrysler knows about the problem and admits responsibility under its warranty. But, according to my dealership, the company just can’t keep up with the vast demand for replacement hoses. So, it’s been a waiting game. And, by some twist of coincidence, it’s been unseasonably hot on and off here in NY. The sizzling metal and glass box breeds major kid (and parent) crankiness, even with all the windows down. The summer months stretch out ahead.

Although the dealer claims that we’re next on the list when a hose shipment comes in, Chrysler has done some serious damage to a once solid customer relationship.

I can’t help but wonder how Chrysler would respond if it were a fly on the virtual wall that I post this on. Maybe it could take some guidance from Spike at Brains on Fire and embrace the upset it’s generated by producing a faulty A/C system and, then, not fixing the problem promptly. Or, maybe it’s a matter of fessing up to its own vulnerabilities as a company or asking whether it’s easy to deal with as a service provider (article courtesy of my business associate, Adrian Miller).

I’m sure there’s some room for making amends or, at least, stemming the tide of defecting customers. Come on Chrysler, take a look at yourself and ask, “where’s the love?”

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In my last post, I noted that we’ve entered a new age of radical transparency in which businesses must be keenly aware of their consumer community (or, communities) and make it easy for community members to offer feedback and comments. For most law firms and lawyers, this requires a big shift towards understanding, valuing and heightening the client experience.

I recently spent some time talking to law firm consultant Gerry Riskin. A co-founder and principal of Edge International, Gerry is a widely recognized expert on managing professional service firms. He shares his views at his terrific blog, Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices, and via Twitter. I asked Gerry for his thougts on client experience management.

AH: How important is the client experience?

GR: It’s extremely critical and I base that on what people have reported to me about firms they’ve worked with. For instance, the general counsel of a huge financial institution hiring literally hundreds of law firms described his favorite firm this way: “When I get there, the receptionist greets me by name and offers a decent refreshment. There’s good, current reading material in the waiting area. The person who I’m there to see comes out promptly. But, even before that, other people come along and say hello to me while I'm sitting there.”

AH: So, his experience didn’t turn on the quality, quantity or price of the legal advice he received.

GR: Right. And let's be honest, if he was in Buenos Aires and needed immediate brain surgery and the one and only brain surgeon in Buenos Aires was a jerk, he would use that jerk brain surgeon because he had no choice. But, when it's anything that more than one person can provide of equal quality, it comes down to the experience. I think – and I will include myself here - all of us would like to think of ourselves as having expertise, as being special and particularly knowledgeable. We don't like to think we're easily replicable. But, the truth is in most respects we're not unique.

AH: So, given that most firms and lawyers are indistinguishable in terms of their expertise, client experience becomes a key differentiator?

GR: Yes. And I don’t base my theory on that one example. It’s a common theme. In fact, on a recent plane trip, I sat next to next to a billionaire who's on the board of many pharmaceutical companies. I asked him to tell me about the law firms he likes and doesn’t like. Anyway, the punch line is, here is a powerful, powerful, powerful man whose biggest complaint about a law firm is his reception area experience and what he perceives to be the arrogance of partners walking through without bidding him good day. And, I bet those partners who walked by without acknowledging him were completely unaware of what they were doing (or not doing).

AH: So do you have a couple of nuggets of advice on what it takes to create the optimal client experience?

GR: Well, at the highest level of abstraction, you need to have complete empathy. Ask, “If I were the consumer of this service, what would I want?” The challenge is that we get blind spots based on familiarity. So you need fresh eyes and the best source of fresh eyes is your clients. Ask them: “Of all the law firms you've ever been to, of all the lawyers you've ever worked with, what do you like best and what should be done differently?” That allows your clients to be very candid without attacking you or your firm. You can also transpose your own experiences. Lawyers use other services, lawyers get annoyed by bad service here or delighted by good service there. Take a moment and analyze what makes your experience good or bad. Then ask the next question: “Do we do any of that in our environment?” Last, but of course not least, is training. Knowing is not doing. But, people have a very hard time getting that. They think once they know about something, they’re doing it. It's like listening. My wife says I should listen to her better so I think, oh, okay, I know the concept of listening so I'll listen to her better. But, it's not until I practice it, maybe get trained in it, maybe understand the structure of listening that I really listen better. 

AH: Gerry, you’ve offered great insight into the client experience. Thanks so much for helping us cultivate legal sanity.

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I’ve been interested in psychologist Daniel Goleman’s work since reading his book on Emotional Intelligence years ago.

