I’m Heather Townsend, author of Poised for Partnership and co-author of How to Make Partner & Still Have a Life. I’m the leading global expert in what it takes to move from senior fee earner to partner . I created the How to Make Partner website and Progress to Partner Academy to help lawyers, accountants and consultants like you to realise that you need stop waiting patiently to get noticed, take control of your own career progression to get noticed as “one to watch” for partner-track and beyond in your firm.

Present yourself as the future partner they can’t afford to overlook Click here and I’ll send you my FREE  guide to creating a cast-iron business case for partner.

  • What changes as you move from senior associate to partner in a Magic Circle Law Firm? (It’s more than just your job title)

    What changes as you move from senior associate to partner in a Magic Circle Law Firm? (It’s more than just your job title)

    Many a senior associate and junior partner has come a cropper by failing to realise how the goal posts change when you finally get partner on your business card. In this blog post, we talk about how to make partner in a Magic Circle law firm by examining how the role of a partner in…

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  • 4 foolproof tips to help you make it from being on partnership track to Big 4 partner

    4 foolproof tips to help you make it from being on partnership track to Big 4 partner

    What happens when you put two strong straight-talking women in a room? Who both help talented professionals make partner at the Big 4 (as well as other firms!) The sparks flew…. …as the world was put to rights! During my lengthy conversation with  Tara  (Leadership and Personal Impact Specialist who has helped 100s of Big 4 directors…

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  • 6 tried and tested tips to successfully ask for a pay rise in an accountancy firm

    6 tried and tested tips to successfully ask for a pay rise in an accountancy firm

    How to ask for a pay rise in an accountancy firm Apparently we are now starting to come out of the recession and there is a war for good accountancy talent hotting up (actually, there really is a war for talent in the accountancy marketplace). However, your salary may have increased since the beginning of…

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  • 4 different types of sales questions that will turn you into the firm’s rainmaker

    4 different types of sales questions that will turn you into the firm’s rainmaker

    In this blog post, fresh after talking about how to use your personality to convert more sales, we explain the different types of sales questions for accountants (as well as lawyers and consultants) Sales questions for accountants Questions play a powerful role in getting prospective clients to sign up. Yet the common complaint I hear…

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  • 7 no-nonsense but effective ways to tell a team member that they are not performing

    7 no-nonsense but effective ways to tell a team member that they are not performing

    One common conversation I have with my clients is how to get the message through to a poor performer in the team. Whilst the intention is always there to have a difficult conversation, very often this intention is not acted on. After all, there are always more pressing client matters to attend to than having…

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  • 7 things to consider to help you build a motivating personal plan after getting to partner

    7 things to consider to help you build a motivating personal plan after getting to partner

    It is always a great moment for us when a client we have been supporting makes it over the line and gets the approval to join the partnership. However, the work doesn’t stop there. After all, once you have reached the top of one career ladder, you then need to start at the bottom of…

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  • Most popular (and effective) tactics to fix a struggling team

    Most popular (and effective) tactics to fix a struggling team

    What happens if you inherit a struggling team? After all, the professions are full of dysfunctional teams and non-team players. In this article, we discuss how to fix the struggling team, once and for all. How to fix the team. Reflect on anything team members have already told you that they’re unhappy about. In this list…

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  • Relationology: How your relationships will help you make partner

    Relationology: How your relationships will help you make partner

      For those of you who have read a few of my blog posts will know how much emphasis I place on the importance of relationships to build a bedrock for your future career success. This is why I am delighted to share an extract from a new book called ‘Relationology: 101 secrets to grow…

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  • 4 business development lies you need to stop believing if you are to quickly grow a partner-sized client portfolio

    4 business development lies you need to stop believing if you are to quickly grow a partner-sized client portfolio

    When I look at the curriculum of ‘high potential’ programmes in many firms, I can get rather hot under the collar. You may wonder why? Well, they seem to have (at worst) forgotten the fact that their future partners need the skills to win work. Either that or the quality of the business development training…

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