By Lindsay Griffiths on As you’re reading this post, I want you to think about whether you’d consider yourself to be a fairly good networker and business developer. What does “networking” mean to you? Do you think of it as a complete waste of time? If the answer to that last question is yes, keep reading, and I hope … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on In addition to understanding the area of the law that you’ll specialize in, there are a variety of “soft skills” that will be essential to navigating the practice of law successfully. Your professional skills may need to be further expanded over the coming years as the industry itself changes and stretches, but for now, there … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on We’re already almost mid-way through September (can you believe it?) and this time of year can feel like a new beginning! Though January is typically the time for resolutions, September can also feel like a refresh as kids go back to school, and we jump back into the grind after our own summer holidays and … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on “This person doesn’t benefit me.” “I’m not getting any business.” Have you ever said, or thought, either of these things about a networking event or while involved in a business organization? It’s not the first time I’ve heard them, which is why they merit a mention here. When you say these things out loud or … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on A few years ago while traveling, I had the opportunity to read an article about how private labels in grocery stores were gaining traction against national brands. While the article isn’t available online anymore, the story offers some interesting food for thought (no pun intended) for the legal industry and the way that law firms … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on If you haven’t had the opportunity to read retired soccer player, Abby Wambach’s remarks to the graduates of Barnard College, it’s worth taking a few minutes to give them a read. Wambach’s speech, and the discussion that we recently had at our Annual Conference with facilitator Wendy Merrill of Strategy Horse, which incorporated the concept … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on “Authenticity” has become a dirty word. It’s right up there with some of the other most hated buzzwords and phrases – “at the end of the day,” “thinking outside of the box,” “synergy,” “value add,” “circle back,” “bandwidth.” Are you cringing yet? But even though the word “authenticity” might make your skin crawl, it’s actually … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on The idea that you would be so busy, that you’d send your assistant or an associate in your place to a client meeting, wearing a mask of your face and pretending to be you, is ludicrous, right? But we build relationships online via proxy all the time. And not just with potential clients, but with … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on It’s no secret that attending an industry event can lead to business opportunities. When you choose the right one, the networking alone provides the return on your investment. But we’re often so eager for the actual attendance to equal business that we forget that as with any business development opportunity, it’s not one-and-done. In the … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on When I did a search back on Zen to see what else we’ve discussed about networking, the results revealed that it’s…a lot. We’ve covered everything from networking for introverts, to conference networking, to social networking, to networking for people who hate networking, and more. So why do we keep talking about it, over and over … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on Today marks the start of International Networking Week, and as you can imagine, that’s something we at the International Lawyers Network are pretty excited and passionate about. We’ve sent out a challenge to our membership to increase their own networks by reaching out to someone that they don’t know well to deepen that relationship, and … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on For better or for worse, we are living in a hyper-connected world. Which means that whether we are always reachable, the person on the other end of the email or phone believes us to be. None of us is ever really “away.” (And we can debate the necessity and impact of that another time). When … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on In a couple of weeks, I’ll be attending CLOC’s first EMEA Institute in London, which has me revisiting some best practices on building relationships and networking. When I attended my first CLOC conference in April, I found an exceptionally passionate and enthusiastic group of legal professionals that straddled the legal ecosphere. Bearing that in mind, … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on Avid readers of Zen will know that one of my favorite topics is networking. So I was immediately drawn to read J. Kelly Hoey‘s new book, Build Your Dream Network: Forging Powerful Relationships in a Hyper-Connected World, when Mark Beese recommended it in his latest newsletter. I’ve been following Kelly since the early days of … Continue Reading
