@heathertownsend
Here's what you really need to do to make partner in your law, accountancy or consulting firm. Author of Poised for Partnership, FT Guide to Business Networking, How to Make Partner & still have a Life (co-author). www.howtomakepartner.com
I wrote the Financial Times to Business Networking over 10 years ago & it's still a pleasure to receive messages like this one today:
"I recently picked up your book: FT guides - Business Networking and I must say it has left quite an impression on me as I look to navigate through my own career"
Getting involved in business development & networking isn't a "nice to have". It's essential.
Hardly anyone gets promoted to partner without a proven ability to win business for the firm.
Don't wait til you're quiet! You need small but consistent levels of regular activity to win work.
Being commercial means spotting ways to help your client โ and your firm.
๐ก How many referrals to other teams have you made in the last 6 months?
๐ก How many times have you said to a partner, โThereโs more work here โ?
Thatโs how to show youโre ready to lead & how you show you think like a partner.
Most people wildly overestimate what they can do in a month, but massively underestimate what they can achieve through small, consistent actions over a year or 2.
Commit to doing three things that help your career progression each week. They don't need to be big!
If you're a #lawyer, #accountant or #consultant, I'd love you to join me, Heather Townsend, author of Poised for Partnership and co-author of How to Make Partner & Still Have a Life,for my next webinar
www.howtomakepartner.com/events/partn...
Plan them, schedule them, and then every 90 days or so formally review your progress and set your priorities for the next 90 days. Then let me know how your career progression is going.
Most people wildly overestimate what they can do in a month, but massively underestimate what they can achieve through small, consistent actions over a year or 2.
Commit to doing three things that help your career progression each week. They don't need to be big!
Have you heard my How to Make Partner podcast yet?
www.howtomakepartner.com/podcast/
Learning to delegate well will give you time to work on areas that will help your career progress in your firm.
This means, delegating the lower value tasks that you donโt need to do. Delegating authority as well as tasks (so that they donโt need to come to for decisions or for signing off).
If you can't learn to delegate properly, wave goodbye to any ambitions you ever had about making partner in your law firm, accountancy or consultancy firm.
Learning to delegate well will give you time to work on areas that will help your career progress.
Have you delegated any work this week?
Making the transition from senior associate to partner in a law firm is a tricky business! You have to create, write, & pitch your business case. Then, thereโs the other stuff: the intangibles that demonstrate to your partners that you've "got it"...
www.howtomakepartner.com/events/senio...
Youโre a hard working law firm senior associate who wants to make the final step up to partner in the next few years. But what will get you noticed asโpartner materialโ?
www.howtomakepartner.com/events/senio...
#lawyers #attorneys #seniorassociates #partnertrack
Seriouslyโฆdonโt do this. Itโs tempting to start your Business Case for Partnership with lots of context. Perhaps youโd like to give the person reading your Business Case some context about you & your background?
Please. Start with the best stuff first.
howtomakepartner.substack.com/p/dont-make-...
Hoping to make partner in the next 12 months? Time to spend time on business development & raising your profile.
Join me 28 May at my free webinar 1 Year to Making Partner.
I wrote Poised for Partnership & am co-author of How to Make Partner (& Still Have a Life)
www.howtomakpartner.com/events
If you are going to expand the amount of time you have to build your practice, work on your career and win work for your professional service firm, you will need to learn to delegate well to more junior staff.
Hear why partnership isn't just another promotion & why your partners need more than a safe pair of safe hands.
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
I (literally) have lawyers, accountants & consultants from all over the world receiving my free weekly tips on how to make partner. That's why I run my free webinars twice on the same day, to make it as easy as possible for you to join
โ https://www.howtomakepartner.com/events/1-year-to-partner/โ
I started my podcast! ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฝ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ท๐ผ๐ฏ? Clients & meetings take over.
โ
If you're nodding along, this episode is for you.
โ Read (or listen) on Substack: howtomakepartner.substack.com/%E2%81%A0
โ Find me on Apple & Spotifyโ โ
To make partner you need to build a business & personal case for partner AND do your day job:
Prioritise - Make your career your most important client.
Plan your internal PR campaign, your personal development, your teamโs development, your BD activities
Pace yourself - Take one step at a time.
Stop relying on your firm for your own career development. If you do this, youโre putting yourself at risk by giving the firm control of whether you progress or not. You could be left just hoping that someone will see your potential and nominate you for training!
Which camp are you? The big question of the day in the UK... will you take the full 4 days off over the bank holiday this weekend?
I've been told off for admitting to working over the weekend. ๐๐
Which camp are you in? Catch up on some work stuff? Or take the full 4 days off?
In business development terms, there is rarely such a thing as an overnight superstar. The best business developers have BD strategies that theyโve been plugging away at for months, sometimes years before the leads start to roll in.
What better time to spend on your business development than now?
Are you your network's best kept secret?
Spend time with your network so they remember you when asked for a referral.
Get your name into the front of peopleโs minds to win clients via your network.
The biggest thing holding lawyers, accountants & consultants from progressing their career is knowing how to find the time for business development. โ
โ
To stand out, start nailing this process down ASAP.โ
โ โ
You won't get on the partner track just by working harder and longer hours.
You need to start working smarter by prioritising the right tasks.
The tasks that will help you to win business and show your partners that you are 'partner-material.'
Itโs my first official day back after 2 weeks on the sofa post ankle surgery and Iโm delivering a global virtual online session to mid tier accounting firm leaders on how to get a stronger pipeline of partners.
Wish me luck!
It takes more than just being a great #lawyer to make partner.
You'll need to build a solid book of business. Here's how to develop a business development mindset (even if you don't want to "do sales") so you can become a great work winner
www.howtomakepartner.com/how-to-chang...
Getting great career development habits in your daily, weekly and monthly routine will get you noticed by your firm as someone with partnership potential.
Start working consistently on your career to see the benefits later.
How to raise your profile in your firm - when you're in the office, get up& walk to see the people you need to see.
It's small thing but people will wonder who you are & will get to know who you are & what you do.
If hot-desking donโt always sit in the same place. Sit in other parts of the firm.
I talk a lot about the need to network & to start wining work for your firm
But there's something else that the partners are looking out for.
They want to see that you can build a great team.
Time spent on developing your team and your leadership skills is actually an investment in your career