Along with thinkers like:

Dan Pink 

Hugh MacLeod 

Kathy Sierra 

Chris Brogan

Tim Sanders 

Pam Slim 

Goleman has inspired me to look at the legal profession through a broader social-cultural lens.

As a culture, we’re becoming more and more right-brained in orientation. We now place a premium on authenticity, emotion, creativity, meaning and honesty in our personal and professional interactions.

In a recent post for Harvard Business, Goleman writes that consumers are calling for a new kind of openness - a radical transparency that “converts the chains that link every product and its multiple impacts — carbon footprints, chemicals of concern, treatment of workers and the like — into a force that counts in sales.”

To keep up with this demand, Goleman notes, businesses should engage their consumer community (in the law, this would be a firm’s clients, lawyers and non-legal staff) and make it easy for community members to offer feedback and comments. If they drop the ball on this front, big brother is ready to step up in the form of open mike watchdog sites like GetSatisfaction.com.

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The other day, I passed by the Shake Shack in NYC’s Madison Square Park. The crowd was thick. But, as always, people seemed more than willing to wait it out for a delectable burger or frozen treat. As I watched the scene, I caught myself thinking, “Another amazing experience brought to you by Danny Meyer.”

A restaurateur of major note, Meyer has multiple long-lived, successful eateries in a city filled with very discerning palates. In a recent talk he gave at NYU Stern, he attributed his success, in part, to “enlightened hospitality” – a focus on how the delivery of a product or service makes its recipient feel. He said you have to make customers feel that you’re on their side.

Interestingly, he also noted that, when it comes to creating a hospitable business culture, you first have to extend hospitality to the people who work for you. Only after setting this foundation can you extend it to others - like your customers, suppliers and investors.

This idea of hospitality makes a lot of sense to me and I think it's very relevant to the law. I’ve always believed that a positive law firm culture roots in a positive employee (legal and non-legal) experience. So, law firms looking to build - or rebuild - their business environment would do well to take Meyer’s lead into the hospitality business.

For more on creating a positive consumer experience (lawyers, after all, are prime consumers of law firm culture), you can take a look at these posts and articles:

Triage Customer Service

How to Nurture Relationships with Your Gem Clients

Coddle and Keep Customers 

A Lesson from the Dentist

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No. I’m not taking a continuing ed philosophy class (although that might be fun) and this isn’t an original question.

It’s inspired by a pretty well-known quote from author/motivational speaker Zig Ziglar that first came to my awareness while I was watching a great interview with marketing expert Seth Godin. More recently, it popped into my head as I read Be THAT Lawyer, Carolyn Elefant’s thoughts on creating a niche law practice, and a post from SPU’s Susan Cartier Libel titled: The Big Question: “Should You Create A Niche Practice?” (and Part II). Carolyn and Susan add a lot to a virtual conversation that’s been going on for quite some time.

I’ve participated in the dialogue on niche lawyering through posts like these:

How are you doing? 

The thinking behind lawyer brand identity

Self-expression and business relationships 

Here’s what some other lawyers have to say about niche practice and marketing:

Overcoming The Niche Bitch (Chuck Newton)

Niche thyself: Key to legal blog success (Kevin O’Keefe)

Don’t Dilute Your Niche In a Down Economy (Tom Kane)

Do You Have a Niche and What Are You Doing About It? (Tom Kane, again)

Don’t Be Tempted to Abandon Your Niche (Sara Holtz)

Developing a Niche Practice (Rudy Rivera for the ABA’s GP|Solo)

Got an Itch to Create a Niche? (N. Andrew Rotenstreich for the ABA’s Young Lawyer Division)

And here’s some sage input from a couple of non-lawyers:

How to Dominate Your Niche (Brian Clark)

Make the world smaller (Seth Godin)

I think that many new and seasoned lawyers want to be meaningful specifics instead of wandering generalities. Niche practices can certainly help you meet that goal. If you’re wandering in indecision, you might consider taking this quiz asking Does Your Work Matter to You?

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If you’re a regular reader here, you know that I devote a good bit of this space to nurturing the conversation on the lawyer-client connection. I take a bit of an unconventional approach by tapping into similar dialogues going on in other industries and disciplines - like design, health care, business management, marketing, music and non-profit development. Really, anywhere there are customers/constituents/clients, you’ll find vibrant discussions about offering them meaningful, relevant and engaging experiences via products and services.

