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CFLI LEADS THE WAY
Congratulations to Carlos Gutierrez, President of CFLI, our Miami Practice Group for an outstanding meeting last week. He built his general meeting around a discussion on building a successful practice. He invited members to give opinions on how to build a successful practice, i.e. getting cases.
Carlos spoke of showing up and participating in the activities of the Practice Group showing videos of the joint meeting with inns of Court organized by CFLI. I wish I could have attended, but for my granddaughter paying Captain Hook in a production of Peter Pan that evening.
The first speaker discussed the old-fashioned way of making yourself known by joining and attending organizations and constantly marketing yourself at meetings, lunches and the like. It works. Is it more effective than digital marketing, I could not say, but I have always been a fan of personal contact.
Another member spoke about building trust with people. Coming off as genuine. friendly and caring as well as knowledgeable. Letting people know that you are good at what you do and can be relied upon to get their job done. Again, personal contact.
Carlos invited me to speak at the end, for which I am very grateful. I first agreed with what all three offered ahead of me. However, I added the element of leadership to round out the formula for building a successful practice. That is the theme of this edition of The Pulse.
LEADERSHIP
There are several things that make a leader. Some people are natural leaders and have little or no fear of asserting themselves in that role. I would dare say, that is not the case with most of us. So, how does one build leadership skills? If you want the AI version, look it up separately. I write my own material from my own life experiences.
The first thing you need to do I show up. If you are not present, no one will know you are a part of the group. Just becoming a member, although it helps support the organization, does nothing for us, personally. You may not be able to show up for every meeting, but make the attempt to show you care by being present.
Here you are at your first meeting, afraid to open your mouth for a number of reasons. The key, however is to participate in order to get noticed. Each of us has something to offer and so long as you do not attempt to take over the conversation to prove you are the smartest person in the room, your comments will generally be welcomed. As you attend more meetings and participate with more comments, your confidence in yourself grows and is recognized by others.
Your participation should demonstrate your knowledge and skills based on your training and continuing education. It is a subtle way of showing your competence on the subjects on which you speak, which brings a certain respect from your colleagues.
Oh my, you are suddenly being approached to join committees and work on projects for your Group. Better yet, you are volunteering to do so because you begin looking at yourself as a recognized leader. And by taking on responsibilities the trust in you grows from you colleagues. The last thing you should do is to compare your leadership skills. Be your own person and comfortable in your own skin with your own style.
The advice mentioned from the meeting, showing up, participating, continuing your education to demonstrate a high level of competence and becoming a leader should all lead to building a successful practice.
TO PRACTICE GROUP LEADERS
You have the power and influence to build leaders in your Practice Groups. It begins with encouraging attendance and participation in the Practice Group’s meetings and events. It continues with requesting your members to head or join committees or do things on behalf of the entire Practice Group. One of the positions available for appointment is to become the liaison to the FACP Practice Group Committee. It is a commitment of the third Wednesday of each month at noon for an hour at noon representing the interests of your Group and then reporting back to the Group about what FACP is doing of the Practice Groups and members in general. Another is to have your Practice Group present at a Grand Rounds demonstrating the commitment to training and education. Let’s build future leaders together.
Jeff Wasserman,
FACP President
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