Strike it Rich! Catch Up with Old Friends and Make New Ones!
I’m old (sorta). I’ve been an ALA member since 1980 and have attended countless meetings, educational sessions, annual and regional conferences, events, business partner functions, etc. So I ask myself, what do I have to show for 30+ years of investing time, energy, emotions and money into these activities?
Relationships. Lots of them, with all types of people. There are relationships with people who are Friends (first and foremost) who know and feel my pain of the woes of helping run a multi-million dollar business. That alone has been worth the investment. Other relationships are as Business advisors. Financial analysts. Consultants who travel the world advising thousands of law firms and attorneys on everything from financial systems, to strategic planning, to dealing with impaired professionals, to legal project management….you name it. Inventors. Innovators. Counselors. Trusted advisors.
Today’s professional trying to help manage legal businesses has to have a tool kit filled with endless resources. As law firms leaders, we have to keep ourselves fresh, updated, invigorated, flexible, resilient. We have to take strategic risks. We have to grow, both as a person and as a professional. Attending an ALA conference is like going to Vegas for the first time, like being a kid in a candy store, like finding money in the couch. It’s the ALA Superstore! Access to all the tools you need, in one location, at one low price, with an infinite Customer Service Center full of colleagues who have been there, done that and are ready and willing to help you learn how to use your new tools.
Make your shopping list now. Put together a short list of the top 10 things you’re currently struggling with or opportunities you’d like to find and what relationships you want to establish that can help you with these things. When the Superstore opens, hit the New Comers and Welcome Receptions on Thursday afternoon. There’ll be a Counselor there for sure as Stevie Ray will have you rolling with laughter. Join a bowling team that night, too. Friday’s Exhibit Hall events and the Bee Hive will be buzzing with opportunities. Make all the networking events you possibly can, and I promise you you’ll be able to easily fill your tool kit with gold!
Teresa J. Walker is Chief Operating Officer at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP, based in Nashville, Tennessee, and currently serves on the ALA Board of Directors as an At-Large Director for Regions 6 and 2. With more than 30 years of experience as a legal administrator, Teresa is a founding member of the Middle Tennessee chapter and has served in many positions with ALA during those years. Fortunate to count hundreds, if not thousands, of ALA members and business partners as friends and colleagues.
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