This piece in the Trib. caught my attention recently regarding Chicago Blackhawks President John McDonough. Although I’m a jock-for-life I’m really not a hockey guy at all (though Miracle my be the best sports movie of all time) but some of things the Hawks have been doing recently have been exciting and likely transferable to your legal services business. From the above piece:
The day after the Winter Classic, which drew high ratings on NBC and raves from those who witnessed it, Blackhawks President John McDonough huddled with fellow executives to discuss how they could have done it better.
“One, win,” McDonough said, referring to Detroit’s 6-4 victory over the Hawks. “Two, it would have been nice if the goal horn had worked [throughout the game].
“We’re never, ever satisfied.”
McDonough uses two words to challenge and motivate his 60-person staff: “Think bigger.”
Are you thinking big enough regarding your legal services business (and I’m flat out asking these things right to myself too) in ’09? You don’t have to be a small and fledgling firm “solo” this year.
–What are your daily/weekly/month/annual “stretch” financial goals? They should be realistic but make them big enough too.
–What’s the picture of your firm in 1/5/20 years? You have have to at least the 1/5 year pictures (i.e. business plans) very centrally in your mind every day. Stephen Covey talks about everything have 2 creations…the first planned/imagined and the second being the actual execution of that creation. You need to proactively plan that first creation or invariably chance and outside forces do that “planning” and then the end creation isn’t what you really wanted it to be in the first place.
–Individually. Do you want to get an LLM or some new certification this year? Do you want to do a certain quality of legal writing this year?
Keep in mind that nearly all of the great businesses and banks and law firms that are making millions and billions and that have locations from Chicago to Dubai started tiny. Microsoft was Bill Gates & Paul Allen at Harvard in the late 70s; Walgreen was a mom and pop drug store down on Chicago’s Southside in the early 20th century; and Jenner & Block with 3 lawyers in beautiful downtown Chicago less than 100 years ago. This read about Goldman Sachs is next up on my reading list.
So lets say it together: Think Bigger!
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