Like thousands (millions?) of others, I gain a lot of insight on this front from marketing expert Seth Godin. Some time back, in a post titled 1000 true fans, he pointed to Kevin Kelly’s popular article by the same name.

According to Kelly:

A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living. A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. [ ] True Fanship is doable. Pleasing a True Fan is pleasurable, and invigorating. It rewards the artist to remain true, to focus on the unique aspects of their work, the qualities that True Fans appreciate. [ ] Instead of trying to reach the narrow and unlikely peaks of platinum hits, bestseller blockbusters, and celebrity status, [you] can aim for direct connection with 1,000 True Fans. It's a much saner destination to hope for. You make a living instead of a fortune. You are surrounded not by fad and fashionable infatuation, but by True Fans. And you are much more likely to actually arrive there.

While Kelly works his theory with creatives in mind, I think it applies to lawyers, especially solos. It strikes me as a second cousin of the customer evangelism theory (pdf) I’ve visited (and revisited) here - the idea (and reality) of offering such great service that your clients shout your praises until the rafters ring (or permanently ink your name on their bodies).

The challenge, and opportunity, is to figure out how to nurture and support our True Fan base. I’ll try to shed some light on this in future posts.

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Authentic. Transparent. Human.

These three words come up again and again in conversations about creating and sustaining business relationships in the current marketplace. For lawyers, this really isn’t about a new way of relating to our clients, prospects and colleagues. It’s about getting back to our roots as service providers and connecting with the people behind the legal matters we take on. The practice of law has always been about helping people solve problems, overcome challenges and meet goals. But, somewhere along the way, the legal profession (with the help of law schools) lost sight of its human nature.

Over the years, I’ve posted on the importance of bringing ourselves back to our work so we can authentically relate to our clients and others:

• Finding ourselves in our work  
• Self-awareness in the practice of law
• What lawyers can learn about the power of authenticity
• Making the connection
• Mutuality in business relationships

In his new book, Fuel the Spark: 5 Guiding Values for Success in Law & Life, Colorado attorney Kevin Houchin shares practical wisdom on cultivating an authentic life in the law. Legal Sanity Co-producer Lori Herz asked Kevin for his thoughts on (re)designing the lawyer-client relationship for a better client experience.

LH: You set out five guiding values in your book: Accept; Show Up; Pay Attention; Many irons In The Fire; and Stewardship. They’re all relevant to cultivating a meaningful life in, and outside of, the law. But, I’d like to focus on the first one – Accept. In the chapter on this guidepost, you write something that I find particularly compelling:

“There are many things about the legal profession you must simply accept because you cannot change them. But there are also many things you can change because you control your outlook, your goals, and your choices. To maintain balance in your practice and your life, you must first identify what you are willing to accept and what you are willing to accept the responsibility for changing.”

How do you think this pertains to the way lawyers can connect with clients and others in everyday practice?

KH: The possibilities here are as endless as the combinations of lawyers, clients and matters.The first level of this value aims to help us think about the types of cases we take on and what that means to society. For instance, I don't accept criminal or divorce cases. Accordingly, since I don't accept personal responsibility for changing those situations for those clients, I have accepted to let those situations exist as they are - hoping other attorneys will accept the responsibility to take the necessary steps to help society.  

At the next level, we can choose how we will interact with our clients, but it's important that we don't judge either our clients or ourselves too harshly. Each client is different, some are very business-like and don't want a lot of small talk, especially if they think the "clock is running.” Others simply want someone to listen to their full story and empathize, even if we could jump in with the answer after only a few minutes. I talk a little bit about this in the section discussing my theory that to receive respect from our clients and peers, we must first surrender our instinct to judge.

LH: Yes, in that section you encourage us to identify what we must surrender in order to receive the changes we want in our law practice. As an example of this surrender-to-receive dynamic, you write:

“When you surrender judgment, you automatically open up to the possibility that the other person is worthy of respect. In turn, that makes it easier for the other person to open up to the possibility that you are worthy of respect.”

I really like this couplet. I call this “mutuality” in business relationships – a genuine kind of give and take. Is this what you’re getting at?

KH: "Mutuality." I like that word. I hadn't thought of it exactly that way, but it works. To some extent, we have to put ourselves emotionally in the trenches with our client's immediate challenge. When they know that we are with them emotionally, as well as physically and intellectually, something changes. The trust deepens. As I discussed before, I don't take on criminal cases because I don't know if I could let myself be that open to the client in those situations. That's just me. The important thing is to know yourself well enough that you do your best to only take on cases where you are able to form this kind of emotional bond with your client. It helps you be a better lawyer, and on a practical note, it will shorten the time it takes to get paid for your work because the client knows you're not just helping them for the money.

