Discipline, Experience, and Innovation: 3 Must-Read Blog Posts

1. Why “Inspirational Quotes” Don’t Work (and what does).  Peter Shankman, founder of Help A Reporter Out(“HARO”) writes convincingly on the short-lived motivation from inspirational quotes.  I love quotes, but I agree that they won’t carry you for the long haul.

Shankman suggests this instead:  “Do today, what you know you can do tomorrow.” In business development terms, that’s one reason it’s generally more effective to spend 30 minutes on marketing every day than it is to plan a half-day of marketing once a week.  (And by the way, HARO often features reporter queries for lawyers, so you or a staff member should make it a practice to scan them.)

2. Overheard at the American Bar Association’s Women in Law Leadership (WILL) Academy.  Dyanna Q, writing for Ms. JD, summarized some of the points from panels at the WILL Academy.  Although the Academy was designed for women, many of the points are useful for men as well.  A few favorites:

• “Get yourself a ‘kitchen cabinet’ – a personal group of advisers and mentors who provide valuable feedback / guidance.”  (Edith Perez, speaking on Setting Our Sights on the C-Suite)
• “The most important tip to rainmaking:  reciprocity.”  (Victoria Pynchon, speaking on Communication Skills:  Can We Talk?)
  

3. LinkedIn Tops 200 Million Members:  One simple way lawyers can use it.  One of the complaints I hear most often about LinkedIn is that it’s more like a directory than a social network.  LexBlog’s Kevin O’Keefe, author of Real Lawyers Have Blogs, shares a simple tip to overcome that issue:  share information and updates, and respond to others who are sharing.And don’t miss Kevin’s post, Is your law firm using Google+?  It ought to be.