Leadership

What makes great leaders, rainmakers, and mentors?

David Maister’s December 6, 2006 post shines a bright light on the value of caring when it comes to leadership. He quotes Craig Weatherup, former Chairman and CEO of The Pepsi Bottling Group:

“People trusted me, he said, because they knew me. They knew I cared about them. You can’t fake that, he said. That’s what gave me the power to lead.”

Reading Maister’s post I immediately thought of a senior associate at a big Canadian firm who I had dinner with this week. She’s quiet, soft spoken, and a highly sought after deal maker.She described to me her approach to legal work, caring about her clients. Connecting with her clients. Listening to her clients. She doesn’t network much, nor take her clients to hockey games, instead, her caring and authentic approach (and hard work!) earns her their trust and, no surprise, the deals flood in.

Naturally she is a skilled mentor too.

We all have our own personal style when it comes to marketing and business development but it is our values that make up the hard foundation that our professional careers are built upon.

Fake it and you will never make it.

About the author

Allison Wolf

I am the founder of AWAL and one of the most senior coaches for lawyers in North America. I have helped countless clients over the past fifteen years, develop thriving legal practices and before that served as director of marketing for award-winning law firms. My specialty is uncovering the thinking traps and gaps holding clients back and helping them acquire the mindsets, skills, and habits for growing successful and rewarding legal careers. After a career in legal marketing and business development with law firms in Beijing, New York, and Vancouver, I was trained as a coach in 2004 at Royal Roads University and now coach clients from across North America. You can reach me at allison@shiftworks.ca or learn more about my coaching practice from the coaching section of the Attorney With A Life Website.