What Is Your Brand And Why Does It Matter

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers What is Your “Brand” and Why Does It Matter? A year ago I was introduced to a young, smart, corporate lawyer in a well-known national law firm. When I met him, I could not help but notice his shoes were not shined and actually had scuff marks. His shoes looked like the one on the left in the photo. His un-shined shoes made an impression on me that will take a long time to go away. It is the first thing I think about when his name comes to my mind. I wonder if potential clients and referral sources also notice his shoes. If so, he will be forever “branded” as a business lawyer who does not dress like one. I don’t like the word “brand” to describe lawyers. Yet, we each have a brand. It is what our clients, referral sources, contacts, adversaries and colleagues in our office say about us. What do those folks say about you? Recently I read the Forbes article by Lisa Quast:  Build A Personal Brand, Not Just A Career. I was fascinated by the discussion of  Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s new CEO. As Google’s 20th employee and first woman engineer, she is a ‘brand.’ Marissa Mayer is the woman that made Google successful. That is definitely a brand. I urge you to read the entire article and discuss some of the ideas with your colleagues. When I was building my law practice I wanted my potential clients to think I was: I never called that a “brand” but it was. For 25 years I wrote a column for Roads and Bridges magazine titled “Law: The Contractor’s Side.”  The title of the column itself “branded” me as a contractor’s lawyer. What do you want your clients to think about you? What is the best way to show them your brand? I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.