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Why Lawyers Stink At Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Even the Perry Masons of the real world generally have weak sales skills on par with those of Willy Loman, the tragic and central figure of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. This unfortunate fact leaves many law firms scratching their heads and wondering: Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Dr. Larry Richard is recognized as a leading expert on the psychology of lawyer behavior. He is a former trial lawyer, psychologist, and the principal consultant for LawyerBrain, a management consulting firm that specializes in improving lawyer performance through personality science. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Richard extracted personality information from the Caliper Profile, and the data consistently reveals that people who choose law as a profession tend to have certain personality traits that are highly atypical. Such traits include a high level of skepticism, high level of abstract reasoning, and a strong sense of autonomy. Additionally, lawyers are low on psychological resilience and empathy. According to Dr. Richard: "Resilience is how we react to criticism, rejection or set-backs and so a high resilience person basically tolerates life's bumps, either doesn't let it affect them or they get over it really quickly. But a low resilience person gets defensive or bent out of shape and feels wounded or hurt." Dr. Richard further explains: "Low empathy is just thinking about my agenda and what I want to put out, but I am not adjusting for the recipient's end."
Some of these atypical personality traits aid lawyers in being effective at the practice of law. For example, Dr. Richard observes "skepticism is high [for lawyers] because it is the single most important skill that you learn in law school. So when you went to law school, you learned to 'think like a lawyer.' Right? 'Think like a lawyer' means to learn how to spot problems, how to look for what's wrong and what could go wrong, and how to be vigilant about people's motives and don't take anything for granted. That type of thinking is essential." However, the personality traits that make lawyers skilled at legal practice, like skepticism, undermine their ability to market and sell their services. For example, being a rainmaker requires a high degree of trust because it is a relationship-based role. However, Dr. Richard points out, "What's the opposite of skepticism? Trust." According to Dr. Richard, lawyers are "constantly being whipsawed between these two demands."
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