By Lindsay Griffiths on If we were guaranteed to get business every time we met someone new, we’d all be networking all the time, right? But instead, networking takes time, it takes finesse and relationship-building, and often, you’ll find yourself talking to someone who may not be giving your their business or they may not have business to give … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on “Authenticity” has become a dirty word in the last few years. 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 … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on Jaimie Field is bringing us a great post for networking week today, focused on the an idea that I fully embrace, that networking happens all the time, everywhere. *** Monday, February 4th was my birthday. (Yes, this is a shameless plug for you to send me belated birthday wishes.) After a long day at the office, … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on Happy International Networking Week! We’ve talked a lot about networking here at Zen, and covered a lot of the traditional ideas: Use social media to prime your contacts before an event. Don’t skip anything. Don’t hang around with only the people you know. Use the event organizers to help introduce you to people. And more.… Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on Has everyone got their “fa la la” on yet? While the holidays are often a mad rush for all of us, it seems that this year especially, everyone is behind with wrapping up their end of the year duties (and wrapping up their gifts), while we try to figure out shortcuts for how to manage … Continue Reading
By Lindsay Griffiths on A question I get ALL the time is whether using social media actually has any impact at all on referrals and business development. Actually, the way it typically goes is this: Come on, really. Tell me. Does anyone get matters or referrals because they post to LinkedIn?” The short answer is yes, sometimes, it does … Continue Reading
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
