Fine-Tune Your Goals This February

January is a month when many individuals make resolutions intended to ensure their personal and professional success. In January, you may promise yourself that this year you will be more conscientious about growing your practice and developing your leadership skills. You may improve your billing practices and strive to bill as you go; and resolve not to leave the office until your day's work has been recorded. To fit in more time during your billable day to focus on non-billable activities, such as writing articles or client lunches, you may vow to work longer hours during the week. You may challenge yourself to be the first lawyer in the office in the morning and the lawyer that turns off the lights at the end of the day.

Then comes February, and your shiny hopes and declarations may lose some of their luster. They may seem overly ambitious, unrealistic or unattainable. You may ask yourself, “What was I thinking? How did I ever think I could achieve so much?”

Resist the February blahs by taking a moment to focus your well-intentioned energies and reaffirm your goals. Believing and trusting in your strengths and abilities enables you to bring change and continue to grow. By implementing new practice management and business development tactics and being strategic rather than just wishful about your endeavors, you can seize control of those areas of your professional life that you want to improve.

How can you ensure continued progress on your New Year's Resolutions? To help you center your intentions and adopt best professional and business development practices, consider the following tips to enable you to achieve real results.

Avoid Groundhog Day Blahs

When taking stock of your resolutions in February, you may feel like the weatherman in the 1993 movie, “Groundhog Day.” No matter how much you try to say or do something new, you just try, do or say the same thing or act the same way over and over again. You can pull the plug on your tired February tendencies and, instead, use the month to propel yourself to success. Create a plan for the year that cross-references areas of growth in your practice area(s) with current clients, prospects, skill strengths and development. Treat the plan as an evolving document that will consider market and economic trends and your professional and personal interests. Spend some time strategizing and learning where your true interests lie in relation to opportunities. Seize the opportunities and turn them into concrete plans.

In terms of your business development initiatives, consider maintaining an inventory of your networking outreach efforts, listing what you have done, when and for whom. If you do face-to-face events, keep track of what you wear to each one. These controls will enable you to stay fresh and personal with each touch. Try not to walk into any communication or event cold: when possible, find out who is attending and what would be of interest to them. Being prepared will prevent you from feeling lost or ineffective.

Tap into a wide assortment of discussion topics: industry or client-centered, personal interests, news of the day. You want to keep the conversation going and letting your listener speak. When you focus on your ability to keep the conversation flowing, you stop focusing on yourself. And when you stop focusing on yourself, you'll perform better.

Avoid using clich's, old or inappropriate jokes, and inauthentic ice breakers when starting conversations or communications. Prepare anew for each encounter and enable your listeners to experience and identify your unique and energized self. Each conversation is a new opportunity, regardless of how well you know the listener.

Treat Everything As an Opportunity

Every situation in which you find yourself is a new opportunity. Effective leaders and successful business generators take advantage of all that is available to them. Sometimes you may not recognize an opportunity, even if it is literally in front of you. The key is recognizing and trusting that everything has the potential to lead to a successful end. Opportunities grow with each person with whom you meet, e-mail, phone, blog, and connect. Every communication is an opportunity to further a relationship or build and grow new ones. See your communication skill as a work in progress. We cannot control how others perceive us; we can only control how we market ourselves. We can potentially be limited by our perceived or accepted communication style; a style we may not want to exhibit or even know that we are displaying.

Understanding and being aware of the impressions we leave on others can help us be better communicators. Your communication style determines your overall success as a leader when building your relationships with clients and colleagues. Simply put: Your effective communication builds strong relationships; strong relationships will get you work. Having others perceive you as an effective communicator is central to your success as a leader.

Be professional, ethical and careful about making assumptions. Own and take pride in your work by being prepared and knowledgeable, and attentive to details. Provide quality and quantity of information to what is required: there is a difference between being expert and providing information overload. Affirm your position, without relying on arrogance; explain your position, without being defensive; and acknowledge the views of others.

Control your responses and try to think before speaking, hitting the send button, or leaving a message. To stay focused on your message, goal or directive, pick your battles, watch how the wind is blowing, and act accordingly. When meeting someone new, let them set the tone and view each meeting and touch point ' whether individual or group, in person, on the phone or via e-mail ' as a new opportunity.

