With law firms continuing to face heightened market and industry pressures, business development is essential for both law firm growth and individual lawyer success. However, coaching lawyers to become effective rainmakers presents unique challenges. Lawyers often face hurdles like lack of follow-through, focus, or commitment. On top of this, internal barriers like fear of rejection or self-doubt, as well as external factors such as inadequate strategies, can significantly impede their efforts.
This article explores the complexities of coaching lawyers in business development, offering insights and strategies to unlock their full rainmaking potential.
Understanding the Challenges
Coaching lawyers in business development often reveals a gap between what they consciously want and the subconscious limitations that hold them back. While they may say they want to generate more business, their limiting beliefs about their own abilities, their network, their clients, or the market can lead to hesitation, fear, or self-doubt. These feelings, if left unchecked, can result in inaction or ineffective efforts, wasting their precious time.
Moreover, self-sabotage is a common issue. Lawyers may unconsciously undermine their own progress by judging successful rainmakers, externalizing blame for their lack of growth, or harboring deep fears about self-promotion and rejection. Recognizing and addressing these internal conflicts is essential to moving forward.
Take Sarah, a junior partner at an AmLaw 200 firm. Sarah was a great lawyer and well-liked by clients, but despite her technical expertise, she struggled with business development. She tried to build a book of business, yet months went by with little progress.
That’s when she decided to work with a coach. During the first coaching meeting with her LeadWise coach, Sarah admitted that she felt uncomfortable promoting herself and feared being perceived as “pushy.” She also believed that to be an effective rainmaker, she had to be extroverted, and that was not possible for an introvert like herself.
To address these concerns, Sarah’s LeadWise coach helped her recognize her Natural Rainmaking Style and her natural strengths—her ability to form deep, trusting relationships with clients—and reframed business development not as self-promotion but as relationship-building. The coach also guided Sarah through exercises to shift her mindset, turning her focus from worrying about rejection to understanding how she could genuinely help her clients.
With time, Sarah began to take small, consistent steps—following up with former clients, attending networking events with the goal of learning more about potential clients’ needs and leveraging her current relationships to build referrals. The small wins started adding up, and Sarah not only began to enjoy business development but also secured several new clients, ultimately building the confidence she previously lacked.
The Core of Coaching: Empowerment
Effective coaching isn’t about handing over solutions—it’s about empowering the lawyer to take ownership of their goals. In business development coaching, the lawyer is not a passive participant; they set the agenda and drive the process. The coach acts as a facilitator, guiding the lawyer to identify their strengths, overcome obstacles, and build sustainable business strategies.
Coaching meetings should focus on shifting mindsets, fostering self-awareness, helping lawyers set clear, actionable goals, and creating actionable plans to achieve them. But it’s also important for the coach to remain neutral and avoid imposing their own biases or agendas. By truly understanding each lawyer’s unique challenges, coaches can provide the tailored support necessary to maximize potential.
Practical Steps for Effective Business Development Coaching
Understand the Lawyer’s Practice
Begin by getting to know the lawyer’s practice in detail. What are their areas of expertise? Who are their current and potential clients? What business development efforts have they tried so far? Using assessments like the DiSC profile can also reveal their natural strengths and challenges in rainmaking.
At LeadWise, for example, we help lawyers discover their Natural Rainmaking Style, which informs a more personalized coaching approach. Understanding their Natural Rainmaking Style, helps lawyer uncover their rainmaking strengths, preferences, and blind spots. It also helps them understand the buying preferences of their contacts (their priorities, motivations, things that may turn them off, and things they value) and allows them strategically adapt their approach to better connect and resonate with them. This improves the effectiveness of their business development efforts and increase the ROI on their time and energy.
Create a Trust-Based Coaching Environment
A strong coaching relationship is built on trust. Lawyers need a safe space to express their concerns, ambitions, and even fears, without fear of judgment. Active listening is key. Coaches should focus on understanding the underlying thoughts and emotions that may be holding the lawyer back.
Through this empathetic approach, coaches can help the lawyer define realistic goals and map out actionable steps. Small wins should be celebrated as they build confidence and momentum over time.
Use Proven Coaching Techniques
Effective business development coaching relies on thoughtful, open-ended questions that encourage deeper reflection and problem-solving. Avoid yes-or-no questions and instead guide the lawyer through a process of exploration, alignment, and action. Below are key techniques and sample questions to consider:
Align on Goals:
- What specific areas do you want to improve or develop?
- What change are you looking to create in your business development approach?
- Why is this goal important to you, and how does it align with your broader career objectives?
Assess Gaps:
- What actions have you taken so far, and what results have you seen?
- What’s working well? What isn’t?
- Where do you feel you could push yourself further?
- What internal or external factors are holding you back?
Explore Options & Commit to Action:
- What options do you see for overcoming your challenges?
- What specific steps are you willing to commit to taking?
- What resources or support will you need along the way?
- What potential obstacles do you foresee, and how will you navigate them?
- When will you take action, and how can I support you?
These questions aren’t just prompts for discussion; they help lawyers uncover blind spots, clarify their ambitions, and create a clear, actionable roadmap.
Final Thoughts
Business development coaching is a powerful catalyst for unlocking a lawyer’s rainmaking potential. By understanding the inherent challenges, fostering a collaborative coaching environment, and guiding lawyers through thoughtful self-reflection and action, coaches can help them overcome internal barriers and cultivate the skills needed for sustainable business growth.
Coaching is a journey of transformation, and with the right tools and guidance, lawyers can transcend their limitations, step into their full potential, and thrive in today’s competitive legal market.