LH: To surrender our judgment in the lawyer-client relationship, we need to really listen to our clients and not talk over and around them with a deaf ear. This syncs with another of your guiding values – Pay Attention. You write:

“We sometimes deal with clients during very difficult times in their lives, so paying attention to how they are saying something may allow you to alleviate some discomfort, heal some harm, remove some shame, and get to the bottom of the problem.”

Can you share a personal experience with this?

KH: The simplest thing happens fairly often in my office because I'm a true solo and do not have a receptionist. The phone will ring in the middle of a meeting and my client might look at me with some surprise that I don't move to answer it. This gives me a chance to let them know that I'm paying attention to them in the moment. Take it a step farther and you're squarely in the active-listening techniques. In those active listening situations, you find the chance to make the emotional connection.  Showing that you have personally made the same mistake the client made in a situation, letting them know they aren't stupid, or that others have done the same thing pretty often removes their shame and fear and helps you start solving the problem. The next step of paying attention is watching for ways to help your clients when they're not in the room - referrals or becoming a fan of their product on Facebook are good examples. Following them on Twitter is another. Basically, becoming their friend instead of just their attorney will go a long way toward helping you be a better lawyer. It will also bring you more business and help you reach your own personal goals for success.

LH: Kevin, thanks for sharing your thoughts on client service and helping us cultivate legal sanity. We wish you all the best with your new book.

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Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity– Albert Einstein

Spring. Passover. Easter. It’s the time of year when we’re reminded that we’re resilient by nature and can move through challenges to a place of renewal and possibility.

Just as we survey and fix up our personal space during a spring cleaning, we can take an honest look at our business practices and see what’s worn out, broken or just no longer useful. For many law firms and lawyers, this process will reveal some areas of client service that have fallen into disrepair.

As you assess the problem and weigh possible fixes, you can gain some inspiration and practical advice from these sources:

Five Things - Do them and Clients will Love You

Speak Your Customer’s Language

Is Your Brand Vulnerable?

Word of the day: Relevant

On being a chief evangelist

Who’s in Charge of Your Company Culture?

Roam Before You Pave

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I’m a big fan of lawyer mentoring and have given and received this guidance throughout my career. Although lawyers typically look to other lawyers to mentor them, I’ve learned a lot about business and service from people outside the legal profession.

With a nod to the value of cross-discipline mentoring, I’m starting a new feature today called the legal sanity mentor. Each month, experts and influencers across a range of fields will share their views on and around the topic of designing and delivering client-centric services.

As I’ve posted before, we’re living in an era of consumer control. Clients are no longer content to be passive recipients of legal services. They are active and educated co-creators who want us to understand and respond to them as human beings in need. The lawyers who will thrive in this new marketplace are those who place a premium on a positive client experience.

Lori Herz is legal sanity’s longtime co-producer and content director. She recently talked to Dan Formosa, an award-winning design expert and one of the founding members of Smart Design, about his firm’s approach to user-centricity.

LH: Where in your product design process does the consumer experience become relevant?

DF: It’s always relevant. We started Smart Design on the idea that design should be more about people than things. It’s important to consider the social science and psychology behind the design.

LH: How do you make the jump from that idea to reality?

DF: In our industry, people often focus on how the average person would use a product, often homogenizing people into “personas." It’s like designing things for imaginary friends. It’s very idealized. Instead, at Smart Design, we consider a wide range of people. Lately we’ve been taking the design process through a reality check that we call “6 Real People.”

LH: How do you engage the six?

DF: Actually, it’s not always six. It’s at least that many, but can be more. The point is to engage real people in a real dialogue about the products we’re working on. We photograph and videotape them talking about and using the products. We pay attention to their perceptions and reactions and really get to know them. When we talk about the products as a design team, we refer to these reality checkers and say things like, “Susan could do that, but George couldn’t.”

LH: So, since the beginning, you’ve built your design business around the user experience. I think that you broke some ground on an approach that’s now gaining momentum in the marketplace.

DF: Yes. The brand itself is no longer the lure for consumers. People make buying decisions based on other people’s experiences with a product or service (think Amazon or CNET reviews). In the design world, this creates amazing opportunities for innovating and making improvements on existing products. These same opportunities exist in other fields, like the law.