Take advantage of new technologies, as they can provide you with new ways for getting out messages about your services. If you are not using social media effectively, consider taking the time to invest in your online presence. Simply by its electronic format and networking capabilities, the social media provides you with faster access to prospects and opportunities. Be ready to move into the space, with care. One thing to keep in mind: your contacts and clients assume you are using the social media. Do not lose out on these opportunities.

Be Proactive, Not 'Hopeful'

You want to shift your “default” tendencies and expectations when it comes to taking next steps with your business development goals and practice management efforts. The transitional change you want to make is from being “hopeful” that your efforts will net you results to implementing “proactive” strategies to ensure that your efforts will be successful.

What's the difference between being “hopeful” and “proactive” in terms of business and practice development initiatives? You are hopeful when you put your trust in the belief that the process or act of undertaking professional and business development activities will generate interest and get you work. When you attend an event, write an article, speak at a program or conference or post a firm, organization and/or LinkedIn bio, you rely on hope if your efforts stop with the completion of this act. In other words, it is as if you are saying, “If I build it/write it/say it, work will come.” You hope, trust, finger-cross or breath-hold that doing these initiatives alone will drive home success.

When you are proactive, thoughtful and strategic in your business development and practice management efforts, you use the efforts just highlighted in the “hope” scenario, such as writing, speaking or linking, as a platform from which you initiate and take your efforts to higher and more strategic levels. You don't leave anything to chance when you are proactive: You are in control of the situation and carefully and deliberately plan your next moves. You will yield far better results through being proactive than you will in being hopeful.

How can you be proactive and take your initiatives to a successful level? Bring your initiatives to your target audience as a relationship touch and ensure that the audience you are targeting directly accesses the resource. You will not only assist them in their work but highlight your areas of expertise. Send links to seminars or articles. Invite clients or prospects as your guests or provide them with discounts. Even if they don't or can't attend, you are sharing information and reminding them of your skills in these areas. Be strategic and use the most effective means of announcing your initiatives, whether you communicate through Twitter, LinkedIn, phone calls or one-on-one meetings to touch your clients and prospects “up close and personal.”

Be a Blinking Light

Lawyers who are successful and effective leaders are recognized and trusted by colleagues and clients. To thrive in your practice as a role model and mentor to your colleagues and an adviser and “go-to” person to your clients, you want to maintain a constant presence. Be a blinking light. Like a lighthouse beacon, repeatedly demonstrate your strength, knowledge, judgment and dependability. By doing so, you will be valued for being tempered and controlled, approachable and versatile. In sum, you are a steady force that succeeds in being a blinking light that naturally and automatically draws others. But be mindful of the importance of maintaining a fine balance; too much presence may cause others to see you as an annoyance. How do you plummet from being a client's trusted adviser to being perceived as “white noise”? Frenetic activity, extraneous and voluminous information and emails, uncontrolled intensity and unfocused thinking may overwhelm your listeners to such a distraction, causing them to continually dismiss your efforts. Instead of a guiding light, you will be seen as a repelling, blinding source.

Being a steady force and respected leader takes conviction, patience, and commitment to time and process. This is a long term pledge, not a one-off activity. When communicating a message, your words, your timing, the way you deliver the communication and how you respond to feedback and suggestions are all key components to your success. Your pace in meetings and interchanges speaks volumes to your judgment and due process. Before you act, think of the ramifications. What are my options? Who is my audience? How will my actions reflect on me, my clients, my firm? Consult with others if you are unsure of your decisions or simply to include them in your process.

Being accessible to others is an important factor to your performance. Anchor yourself effectively so you are available to all stakeholders. Remember: in your practice you are striving for the effect of a blinking light, not a Fourth of July fireworks display! Build in personal controls, be cognizant of external factors that may be out of your reach and be guided by transparent expectations.

Conclusion

Resolutions can be effective tools that enable you to reach or exceed your goals. Focus this month and implement those strategies that will ensure your goals are met.

Debra Forman, PCC, is a certified executive coach and principal of Pinstripe Coaching (www.pinstripecoaching.com). She produces the monthly video Making Rain, and is a member of the newsletter's Board of Editors.

