Some attorneys might be embarrassed by why they can’t or won’t produce thought leadership. It’s up to their marketing and business development colleagues to help them build their authority despite this shortcoming.
It’s no secret that the majority of attorneys in private practice, especially at corporate law firms, don’t consistently create thought leadership content.
But it’s a dirty little secret why that’s the case: They don’t have the thoughts and ideas necessary to power a thought leadership program.
That shouldn’t be seen as a slight against them. But in the legal industry, it can be perceived as one.
The fact is, not every attorney has interesting thoughts about new legal developments or developments in their clients’ industries.
Not every attorney can—or wants to—connect the dots between developments in the law, business, or the world and the issues their clients and prospective clients will face because of them.
Not every attorney can—or wants to—spot trends in the law, business, or the world and discuss them in an article, or on a video or podcast episode.
And, of course, some attorneys do have these thoughts, but for one reason or another, choose to do nothing with them.
Why don’t attorneys have the ideas necessary to power a thought leadership program?
In my experience, there are six reasons why an attorney (or any professional services provider) can’t—or won’t—participate in a thought leadership program.
First, their brain is wired in a way that doesn’t lend itself to producing ideas that would power a thought leadership program.
They might be able to “issue spot” for clients regarding specific legal and business issues that could bubble up in connection with a client’s particular situation, such as an event regarding or involving the client. But they have trouble seeing the big picture and connecting dots between what’s happening generally in the law, in business, or in the world, and how that could impact their clients.
Second, they might be focused on billable work and don’t want to, or in their minds “can’t,” spend time thinking about ideas for thought leadership content, even though they know they probably should.
Third, they don’t like writing or recording videos, perhaps because they don’t think they’re good at it. Because of that, they never build or flex the mental muscle that generates ideas that power a thought leadership program.
Fourth, they don’t read anything outside of the reading they do for their billable work. They’re not reading or otherwise consuming content from industry publications, general news publications, or niche publications/content creators. These sources could inspire thought leadership, such as by alerting attorneys to new developments or trends outside of the law that could be of interest and/or relevant to their clients and prospects.
Fifth, they have no interest in building a name for themselves or a book of business. So, again, they never bother to build or flex their mental thought leadership muscles.
Sixth, they’re afraid of people disagreeing with them or having their opinions used against them.
The latter, in particular, is something many attorneys fear. They worry that an article or video they produce could be used against them by an adversary down the road. Though it likely rarely happens, and the impact it would cause would almost certainly be minimal, the risk of it happening is enough to scare them away from regularly producing thought leadership.
What to do when attorneys aren’t, or have no interest in, producing thought leadership
It’s tempting for law firm marketing and business development teams to want to get all of their attorneys involved in thought leadership.
But we know from living life that it’s a fool’s errand to force people to do things they can’t or don’t want to do.
When it comes to thought leadership, you’re not going to be successful getting attorneys to produce thought leadership when they don’t want to.
Sure, you can coach them up about what a thought leadership program might look like, discuss some potential ideas for content, and see if they’re actually interested in producing content. You could also see if they’d be open to working with a thought leadership coach or ghostwriter to help them produce thought leadership.
But at the end of the day, you can’t force them to produce thought leadership.
Instead, the more productive use of in-house marketers’ and attorneys’ time would be to work together to figure out which marketing and business development activities are actually a good fit for them.
Maybe an attorney who has no interest in thought leadership is, or could be, a fantastic networker.
Perhaps that attorney would love to speak at conferences (which is a form of thought leadership!).
They might find serving on local boards to be professionally fulfilling and fruitful from a marketing and business development perspective.
Or, they might find the same fulfillment and marketing success doing pro bono legal work.
Don’t force thought leadership upon attorneys who aren’t interested in it
There are many marketing and business development activities that attorneys can undertake besides thought leadership to build their book of business and to build their personal brand.
Sure, thought leadership is wildly effective at building attorneys’ authority and credibility, and thus, their books of business. But it’s not for everyone.
Instead of jamming the idea of thought leadership down the throat of an attorney who isn’t going to create it, law firms would be better served by figuring out exactly what kind of marketing and business development activities that attorney wants to engage in, and then helping them engage in those activities.
Law firms and attorneys shouldn’t let an attorney’s aversion to thought leadership prevent them from marketing themselves and building a book of business through other means.
Thinking about bringing on an outside writer to help your law firm strategize and create compelling thought-leadership marketing and business development content? Click here to schedule a 30-minute Content Strategy Audit to learn if collaborating with an outside writer is the right move for you and your firm.