Situation: A Managing Partner decides he would like to get more people on his team engaged in business development. He suggests coaching for one of his law clerks and warns me that she is very introverted and shy. After consulting her it was apparent she was very open to coaching to improve skills and advance her career.
Approach: This is an excellent example of business development 101. This law clerk was extremely introverted. And yet at the same time she was open to expanding her skills and career. We began by identifying networking opportunities and professional associations she could join. It wasn’t too long before she was enjoying networking and looking forward to the next event. She was making great progress in building her network. We also looked at where to get her published and what speaking opportunities there were.
Results: In a very short time she identified the fact that she would never have been engaged in her current business development approach prior to the coaching. During the summer months she was chomping at the bit for September when these functions started up again. She gained confidence when networking and started to make some great connections. She started contributing to her firm’s blog. She’s currently approaching legal publications to write articles and looking for speaking opportunities as well as joining Toastmasters to improve her presentation skills. It won’t be too long before she starts bringing in clients to her firm.
