What’s different for women rainmakers?

What’s different for women rainmakers? I wrote about this question a few months ago in my post about a survey of female rainmakers conducted by the Legal Sales and Service Organization and BTI Consulting Group. This post adds more thoughts, based on a roundtable discussion I facilitated a few weeks ago for a group of women rainmakers at Latham & Watkins’ annual partner meeting.

I had been invited to the meeting to give two presentations. My morning speech on “Six ways to increase results from your limited marketing time” was open to every Latham partner, female and male. But the afternoon roundtable was limited to the members of the WEB group (women enriching business), a task force composed of women rainmakers to create “broader networks and productive business development relationships.”

The participants included about 20 of the most influential women partners at Latham & Watkins, a 2,100 lawyer international firm with 24 offices around the world. The roundtable focused on the most effective action items both for individuals and for the group. One part of the discussion concerned whether action items should be any different for females than they would be for males.

Selling starts by building relationships, and it is sometimes easier to find common interests with people of your own gender. One participant described a male partner she had worked with who built several clients relationships around extended discussions of the New York Knicks. She herself did not care about the Knicks. (Of course, these days who does?)

If male lawyers bond with male clients over sports, she said, female lawyers should take advantage of every opportunity to bond with potential clients at female friendly events. Which is exactly what the WEB group has done recently by organizing a successful flower arranging event in Chicago, and a “Flavors of Fall” cooking event in San Francisco, and more.

On another topic, one participant mentioned that male lawyers will often bond by asking a client out for a beer after work. But if a woman does the same thing, it can unintentionally send a very different message. This reminded me of a problem experienced by a female lawyer I coached recently. When I recommended that she reconnect with a number of former colleagues, most efforts were simple and successful. But one male got the wrong idea, and it led to an uncomfortable situation. It wasn’t a crisis, but it sure was awkward.

To me the most interesting discussion centered around one of the key findings from the LSSO/ BTI survey: that successful female rainmakers “Have the right attitude: ‘a certain optimism, an element of persistence, and an ability to be resilient.’” This phenomenon is well known among professional business developers. Would you hire an architect to build your new house if she seemed unsure of herself, or failed to follow up?

When I wrote the book AdverSelling for sales pros, I devoted an entire chapter to the importance of being optimistic and credible. I started with a quote from Teddy Roosevelt: “Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.”

Some people tell me that this type of self-confidence – dare I say, braggadocio – may be fueled by testosterone. I try not to speculate about male/female differences, but I do think that the appearance of self-confidence is very important in everyone’s selling. I italicized the word appearance in that sentence, because if self-confidence is an issue, you don’t have to spend a lot of time working on complex underlying causes. Faking it works just as well.

Comments

[nancy fox]

I commend you for addressing the interests and needs of women rainmakers in the legal profession. It seems you have recognized that there has been a great deal of attention paid by the media to the accomplishments of women in many areas of business and the professions.

Being willing to put yourself out there to network and develop relationships whether or not awkward situations might ensue is much more valuable than holding back in order to avoid potential difficulties. This is true for both men and women. The distinction is that women truly possess a great deal of power and influence, although they have not always leveraged their power as well as male counterparts.

These times present a great opportunity to offer pragmatic ways in which female lawyers can traverse touchy situations and come away with greater respect and admiration. As coaches, and as a woman, I feel inspired to share ways in which women gain confidence, as well as develop a facility in navigating in all kinds of interactions with ease. This will benefit both men and women in the legal profession, as well as our clients as well.

Nancy Fox
www.bizdevsuccess.com
nfox@bizdevsuccess.com