How small law firm people power can help you succeed
Whether you practice independently or have a partner and staff, small law firm people power can help you reach your goals.
What is people power in a law firm?
As in any pursuit, success never arrives as a purely solo endeavor. Even if you work alone, you will find that you need others to operate at your best.
Lawyer Bertha Ordaz provides some insightful food for thought on the power of people in a law career, writing:
“When I started having second thoughts about whether I wanted to stay in the law firm model for another 20 years, as rewarding as it was, I was fortunate to have friends and people around me with the business acumen, bold views, and generosity that confirmed my intuition about never being too late to continue tailor-making my career, leveraging my prior experience, and exploring new horizons.”
She goes on to highlight the top ways people have contributed to her personal journey as a lawyer, including:
- Learning from others’ experiences
- Benefitting from different perspectives
- Gaining deeper self-awareness
- Receiving feedback from trusted sources
- Making space to create more impact
- Helping her pursue a higher purpose
Her reflections get to the heart of why lawyers need to develop a trusted circle of both professional connections and true friends. While a big and strong professional network can help you attract more clients and contracts, the intangible benefits of people go much deeper.
In this blog, we talk a lot about defining your own success as a lawyer. A big part of that personal success formula includes a deeper sense of satisfaction with both career and life. Connecting with the right people can help you break out of old routines and biases. The right people can also help you solidify your own values and mission.
The people you should know
Yes, building a network takes time.
You want to invest your time and energy in connecting with the people who:
- Can offer you the most support or thought partnership as you build a business
- Share your values, vision and similar missions, which will help you stay focused on what matters
- Have the desire to create mutually beneficial collaborative or referral relationships
- Expand your perspective related to business or life in general
As a small law firm owner, start with these general target groups as you begin to build your network:
- Fellow lawyers from various local law firms
- Independent lawyers pursuing small law firm practice like you
- Professionals in industries that complement your practice area
- Local business leaders who have a handle on the current landscape
- Other entrepreneurs in various fields who understand how to grow a business
- People who get you
The first five groups on that list will obviously help you as you focus on business development or business operations challenges.
Don’t ignore the last one, though. Running a business can drain anyone, and the people who get you will give you the support and pep talks you need to keep going. They will also know when to encourage you to take a break to recharge.
How to connect with the right people
While tempting, focusing 100 percent of your energy on building and operating a law business will leave you isolated and burned out. Taking time to network and to meet other people will benefit you both professionally and personally, so it’s worth the investment of your time.
Start with where you spend your day-to-day working hours. Logging time in your home office or a private office space might feel productive in terms of casework and business operations, but when did you last talk to someone who inspired or encouraged you? Consider spending time in a shared office or coworking setting as a way to establish a built-in network of likeminded people.
Next, branch out in terms of your professional learning and networking. Find a business mixer that you have never attended. Look into groups for solo and small law firms. Go to a conference for an industry you believe might complement your offerings.
Finally, use social media to actually connect and not just to broadcast. Comment on others’ posts and respond to anyone who comments on yours. Focus on give-and-take conversation and then look for ways to meet these new contacts in person.
Ready to take your small law firm to the next level in a supportive community of peers? Reach out to us to learn more about our shared office space for lawyers in Denver and Las Vegas.
