Have you ever let your business development slip. And then found yourself paralysed about picking it back up again?
It happens to all of us. Life gets in the way. A week turns into a month. And suddenly you’re not just behind on your BD activities; you’re dealing with the added weight of embarrassment, procrastination, or a nagging inner voice telling you it’s too late to restart. The longer you leave it, the harder it feels to begin again.
In this episode, Heather gets candid about her own experience letting the podcast go quiet for a month. And the exact mindset shifts and practical steps that helped her get back on track. Because knowing why you stopped is only half the battle. What matters most is how quickly you get started again with business development.
In this episode you will learn:
- Why embarrassment and procrastination are the two biggest blockers to restarting your business development. And how to move past both
- How to use your “why” as a powerful motivator to get your BD activities going again when momentum has stalled
- The one small, safe action you can take today to break the procrastination cycle and rebuild your business development habit
- Why consistency in business development, not perfection, is what builds a partner-ready practice over time
If you find this episode useful, don’t forget to like it and then subscribe so you don’t miss another episode.
What help is out there for you to progress your career in the professions?
If you’re thinking, “I get the theory, but I need more help actually making time for business development consistently,” our Progress To Partner Academy can help you.
That’s precisely why we have a suite of courses in the Progress to Partner Academy to help you with this. For example, our course ‘How to make time for business development’ gives you a structured process for building the time management habits needed to prioritise BD, and helps you build your own Partner Track Plan so you’re back in control.
You can also listen to this episode on Substack and on Apple Podcasts
I didn’t mean to do this.
But it’s been almost a month since the last podcast episode went live.
You see, I’m human. And life happens. Then before you know it your regular business development activities have stopped.
For me, it was a very simple problem. No one told me I had run out of episodes. And neither had I put a prompt in my diary to write and record some more episodes. (That has now been fixed)
So in this episode I am going to share my advice on how to restart your business development when you’ve stopped it for a while.
This is the How to Make Partner podcast with me, Heather Townsend. The author of Poised for Partnership, and co-author of How to Make Partner and Still Have a Life. In this podcast, I will be highlighting some of the great stuff in our Progress To Partner Academy. New episodes are released weekly, so press subscribe so you never miss a new episode.
The first problem you often need to face in this situation is getting over the embarrassment. Yes, I’ve just talked about episodes being released weekly. And I’ve now left it a month since last recording an episode. That’s embarrassing. And for me who talks about always making time for business development and the importance of being consistent with your “business development as usual” type activities, it’s frankly mortifying.
For me, I’ve recognised that it is embarrassment that is stopping me from restarting this podcast. And often naming the emotion helps you realise that it is just a feeling. I’m not broken. I still have something to say. People still welcome what I talk about. I am also thinking about a regular listener to the podcast Rebecca, who is on one of my “how to make partner” programmes. Rebecca will have noticed that I haven’t recorded an episode recently.
Funnily enough knowing that my podcast helps Rebecca – someone I have met and know – means I want to get back and record another episode. I hope that my mistake by not publishing something for the last month helps Rebecca and listeners like you when life gets in the way and your business development stops, gives you comfort.
Maybe the problem isn’t embarrassment. Maybe it’s procrastination. We know we need to do business development, but we procrastinate. There is always something more important. For example, I know that I have been proactively nudging my network to find another big anchor client for my How To Make Partner business. So I have justified the lack of an episode with “at least I am doing some business development”.
Procrastination is often a sign that this is something we need to do. But we are being pushed out of our comfort zone. It’s our brain’s way of keeping us safe. When you are procrastinating the best thing you can do is identify one small and safe action you can take to get started.
Last week I was rung up by a potential corporate buyer of our how to make partner services. We do a considerable amount of coaching and programmes in strong regional to large professional service firms around the world. And this was someone who wanted to get me to run one of these programmes for her firm. Despite not answering my message to her when I emailed a few weeks ago, she mentioned that she had shared the podcast episode I shared with her to key people in the firm. Oh and she was booking me to run a virtual session on sales for her fee earners in January.
At that moment I was like “she shoots, she scores”.
And suddenly I realised, this podcast is now earning us business. And it wouldn’t carry on doing this if I don’t keep on regularly publishing. D’oh.
This moment for me was a very clear reminder of WHY I need to keep up with the podcast. And when you have dropped your business development activities, reminding yourself WHY you are doing it can be that powerful reminder to get started again.
But ultimate at the end of the day, I am reminded of the advice I often give others in this situation.
When you fall off a horse, it’s not about how hard you fall, or what made you fall, it’s ultimately about how quickly you get back on the horse again. And its the same with business development. It’s about getting over the shame, embarrassment or whatever story your brain is telling you and just finding a small action to restart your business development activities.
Building a daily business development habit is the antidote to a chaotic diary. It’s the single most effective way to ensure you are consistently taking the actions that will move your career forward towards partnership.
Of course, knowing what to do and actually doing it are two different things. If you know you’d benefit from structure, guidance, and accountability to put these habits in place, we can help.
The course ‘How to make time for business development’’ provides a structured process for building the time management habits needed to prioritise business development. It will help you build your own Partner Track Plan that puts you in control.
I’ve popped a link to buy the ‘How to make time for business development’ course directly in the show notes for this episode. This course is just one of the 12+ courses in our Progress To Partner Academy. Also in the show notes, you’ll find links to my books – Poised for Partnership and How to Make Partner and Still Have a Life – so you can easily find them on Amazon.
And as a thank you for listening, there’s also a link for a 10% discount on annual membership for our Progress To Partner Academy.
That’s all for this episode of the How to Make Partner podcast.
What is one 15-minute business development task you can schedule in your diary for tomorrow morning, before you even open your emails? Start there.
If you have enjoyed this episode please leave us a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or give us a comment on Substack. This helps us get the word out to others who made need this advice too.
Remember to hit subscribe so you don’t miss next week’s episode.
Thanks for listening!
About Progress To Partner Academy: On-demand career help and guidance
You have to drive your career forwards. Your firm wouldn’t do that for you.
Stop waiting to be noticed for career development courses by your firm.
Make the firm notice you! You will get the skills and knowledge about what the partners are really looking for when you join our Progress to Partner Academy.
In our Progress To Partner Academy you’ll find our popular courses:
– How to delegate like a pro
– How to lead a hybrid team
– How to excel as a line manager
Join our Progress To Partner Academy and use the code PODCAST10 to get 10% off 12 months of premium annual membership.
Links
Complete my FREE Partnership Readiness Assessment – to see where you have gaps in your own development – you’ll get a personalised report with actions for what progress your career forward
Connect with me on LinkedIn
Join Progress To Partner Academy and use the code PODCAST10 to get 10% off 12 months of premium annual membership.
Buy your hard copy of Poised for Partnership or buy the Ebook here
Buy your copy of How To Make Partner And Still Have A Life
Buy your copy of The Go To Expert
Buy your copy of The Financial Times Guide To Business Networking
Join my Progress To Partner Academy and access all my courses and use the code PODCASTBP10 to get 10% off 12 months of premium annual membership.
______________________________________
More help to progress your career in your law, accountancy or consulting firm?
- Sign up to my weekly tips packed full of advice and knowledge on how to progress your career in your professional service firm – click here!