January is a month when many individuals make resolutions intended to ensure their personal and professional success. In January, you may promise yourself that this year you will be more conscientious about growing your practice and developing your leadership skills. You may improve your billing practices and strive to bill as you go; and resolve not to leave the office until your day's work has been recorded. To fit in more time during your billable day to focus on non-billable activities, such as writing articles or client lunches, you may vow to work longer hours during the week. You may challenge yourself to be the first lawyer in the office in the morning and the lawyer that turns off the lights at the end of the day.

Then comes February, and your shiny hopes and declarations may lose some of their luster. They may seem overly ambitious, unrealistic or unattainable. You may ask yourself, “What was I thinking? How did I ever think I could achieve so much?”

Resist the February blahs by taking a moment to focus your well-intentioned energies and reaffirm your goals. Believing and trusting in your strengths and abilities enables you to bring change and continue to grow. By implementing new practice management and business development tactics and being strategic rather than just wishful about your endeavors, you can seize control of those areas of your professional life that you want to improve.

How can you ensure continued progress on your New Year's Resolutions? To help you center your intentions and adopt best professional and business development practices, consider the following tips to enable you to achieve real results.

Avoid Groundhog Day Blahs

When taking stock of your resolutions in February, you may feel like the weatherman in the 1993 movie, “Groundhog Day.” No matter how much you try to say or do something new, you just try, do or say the same thing or act the same way over and over again. You can pull the plug on your tired February tendencies and, instead, use the month to propel yourself to success. Create a plan for the year that cross-references areas of growth in your practice area(s) with current clients, prospects, skill strengths and development. Treat the plan as an evolving document that will consider market and economic trends and your professional and personal interests. Spend some time strategizing and learning where your true interests lie in relation to opportunities. Seize the opportunities and turn them into concrete plans.

In terms of your business development initiatives, consider maintaining an inventory of your networking outreach efforts, listing what you have done, when and for whom. If you do face-to-face events, keep track of what you wear to each one. These controls will enable you to stay fresh and personal with each touch. Try not to walk into any communication or event cold: when possible, find out who is attending and what would be of interest to them. Being prepared will prevent you from feeling lost or ineffective.

Tap into a wide assortment of discussion topics: industry or client-centered, personal interests, news of the day. You want to keep the conversation going and letting your listener speak. When you focus on your ability to keep the conversation flowing, you stop focusing on yourself. And when you stop focusing on yourself, you'll perform better.

Avoid using clich's, old or inappropriate jokes, and inauthentic ice breakers when starting conversations or communications. Prepare anew for each encounter and enable your listeners to experience and identify your unique and energized self. Each conversation is a new opportunity, regardless of how well you know the listener.

Treat Everything As an Opportunity

Every situation in which you find yourself is a new opportunity. Effective leaders and successful business generators take advantage of all that is available to them. Sometimes you may not recognize an opportunity, even if it is literally in front of you. The key is recognizing and trusting that everything has the potential to lead to a successful end. Opportunities grow with each person with whom you meet, e-mail, phone, blog, and connect. Every communication is an opportunity to further a relationship or build and grow new ones. See your communication skill as a work in progress. We cannot control how others perceive us; we can only control how we market ourselves. We can potentially be limited by our perceived or accepted communication style; a style we may not want to exhibit or even know that we are displaying.

Understanding and being aware of the impressions we leave on others can help us be better communicators. Your communication style determines your overall success as a leader when building your relationships with clients and colleagues. Simply put: Your effective communication builds strong relationships; strong relationships will get you work. Having others perceive you as an effective communicator is central to your success as a leader.

Be professional, ethical and careful about making assumptions. Own and take pride in your work by being prepared and knowledgeable, and attentive to details. Provide quality and quantity of information to what is required: there is a difference between being expert and providing information overload. Affirm your position, without relying on arrogance; explain your position, without being defensive; and acknowledge the views of others.

Control your responses and try to think before speaking, hitting the send button, or leaving a message. To stay focused on your message, goal or directive, pick your battles, watch how the wind is blowing, and act accordingly. When meeting someone new, let them set the tone and view each meeting and touch point ' whether individual or group, in person, on the phone or via e-mail ' as a new opportunity.

