Practice Development Counsel

Partners in the firm who the associate respects, feels good rapport with, and have succeeded in the firm's environment. Advice might be sought on good client service, marketing targets and skills, and how to generate support for ideas and efforts.
People in other professional services firms whose marketing approaches might translate to the lawyer's situation. Lawyers can learn a great deal from accountant's, consultant's, architect's, financial service provider's, public relations firm's and other service's marketing.
Business people and professionals in a variety of industries, particularly those in which the associate serves or wants to serve a base of clients. The more lawyers can learn about a client's business and industry, the more helpful and successful they are likely to be. Also important to learn is how these "advisers" accomplish their own personal and professional goals.

Before approaching the desired mentors or "advisory board members," it is important to define the areas in which personal and professional growth is needed and list the things to be learned. In addition to substantive knowledge, typical areas might be navigating organizational politics, building a reputation, leadership skills, juggling of personal and work life, and consultative service and selling skills. In order of personal priority, the list of desired growth areas should be discussed with the advisers, either with one adviser for each area or with all, if appropriate.

Each selected adviser should be approached by conveying enthusiasm for learning more about how they achieved their success, their current plans and goals and what help they might be looking for. If the advisee can reciprocate in any way by helping the adviser, that should be a high priority.

Many accomplished people welcome the opportunity to be mentors and advisers. In addition to being flattered to be asked, they often want a chance to help talented younger people who clearly appreciate what they can give.

Showing appreciation is key. In the book, Mentoring, authors Floyd Wickman and Terri Sjokin offer the following criteria that a mentor should use in agreeing to advise a mentee or protégé . The protégé should: 1) show respect for the mentor''s gifts; 2) respect the mentor's time; 3) act on the information provided; and 4) pass on the "gifts" or knowledge to others. It is important to understand that to the mentor in the relationship, the benefits are the psychic rewards that come from helping another and leaving a legacy. This is especially true for the "career mentor."

Other than not conveying appreciation, the factor that sabotages mentoring relationships is fear that the protégé is a threat to the mentor. The mentor must not fear loss of a job, clients, or power to the protégé. This fear arises most often when the mentor and mentee are in the same firm. To avoid this, the younger lawyer might look to a recent retiree from the firm as a mentor or someone with similar passionate interest in a cause or purpose. From the start, the prospective protégé must remove the potential fear that he or she will outdo the mentor. Otherwise the mentor might withhold important information. The wise protégé will understand this dynamic ease the transfer of knowledge without creating a perceived threat. And when the relationship is a true information exchange, the protégé can pass on insights from the trenches that help the mentor.

The "skill mentoring" relationship is not likely to be as intense as the firm mentoring one, but may last longer. One of the benefits to the mentor is actually the impetus to stay out ahead in the area of expertise. Doing so, the mentor will not be threatened by being overtaken by the protégé. This mentor will be motivated by advancing the discipline, and a mutually useful network can be built and perpetuated.

Corporate CEO and career-advice author and speaker Harvey Mackay continually extolls the virtue, indeed, the necessity of network building; however he recognizes that quantity is not the answer, quality is. Citing the 80/20 rule, he says that you have 80 percent of your contact with 20 percent of the people you know. Make those 20 percent your network and be creative. In an interview with Hal Lancaster in the Wall Street Journal (June 3, 1997), Mackay said, "Don't ever be boring or predictable. Don't ever write a boring memo, don't ever write a boring thank you note. Don't ever make a boring phone call." (In giving this advice, he assumes that the good networker will always write thank you notes and make follow up phone calls - a requirement for success. See the article on thank you's elsewhere in this issue.)

When wondering if the effort to build and maintain a network is worth it, remember some other of Mackay's observations and words of wisdom: (Despite what lawyers may have concluded based on their education) "People skills and chemistry are still the most important elements. People buy from other people because of chemistry and likeability. That's not going to change in the next 50 years." ..."Know thy competitor. Tell me how you're going to do that without a network. Talent alone will not save you in today's economy. More training and education alone won't save you. You need more than you to save yourself; you need a network."

MENTORING AND NETWORKING CONVERGE