This is an exciting piece of news for me. Here’s the story and my learning is at the end:
On my website, I have a tab called “Resources” where I have listed some law blogs, and a long list of books from diverse areas of business, as well as personal and family resources. On that list you will see the following description for one of the first books I found on management styles, that I have used with, and recommended to, many of the managers I coach – attorneys and other professionals as well:
First Among Equals, McKenna & Maister
When I coach organizations, I use this book constantly! I often copy chapters for my clients and work with them on how to use the concepts in each chapter. Very useful for management and group leaders because it teaches how to manage from a coaching or leading perspective, rather than a telling or directing perspective. It contains useful chapters on different challenges and techniques – from how to listen and build rapport, to how to deal with different personality styles, how to deal with underperformers and tackling “prima donnas”. A very useful practice guide for any manager or team leader!
So imagine my excitement when recently Patrick McKenna, one of the book’s authors, found me on LinkedIn. (Yay social media!) He messaged me and said he had accidentally run across my website. I was pretty excited. Then I asked him to review my book – Coaching for Attorneys: Improving Productivity and Achieving Balance. He said yes! He is a very fast reader and you can view his review here: http://www.amazon.com/Coaching-Attorneys-Improving-Productivity-Achieving/dp/1627223592/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414964958&sr=8-1&keywords=coaching+for+attorneys (By the way, if you click on his name under the review, you will see him reviewing a number of other business books – for managers, leaders and attorneys. More good resources.)
Turns out that Mr. McKenna also specializes in working with attorneys. I will be listing his blog on my law blog resources site soon. Check him out here: www.patrickmckenna.com.
My learning: My goal in all my blog posts is to share something that will support you in your business. So I thought “why do I want to blog about this?” And I realized that one of the most powerful concepts for me in developing a successful business is what I call “walking through the open doors.” I can attribute my success almost solely to this concept. I have learned over the years to look for opportunities and follow them, whether I had planned for them or not. My measure of whether to walk through a particular door or not is this – does this align with my purpose for my business and my life? Many business owners become fixated on how they think it should look so much so that they don’t even see the open doors. Others walk through ALL the doors that open whether they are aligned or not with the business owner’s purpose and vision. In that way, they spend a lot of their time off track. I believe there is a lucrative balance that can be struck by looking for the open doors and walking through those that align with your purpose, even if you don’t know where they will lead.
Hence, me on LinkedIn (and Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+). Hence me checking social media regularly. Hence me asking anyone and everyone to review my book. Hence me “meeting” (virtually) a man I have a lot of respect for an asking him to review my book. Hence this blog post. And then me asking what’s next?
So…what is the next open door for you?