Watch future issues of InsideTrack for Michael Moore’s series offering career and practice management advice in today’s economy. If you’d like Michael to address a particular issue, please contact him at mmoore@moores-law.com.
Feb. 3, 2010 – The December wind cut briskly across the brown heather as Scottish poet Robert Burns plowed his fields. Suddenly, “crash, the cruel coulter past out thro' thy cell.” His ploughshare had ripped open the nest of a field mouse. In his apology, Burns wrote, “I'm truly sorry Man's dominion, has broken Nature's social union,” and went on to observe how “the best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, gang aft agley, an' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, for promis'd joy!” In his ode “To a Mouse,” Robert Burns suggests life is often unpredictable, and while preparing for the unpredictable future we may miss opportunities in the present. Many of us start each new year with best intentions and grand ambitions but without an effective plan we end up with only frustration and failure.
Focus for success
Lawyers are frequently deluged with too much to do and too little time to do it. Creating a plan can be a positive solution. You can measure your progress and raise your self-confidence. Following a plan focused precisely on what you want to achieve allows you to concentrate your efforts. You'll also quickly spot the distractions that might otherwise knock you off course. An effective plan helps you organize your time and maximize your resources so that you can make the most of your activity.
Creating an effective plan
To be effective, your plan should include goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics. Each goal is a simple statement of what you hope to get done. For example, your goal might be to add five new contacts to your network. Your objectives are the milestones by which you measure your progress toward achieving your goal. In this example, a target date for the acquisition of each contact becomes an objective. Strategies are the methods by which you will meet your objectives. For more effective networking, these might include learning how to work a room or how to use social media. Tactics are the actual activities required by the plan. In the current example, this could mean attending a class or reading a book on “how to work a room,” then attending a networking event and applying your new knowledge. A secondary tactic could be to follow up on any relevant leads within two weeks of the event.
Where do you want to go?
Creating relevant goals and a plan to achieve them shortens our journey to success. Try to express each of your goals as a positive statement. “Provide excellent client service” is better than “Don’t lose existing clients.” Focus on personal performance goals, not outcome goals. You want goals over which you have as much control as possible. It is very frustrating when you fail to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond your control. Goals must be realistic and achievable. If a goal is too large, it may seem that you are not making progress towards it.
Personal marketing plans
If you want to get more clients and increase your personal productivity, you need to create a personal marketing plan. Start by setting marketing goals that are realistic and achievable. Define your markets and establish your objectives. Create your “elevator speech” as well as your other marketing materials. Choose an effective method to deliver your message to your target market. Get the first tactical event on your calendar. Many lawyers and their law firms are looking to expand their personal marketing using social media. By creating personal marketing plans, they are able to focus on specific objectives and design strategies to accomplish them.
Personal development plans
Many lawyers need help with more than just marketing. Personal productivity, legal skill training, client development, and firm management are just a few examples. Creating a personal development plan with measurable goals helps focus their activities on realistic and relevant objectives and timelines. They can allocate their time effectively and maximize available resources. A monthly evaluation of the lawyer’s progress against the stated objectives becomes a road map to success.
Practicing law is one of the most demanding professions, and the struggle to succeed can be overwhelming. Effective planning is necessary to help you assess your strengths, set goals, and stay on track. By choosing where you want to go and creating a detailed plan of action focused on realistic, achievable objectives, your chance of success increases exponentially. As Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, when you get there you’ll be lost.”
Michael Moore, Lewis and Clark 1983, is a professional coach for lawyers and the founder of Moore’s Law, Milwaukee. He specializes in marketing, client development, and leadership coaching for attorneys at all levels of experience. Moore also advises law firms on strategic planning and resource optimization. He has more than 25 years’ experience in private practice, as a general counsel, in law firm management, and in legal recruiting. For more information, visit www.moores-law.com.
• Related: Lawyer resources in a down economy (WisBar.org)
• Previous articles: In transition? Don’t let it bring you down; Effective networking and the lesson of the pot belly stove; Social networking means 33 million for lunch; The elevator speech: Who are you and why should I care?; How do you get more clients? Use the narrow focused request; New age lawyers: ‘We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto’; Aligning your stars: The challenge of staff retention; How to work a room: Simple steps to increase your social competence; ‘Trust me.’ Every lawyer’s need for personal credibility.