Take advantage of new technologies, as they can provide you with new ways for getting out messages about your services. If you are not using social media effectively, consider taking the time to invest in your online presence. Simply by its electronic format and networking capabilities, the social media provides you with faster access to prospects and opportunities. Be ready to move into the space, with care. One thing to keep in mind: your contacts and clients assume you are using the social media. Do not lose out on these opportunities.

Be Proactive, Not 'Hopeful'

You want to shift your “default” tendencies and expectations when it comes to taking next steps with your business development goals and practice management efforts. The transitional change you want to make is from being “hopeful” that your efforts will net you results to implementing “proactive” strategies to ensure that your efforts will be successful.

What's the difference between being “hopeful” and “proactive” in terms of business and practice development initiatives? You are hopeful when you put your trust in the belief that the process or act of undertaking professional and business development activities will generate interest and get you work. When you attend an event, write an article, speak at a program or conference or post a firm, organization and/or LinkedIn bio, you rely on hope if your efforts stop with the completion of this act. In other words, it is as if you are saying, “If I build it/write it/say it, work will come.” You hope, trust, finger-cross or breath-hold that doing these initiatives alone will drive home success.

When you are proactive, thoughtful and strategic in your business development and practice management efforts, you use the efforts just highlighted in the “hope” scenario, such as writing, speaking or linking, as a platform from which you initiate and take your efforts to higher and more strategic levels. You don't leave anything to chance when you are proactive: You are in control of the situation and carefully and deliberately plan your next moves. You will yield far better results through being proactive than you will in being hopeful.

How can you be proactive and take your initiatives to a successful level? Bring your initiatives to your target audience as a relationship touch and ensure that the audience you are targeting directly accesses the resource. You will not only assist them in their work but highlight your areas of expertise. Send links to seminars or articles. Invite clients or prospects as your guests or provide them with discounts. Even if they don't or can't attend, you are sharing information and reminding them of your skills in these areas. Be strategic and use the most effective means of announcing your initiatives, whether you communicate through Twitter, LinkedIn, phone calls or one-on-one meetings to touch your clients and prospects “up close and personal.”

Be a Blinking Light

Lawyers who are successful and effective leaders are recognized and trusted by colleagues and clients. To thrive in your practice as a role model and mentor to your colleagues and an adviser and “go-to” person to your clients, you want to maintain a constant presence. Be a blinking light. Like a lighthouse beacon, repeatedly demonstrate your strength, knowledge, judgment and dependability. By doing so, you will be valued for being tempered and controlled, approachable and versatile. In sum, you are a steady force that succeeds in being a blinking light that naturally and automatically draws others. But be mindful of the importance of maintaining a fine balance; too much presence may cause others to see you as an annoyance. How do you plummet from being a client's trusted adviser to being perceived as “white noise”? Frenetic activity, extraneous and voluminous information and emails, uncontrolled intensity and unfocused thinking may overwhelm your listeners to such a distraction, causing them to continually dismiss your efforts. Instead of a guiding light, you will be seen as a repelling, blinding source.

Being a steady force and respected leader takes conviction, patience, and commitment to time and process. This is a long term pledge, not a one-off activity. When communicating a message, your words, your timing, the way you deliver the communication and how you respond to feedback and suggestions are all key components to your success. Your pace in meetings and interchanges speaks volumes to your judgment and due process. Before you act, think of the ramifications. What are my options? Who is my audience? How will my actions reflect on me, my clients, my firm? Consult with others if you are unsure of your decisions or simply to include them in your process.

Being accessible to others is an important factor to your performance. Anchor yourself effectively so you are available to all stakeholders. Remember: in your practice you are striving for the effect of a blinking light, not a Fourth of July fireworks display! Build in personal controls, be cognizant of external factors that may be out of your reach and be guided by transparent expectations.

Conclusion

Resolutions can be effective tools that enable you to reach or exceed your goals. Focus this month and implement those strategies that will ensure your goals are met.

Debra Forman, PCC, is a certified executive coach and principal of Pinstripe Coaching (www.pinstripecoaching.com). She produces the monthly video Making Rain, and is a member of the newsletter's Board of Editors.