Fully-focused women rainmakers assess what needs to be done, and then set about doing it.
Instead of ‘breaking a glass ceiling’, they build a new facility with a new ceiling. For them, “no” is not an option and fear is left in the dust.
What follows is a 30-day challenge in six words. Only six words? These are not just any words, but six powerful words that successful women rainmakers have incorporated in their daily practices.
Week One – Learn and Grow. If you cease to embrace new ideas, concepts, new ways of doing things in your business, then just go sit in your rocking chair and rock on. In our competitive workplace and marketplace, refusing to continuously learn and improve is one of the fastest ways to becoming irrelevant in a fast-changing business place.
Successful rainmakers understand it is mandatory to:
- tweak their networking practices to be more effective
- gain a greater working knowledge of marketing technology and social media marketing techniques
- gain a broader footprint in growing their online reputation and relationships.
In short, learning never stops for the successful rainmaker. NEVER!
All the world is a laboratory to the inquiring mind. ~Martin H. Fischer
Invest In Yourself
To learn is to invest in yourself. As a professional (regardless of what profession), your way to your special niche, will often include a few missteps. Learning how to present a professional image will render you much more effective and allow your targeted audiences (internal clients; supervisors; key influencers; prospects, etc.) to perceive you in a strong light. Projecting a professional, polished image is crucial to growing into your rainmaker status. Dress the part and soon, it will be yours.
Training/Coaching
Seeking outside resources is a great way to learn the necessary skill sets which you need to be successful. One of these skills is how to network effectively. Many people network; very few do it well. Learning how to productively introduce yourself, so as to compel someone to say “tell me more”.
How about actually asking for business? Most lawyers would rather eat raw octopus. There are so many ways that you can set your career path on a positive track if you seek out expert insights, training beyond your present skill sets.
Communication Skills
Another area of growth is improving communications skills. In case you did not know, most of communication occurs non-verbally. In fact, only 10% of communication actually occurs through the spoken word. That statistic alone should provide you with more incentive to nail down your non-verbal and tonal communication.
Consistently Expand Your Network
At the core of every successful legal career are the relationships that lawyers cultivate and nurture. Successful women rainmakers recognize that to get (new clients; new referrals; new projects), we must give first.
Often, women lawyer clients are hard pressed to understand what could they possibly have to “give”…how about time; e-introductions to those in your network; or even referrals to random services that our colleagues may need. In the end, the “what” doesn’t really matter but instead it is the willingness to give to others. We like to call this “revealing the helpful spirit”. Try it on for size.
Be Courageous To Ask For What You Want
Sara Laschever, co-author of the well-regarded book Women Don’t Ask, recently spoke at Crain's Women: Profiles in Power at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, MI. She placed heavy emphasis on the fact that women who don't ask for what they want often don't get what they want.
Women’s reluctance to negotiate is deep-rooted. As young girls, women are taught to behave in a subservient and polite manner while young boys are conditioned to behave more assertively.
Women who are perceived to be aggressive are often held back in their careers because they are regarded as unlikeable, says Laschever.
Interesting factoid: men ask for advanced pay or placement on prestigious projects four times more often than women.
Unless you develop the courage and confidence to ask for what you want, you are unlikely to get it.
Week two – share. Successful rainmakers do not live in a “what’s in it for me” bubble. They are gracious to share connections, cross-selling opportunities, and are always willing to help. They embody the phrase “lift as you climb” so that everyone wins. Does this describe you?
Make Connections for others
Women rainmakers who actively create the career of their dreams know to be liberal with their time in order to help others. Usually a phone call is all that is required to solve a problem, or even a short email to connect a referral source to a qualified prospect. It’s not always the time, but rather the mindset with which we approach helping others. Then, allow the positive karmic effect to take over and return gifts multiple-fold.
Seek out cross-selling opportunities
For women who are in private practice, you have opportunities to activate the radar for one another via cross-selling. If someone crosses your path seeking legal representation in an area of practice in which you do not focus, do you run your contact list through your head thinking to whom you could refer to this potential client or do you stand idly by allowing an opportunity to disappear?
Develop Marketing Mindset
When we develop what we refer to as the “marketing mindset”, we view every interaction, every chance encounter as an opportunity. Inside our heads, we ask “how can I help this person?”, “how can I make a connection – for me or someone in my network?”; “how can I leverage this opportunity for good?” It is with these thoughts in mind, that the successful woman rainmaker will help others and herself, grow a prosperous practice.
Week three - connect. To cultivate and foster business relationships, the successful woman rainmaker knows she must be and stay connected with her network. But how, you ask? This is where social media can be one of the best marketing tools in the toolkit. LinkedIn Status Updates and Twitter are great vehicles to keep your network (presuming you are LinkedIn connected with your network) abreast of what’s going on with you professionally.
Get and stay in touch
When you settle a large matter to which you’ve just devoted the last seven months of your life, celebrate by sharing that with your network…not for the fact of “bragging” or “tooting your own horn” – not that there’s anything wrong with that - but rather to demonstrate your professional accomplishments which may land on the eyes of someone who needs the legal services you provide or know someone who does.
Work your “A” list’
Who do you need to know that you have not been in touch with lately? Who is on your “A” list? We encourage our women lawyer clients to engage in “thoughtful outreach” with the top 10 individuals who are high impact connections. Get and stay connected with those folks.
Develop top-of-mind awareness
A benefit of reaching out, helping others, and getting and staying in touch with your network across all platforms is the art of building a top-of-mind awareness in front of your targeted audience. Doing so advances the probability of client retentions.
Week four – rinse and repeat (aka prosper)
Here’s where the true rainmakers shine and the wannabes falter. Let’s be clear, life does have a way of getting in the way for us all from time to time, so be kind to yourself when this happens. What we are speaking of here is developing a strong discipline (and the appropriate systems and processes) to learn to embody the positive behaviors which will support your desire to create the career of your dreams. You CAN have it, whatever it is.
- Stay focused.
- Embrace your uniqueness
- Be mindful of any negative “self-talk” and release its power over your thoughts.
- Be sorry no more…we bleed our personal power when we apologize over “nothing”.
- Relish in the fact that you have everything you need to be as successful as you want to be…
To embrace Women Don’t Ask co-author Sara Laschever’s six tips to empower women in asking for what they want, take note:
Don't accept the status quo – assume everything is negotiable.
Do your research. "The more you know, the better equipped you'll know how high to aim and what to ask for," she said.
Set a high target. "There's a direct correlation between what target you set and what you get," Laschever said. "Women just have an inaccurately low sense of what they can get."
Role play. "Get together beforehand with a friend or colleague and role-play beforehand," Laschever said. "Get them to push your buttons, have them make you lose your composure – and practice calm responses. Learn how to put the ball back in your court."
Be careful how you ask. "For women to be influential, persuasive, they need to be perceived as likeable," she said.
Build confidence and develop your skills.
Lastly, to quote one of our great teachers, Dr. Maya Angelou “When we know better, we do better.”
I love this quotation because it frees us to Learn. Grow. Share. Connect. Prosper.
Now, go forth and it shall be so.