Canadian Lawyer

laWYer's LITTLE BLACK BOOK traCKs sUCCess development coach Gary Mitchell, who mentors lawyers across Canada. "It's easy for lawyers to find out what they have done wrong and the mistakes they have made, but it is great to be able to track your successes and wins," says Mitchell, who advocates lawyers jot down those wins and successes in a journal. A success journal, either electronic or E hard copy, can also help lawyers eager to move up in the firm. It' able reference outlining the successes of the lawyer in business development and contributions to the firm when lobbying for that promotion. But, for the lawyer developing his own s a ready and valu- very lawyer needs a little black book to track his business suc- cess, says Vancouver business used to refresh a strategy or to see what worked with a specific client. The Mitchell's coaching ends. "Coaching lawyers is like being a personal fitness trainer. When you are starting out, journal is also there when there is a lot of knowledge you are pass- ing onto the person. But, as they learn more that coaching becomes more of a support role, they learn to trust their own instinct. " Connect & Win! CBA Canadian Legal Conference (CLC) August 12 to 14, 2012 | Vancouver clients, it has a deeper significance. It sets out the path and strategies used to achieve success. "They can write down the steps they took to achieve success and then they can repeat them again," says Mitchell, the author of Raindance: The Business Development Guide Book for Lawyers to be published by Carswell in July. One example of how to use the suc- — JS cess journal, says Mitchell, involves a junior partner he worked with. A retir- ing partner handed the junior a num- ber of older inactive accounts. "They were frozen," he says, but Mitchell out- lined suggestions to re-engage clients. The junior partner then set about send- ing e-mail introductions, setting up meetings, learning about the clients, reactivating relationships, and deter- mining how to help the clients meet their goals. Inactive files turned into active files with clients. The methods and steps that worked for the junior partner were logged in the journal as well as successful outcomes. "The lawyer will often find that he or she uses three to five approaches over and over again and it produces results," he says, adding that as time goes on these approaches will become more honed. The journal can also be elus_CL_June_12.indd 1 The CLC is the only national gathering of Canada's legal community. The CBA's CLC and Assyst Real Estate powered by TELUS have partnered to offer you the chance to win an iPad. Register online for the 2012 CLC in Vancouver and be entered to win. CLC Registration Sponsor www.cba.org/Vancouver2012/register www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com JUNE 2012 13 12-05-16 11:35 AM

• Cover