Trying Times and a Rainmaker’s Soul (and also his Soles)
“These are the times that try men’s souls,” wrote Thomas Paine at a low point in this nation’s fight for independence. That famous sentence might be translated for use in the current revenue crisis that many professional practices will face over the next year as “In this time of crisis for our clients and their companies, our character as friends and our grit as rainmakers are determined.”
Rainmakers build referral networks made up of clients and other influential people. By the implicit contract of networking, you and your network of contacts do what you can for each other, looking out for each other’s well being, helping each other advance careers or sell work. In short, you are friends, even if it is a strictly business friendship.
Some, perhaps many, of these contacts now face a career crisis. Will you be there for them in this time of need? Or will you be so wrapped in your own crisis that you lose track of theirs? Even if you can’t steer them to someone who can hire them, you can still give moral support by calling and showing interest in them when, perhaps, few others do. You don’t want to be what Thomas Paine would have called a summer soldier or consultant Michael Shays calls a teabag friend (one who only calls when in hot water.)
Your rainmaking grit will also be tested, because you will have to work twice as hard to win less work than you sold before. You have to get out in front of more people, pursue more false leads and find more dead ends to win enough work to keep your people busy. These are the times that rainmakers try their soles, as it were, because they use up more shoe leather going from meeting to meeting.
You will read advice in this blog and in other places about where to look for business in hard times. As good as this advice may be, work will be scarce and winning it will be hard. In a recession, rainmaking is composed of 80% grit, 15% empathy and 5% for everything else.
October 14th, 2008 at 4:02 AM
Ford,
First, I found it interesting that you called it a recession. I didn’t know we were allowed to call it that now?
Second, great post! You described the BizDev climate of late more precisely than I have seen anywhere. Not surprisingly, you described my daily grind even more to the tee. Meeting after meeting, phone call after phone call and yes… email after email.
But I must say this recent shift, has not come without it’s perks. I’ve noticed that it has actually helped our firm to see what we’re made of. I find that we’re refocusing ourselves almost daily or at the very least taking the time to re-evaluate who we are as a firm.
So while it’s true that… “these are the times that try men’s [soles]“. It’s probably true that the by-product of tried soles may be a clearer vision with which one can use to leverage work in previously unclear markets.
October 14th, 2008 at 4:57 AM
Dear Bizzie Guye:
When there is a downpour of business and work flows in like rainwater from a gutterspout, firms do tend to lose focus. And individual professionals tend to let the maintenance of their networks slide. A little adversity sure does help clarrify one’s thinking. Thanks for pointing this out.
Ford Harding
October 22nd, 2008 at 6:38 AM
[...] Posted by sullivankreiss on October 21, 2008 Great post from Ford Harding, Trying Times and a Rainmaker’s Soul (and also his Soles), this week. Harding talks about how many rainmakers will have to work twice as hard to get less business than before. [...]
October 22nd, 2008 at 7:02 AM
This is another correct and pleasingly positive response to my gloomy post. Thank you.