Many thanks to Dan for sharing these insights as a legal sanity mentor.

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I’m happy to announce that I’m launching a new feature here called the legal sanity mentor.

Each month, experts and influencers across a range of fields will share their views on and around the topic of designing client-centered legal services.

This is a topic – and a mission - that’s taken on a lot of personal and professional significance for me as I’ve grown my solo practice. It’s also gained a great deal of attention outside the law due to the advent of a consumer culture valuing meaning, positive experience and emotional connection.

I’m publishing the first post in this series next week. It’s an interview with Smart Design founder Dan Formosa (full disclosure: Smart design is my client). With products like OXO Good Grips kitchen tools and Ford’s new SmartGauge instrument panel to its credit, Smart Design has pioneered the art and science of understanding and designing for the consumer experience.

If you want to preview Dan’s insights and work, he’ll be today’s guest on Debbie Millman’s VoiceAmerica radio show, Design Matters. You can listen to the live stream at 3PM EST. For time shifters, it will also be available at iTunes.

I look forward to presenting the legal sanity mentor to you and, as always, welcome your feedback and suggestions about it.

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Here are two facts:

• There’s a client service deficit in the law.
• Lawyers tend to regard emotions – their own and other people’s – as irrelevant to their work.

At first glance, these two facts seem unrelated. But they’re actually closely (even intimately) connected.

Some time back, I posted on the interplay of emotions and client service in this new era of customer control. I linked to a ClickZ article citing a (then) new book by Dan Hill called Emotionomics: Winning Hearts and Minds. Launching from the premise that humans are primarily emotional decision-makers, the book discusses how emotions factor into our business opportunities in the marketplace and workplace.

Picking up on this point from a slightly different angle, in a recent post, designer and marketing mentor Peleg Top says, Go ahead, get emotional. Top notes that, in marketing (and, I’d add, in providing) our services, “an effective way to generate action is to tell a compelling story, one that hits your customer’s emotions.” Suggesting that most service providers miss this mark, he observes:

If you look at the majority of service companies [ ], the common story is all about who they are and what they do best.  If I’m the customer, why would I believe them? What would compel me to trust that they really know what MY problem is? What my needs are? No feelings are generated and I will pass over them without a second thought.

In this new economy, feelings are a main form of currency. It may require a leap into the unknown for many lawyers, but to build strong and lasting business relationships, we need to give our clients the emotional connection they’re craving.

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A while back, I wrote a post around Seth Godin’s observations on remarkability. He noted that fear of criticism, rather than fear of failure, holds us back from producing services, goods and other results that are truly remarkable.

Over the years, I’ve thought a lot about Godin’s view and talked to others about it. It seems to me that, for lawyers, there may be a more fundamental issue in play: Many in the law don’t understand (or think much about) what it means to be a remarkable service provider.

I covered this point in posts on client evangelism and client experience management. Shedding some new light on the matter is this article outlining several ways to be remarkable in business. For a compelling example of remarkability-in-action, check out this first-hand recounting of Whole Food’s “awesome” (a/k/a/ remarkable) customer service If you find that anecdote inspiring, you’ll likely get a lot out of the presentation (Part 1 and Part.2 ) that Zappo’s CEO Tony Hsieh gave at SXSW '09.

Bringing it full circle is Seth Godin’s recent post asking if we’re looking to fit in or stand out.

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My seven-year-old son started playing in our town’s youth basketball league this year. I’m one of his coaches. Now, as any truthful observer of this kind of squad will admit, playing is a loose term. As the kids do their best to pass (we have a three-pass minimum), shoot and defend, there are lots of arms flailing and bodies colliding. Inevitably, someone gets hurt.

The other day, that someone was my son. Playing in the point guard spot, he took a hard hit to the mouth. I could tell it really hurt. He ran over to me, tears streaming. But, instead of breaking down, he grabbed the ball and wanted to continue playing. No, this is not a “that’s my macho kid” brag. He’s actually a very sensitive soul and routinely emotes with the best of them. But, when I later asked him how he held it together, he said: “I was playing the game and my team needed me. I had to keep on going even though it hurt.”

Since then, I’ve thought a lot about his attitude. Kids can be resilient, for sure. One moment they’re down on the ground crying their eyes out and the next they’re happily jumping in the mud. I don’t think we lose that resilience on the way to adulthood. We just lose sight of it.

