Our latest Enhancement Retreat brought home a powerful message: Community can be a difference-maker. I simply cannot articulate the sense of community that we all felt there; you had to experience it firsthand. I have personally attended all nine of our Enhancement Retreats, and this year we are kicking it up a notch.
Over thirty five elder law and estate planning firms from across the nation, along with their dedicated team members – 125 people – in a room together for two and a half days, three times a year. We were sharing values and goals with other like-minded entrepreneurs, law students, paralegals, client service coordinators, marketing coordinators – all of these different roles coming together to make their firms shine.
Members were blow away with what they have accomplished since our last retreat in October – just four short months ago.
Community played a big role in making that happen. It’s important to be able to communicate what community is. People join clubs and organizations on some level for the community they get. If it’s a gym, you get the accountability of people saying “Where were you on Tuesday? We missed you at cycling class!” People are dependent on you and they feed off of your energy and the excitement you bring. The collaboration and accountability that comes from community meant the goals that were set in October were going to get met. No. Matter. What. So being in the room is key; that's a message we can't articulate with a marketing piece.
Being there means you hear things from other members – we call them your Board of Directors – like “You have to slow down and manage that growth,” or “You have to speed up.” It means you can talk more and share what has worked and what hasn’t. One of our members declared in the room that he would be launching consistent workshops starting in April. His Board of Directors responded, “You can’t wait! You’ve got to do it now to leverage your time!”
These conversations with others support you with controlled and consistent growth. Most people are afraid of growth and success. It’s scary. They don’t know if they are doing it right. They are afraid they are going to blow up what they’ve done before. Community can be the antidote for those fears.
And it goes way beyond the attorneys. For the perfect storm, we also have your team centric. It’s great that you're getting ideas from other attorneys, but the beauty is that they have teams together that are on the front lines. They’re talking, sharing, gaining confidence and getting fired up! I was hammered with emails when I got back asking how they can get their hands on tools, webinars and training pieces, to get whatever they need in their bones to support the firm with reaching its goals.
Our attendees are definitely on a high this week – so come April they may gap out. But June is just around the corner, and they’ll be back in the room for the next Enhancement Retreat. That will bring accountability. Collaboration. Meeting with their Board of Directors. You will only get so much from the ListServ, the Live ListServ, Your Legal Hour, member webinars, marketing roundtables, etc.; they are no substitute for being in the room.
Molly L. Hall, Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose, LLC, and author of Don’t Be a Yes Chick: How to Stop Babysitting Your Boss, Transform Your Job and Work with a Dream Team Without Losing Your Sanity or Your Spirit in the Process.
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