Giving thanks and good reads

If you’re in the US, chances are that you’re either out of the office today or working hard to clear your desk so you can leave the office to celebrate Thanksgiving. So, I’ll be brief. Thank you for the opportunity to share ideas and information with you each week. Our in-boxes are all jammed these days, and I never take it for granted that you’ve allowed me entry into yours. 

Do you have questions or topics you would like me to cover in future issues of this newsletter? Just leave a comment on this post. Your responses go directly to me and I personally read each and every one.

In case you have business development on your mind this week (as I’d imagine many of you do, whether you’re celebrating Thanksgiving this week or not), here are a few good articles I found and recommend for your review:

• 10 Commandments for Better Networking I tend to be wary of articles that promise 10 easy steps to anything, but this one has 10 simple reminders for good networking. You probably won’t find anything earthshaking here, but at the article functions as a good pre-networking checklist. (Holiday parties, anyone?)
• Linkedin Engagement on the Rise for Lawyers LinkedIn has long been a “must do” for lawyers, and as Kevin O’Keefe argues, the imperative just gets stronger. While supporting his case for increased engagement, O’Keefe offers some good suggestions for initiating engagement. LinkedIn is not a silver bullet, but especially if you take steps to move online relationships offline, you’ll find that it can be quite helpful. (Just please, please don’t make this mistake when you send a request to connect with someone new.)
• Knock Down Theory Although this post discusses how to “prove we belong at the adult table,” its brief points are quite applicable to how we show up in a business development conversation. Arrogance is unattractive; contribution is appealing.

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate, and to those of you elsewhere in the world, happy Thursday!