In his recent address to Congress, Presidents Obama recognized our own and the country’s resilience. I found his words inspiring and challenging. One look at the law firm layoff list and (even the most upbeat of) reports on the U.S. economy, makes it very clear that lawyers are facing some serious and seriously disconcerting work and life challenges.

New York Times columnist Tara Parker-Pope shares that the economy is making people sicker. According to Reuters, Americans are increasingly insecure about retirement. With all this to cope with, how do we claim – or reclaim – our resilience?

If you’ve lost your job or are just starting out as a lawyer in this difficult market, career counselor Steve Langerud offers some sage job search pointers. First, he advises us to be flexible and realistic about our skills and qualifications. He also says that it’s a time to be “bold and valiant” in the search process and to ask people to help us identify professional opportunities. Echoing this last point is a great piece from The Glass Hammer on building a personal board of directors. You might also find some wisdom in a recent Fast Company article by Po Bronson titled What Should I do with My Life, Now? 

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I’ve been following coach/consultant Susan Cartier Liebel online since she launched her terrific blog, Build A Solo Practice, LLC. Susan’s been immersed in a new venture of late – a Web-based educational community and networking forum for lawyers and law students called Solo Practice University (SPU).

I’m very happy to announce that I have joined SPU’s faculty of working attorneys and other legal professionals and will be teaching a monthly course, Legal Sanity Career Strategies: Work Smart and Live Fully. Here’s a snippet from the course description:

Legal Sanity Career Strategies: How to Work Smart and Live Fully is a highly interactive course in teleseminar format, designed to help solo lawyers embrace the unprecedented change, challenge and opportunity impacting the legal profession today. Arnie will facilitate a dynamic learning process centered around participants’ actual challenges. The course will be real, relevant and practical. Arnie will draw upon the wisdom of other participants and guest speakers, offer practical advice and tools for managing each scenario, and provide the inspiration and support for translating knowledge into action. The course will enable each participant to build their knowledge, skills and confidence as a solo practitioner.

If you have any questions about the course, feel free to contact me.

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With the harsh changes in the economic climate and rising jobless rate, I’m hearing and reading a lot about the importance of personal branding. My introduction to the concept came through management consultant Tom Peters’ 1997 Fast Company article, The Brand Called You. In it, he stated this “simple” and “inescapable” truth: “We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”

There now are companies and consultants dedicated to helping us identify, establish and protect our personal brands. There are also experts who caution that it’s easy to misconstrue what this kind of branding is all about. As marketing guru Tom Asacker observes: “Being the head marketer of brand you is NOT about being interesting [ ]. It's NOT about cosmetics and ‘promoting a persona.’ It's about being interested in the dreams and desires of others. It's about creating an expectation and delivering on that expectation, such that people will trade their attention or money for it.”

While reasonable minds may differ on what personal branding is, I think most would agree that we are our own brand stewards and can’t delegate that authority to anyone else. Lawyer Shai Littlejohn recognizes this in her insightful article, Self-Marketing Is Key to Being a Top Lawyer. She writes: For those young attorneys who dream of becoming top lawyers, the key is to be three parts lawyer and one part marketing agent. [ ] Decision-makers give top jobs to the attorneys with the strongest brands. These are the brands that demonstrate shared values like reputation for responsiveness, accuracy, discretion, political savvy, family and participation in lofty priorities beyond day-to-day work.”

There are many ways to cultivate our personal brand. One that is gaining and holding enormous attention these days is online social networking. If you want to know more about social networking, like Kevin O’Keefe of LexBlog, I’m a big fan of the video tutorials produced by Common Craft. Here’s one on social networking and another on social media.

I think this information pairs well with Jennifer Laycock’s piece on How Social Media (Didn’t) Change Business. Sharing personal, and very touching, anecdotes about her grandfather’s business ethic as an independent insurance agency owner in her small hometown, she observes: “My grandfather practiced the original form of 'social networking.' Back before everyone started focusing on making a bazillion dollars, people had time to make relationships without worrying about how those relationships might 'advance' their career. [ ] Social Media isn't some amazing new concept that's changing the way we do business. It's simply amazing new technology that's allowing us to return to the way people USED to do business.”

Laycock makes so much sense. We should keep her words in mind as we go about building the genuine relationships that, organically, help us cultivate our personal brands.

Postscript: After writing this post, I saw Kevin O'Keefe's recent commentary on personal branding for lawyers in the age of Google. Citing Seth Godin's post on the subject,  Kevin offers some really concrete and practicable ways for us to establish our personal brands online.

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