Allison Wolf Click here to see full sized version.

There’s a dominant model of the rainmaker in our law firms. We can all describe him. He’s extroverted. He likes to talk. He’s a bit egotistical but keeps it in check. He’s always out and about networking, attending events, and talking business. Our law firms have always depended on guys like him to bring in the clients and keep the engines stoked with new files and new work. Rainmakers like this account for about 10 per cent of our lawyers. What about the others who don’t fit the mould?

Many young women lawyers measuring themselves against this model quickly determine “that’s not me.”  I have seen it time and time again. I call it the “big rainmaker turn-off”:

• “I’m not a grandstander.”
• “I don’t like to talk about my achievements.”
• “I don’t like networking events; I never know what to say.”
• “I don’t want to come across as salesy.”

Once turned off it can be very hard to get back on track. The rainmaker turn-off is one of the reasons we see far fewer women rainmakers in law firms then men. In the first years of practice lawyers begin to establish the habits and systems they will follow in the years to come. For this reason it is important that young women lawyers adopt a business development mindset early on.

This business development mindset begins with a wake up call: The way to develop business is through building trusting relationships with your colleagues, clients and contacts. You don’t have to grandstand. You don’t have to be a big talker. Instead, in the words of David Maister “the best way to sell is not to sell, but to care.” The time to start with building relationships is in the first years of your practice. It can take many years to develop the relationships that will flourish into new business.  Just as with RRSP’s, the key is to invest early to reap the greatest benefit later on.

Women know all about developing relationships and building trust. We excel at what Deborah Tannen Ph.D. calls “Rapport Talk”.  With Rapport Talk women use language to build or maintain relationships by finding things in common, sharing experiences, and making an effort to understand the other. In order to put Rapport Talk to work for business development it is important to become more intentional about managing your relationships. Make a list of the people most important to your success. In the business context this will include your clients, contacts, and partners at the firm. It also includes your legal secretary and other integral support staff. How are you nurturing these important relationships? Who is missing that could make a difference? Do you have a mentor? Do you need to build up your network of contacts in certain strategic areas?

You wouldn’t go to the store without your grocery list, so don’t go to work Monday morning without your Connect With list.  This is a list of the people who you want to connect with over the coming week. It may be an email to set up a coffee date. Or an article clipped and sent over. One litigator I know developed this habit when she was a mother with two young children. Over the years her network of relationships expanded, deepened and now provides an abundant source of work for herself and her colleagues.

Don’t let time pressures keep you from taking action. Business development time is about investing in your future. The purpose of planning and action lists is to ensure that the time you do invest is wisely spent. You are busy. That means you have to be strategic. It doesn’t mean you should opt out.

Women can’t afford to sit back and let someone else do the rainmaking for them. As Stacey Hadley, a partner at Lang Michener LLP, said in her 2007 presentation to the Women In Law Conference: “What truly brings you economic parity is a client base which supports not only you but others in the firm, and which your firm does not want to see leave.” 

If you are a young woman lawyer and you haven’t made business development a priority, now is the time to reconsider. Assess your strengths and develop your own personal approach grounded in your values, your professional goals, and a willingness to invest in the important relationships around you. A new model of rainmaker is emerging and she may just be a lot like you.

Allison Wolf is a certified executive coach, author of “The Lawyer Coach” blog, and founder of Shift Works Strategic Inc. a business coaching and consulting firm based in Vancouver.