Long ago, the partner in charge of marketing at a Big Four accounting firm discovered that several members of his team had joined the Association of Accounting Marketing Executives. Not only were they attending meetings, but also they were giving presentations and accepting leadership positions. The partner quickly put a stop to it. “Why are you sharing our expertise and know-how with competitors?” he raged.
Kind of a short-sighted question.
His implication, that only the marketers in his department (brilliant as they were) had all the valuable ideas, was egotistical. It was also hypocritical, considering the firm’s accountants and consultants regularly shared information with peers and competitors through groups like the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Institute of Management Consultants, to name just two.
But most critically, the partner in charge of the firm’s marketing function was missing a deeper truth. In professional services, it’s not about the knowledge shared; it’s about how well that knowledge is applied. Execution is everything.
Plenty of people can break down Scottie Scheffler’s golf swing. Some can even mimic it. But reproducing his performance on the PGA Tour? Unlikely. Or consider Anne-Sophie Pic. Her recipes and techniques are shareable, but few can match the brilliance she serves at her restaurant tables. Similarly, a marketing genius can walk you through exactly how she achieves results. Doesn’t mean anyone else can replicate it.
That’s why the true value of law firm “conclaves,” boardrooms, or peer forums isn’t in the specific information shared. It’s in the collision and refinement of ideas. I call these gatherings idea academies. Places where participants learn to bring ideas to the fore, have those ideas tested, watch them interact with other ideas, see some fall by the wayside, while others survive and get sharpened. At their best, the meetings go beyond just sharing information. They facilitate our capacity to think creatively, intentionally generate ideas, execute strategically, and figure out how to put innovations into action in our workplaces. As Steve Jobs put it: “Real artists ship!”
If you’re investing your time (and your firm’s money) in joining a peer forum, boardroom, or cohort, make it count. Here are three ways to ensure that the investment delivers lasting value:
1. Find a Group That Matches Your Aspirations
Seek out a boardroom that aligns with your goals and strengths. At LawVision, our boardrooms emphasize revenue generation from existing clients and via the acquisition of new ones. And we encourage participants to understand how they can move ever closer to the point of sale, including representing the firm in client-facing roles. That’s not surprising given that our facilitators were once bag-carrying sales professionals from technology and professional services firms who brought their experience to the legal sector.
Other organizations lean toward communications, branding, or technology stacks. The right group challenges your thinking and elevates your approach in areas that matters most to you. It doesn’t just validate what you already know.
2. Demand Exposure Beyond the Usual Legal Bubble
The most transformative conversations often come from unexpected places. Early in my career, I was fortunate to be a communications consultant to a brilliant executive named Will Bischoff, Vice Chairman of Technology at Grumman (now Northrop Grumman). He asked me to develop a mind-expansion series for the technologists who already had engineered the Apollo Lunar Module and the F-14 Tomcat of Top Gun fame but who had not yet figured out the next brilliant innovation.
“Don’t bring in a bunch of techies,” Bischoff said. “We already have the best scientists, engineers, and researchers. Bring us historians, philosophers, politicians, artists, you know, people who will help us see the horizon.” That’s how and why the legendary initiative became known as the Horizon Series.
The same principle should apply at gatherings of law firm marketing and sales professionals. These are already industry authorities. That’s why at its boardrooms, LawVision invites outside presenters, cross-industry thinkers, and provocateurs who challenge assumptions and spark fresh thinking.
3. Don’t Let Learning Stop with One Person
A hallmark of high-performing marketing departments is knowledge sharing. Those who attend a boardroom session should bring back ideas and apply them across the team. Use informal debriefs, brown-bag lunches, or “what I learned” updates to turn individual insights into team-wide progress.
Great firms aren’t afraid of knowledge sharing. They know success isn’t about guarding ideas. It’s about executing better than anyone else. And savvy CMOs and business developers? They know the best way to stay ahead is to find the right room, surround themselves with the right peers and the right outside inputs, and keep showing up, with curiosity, candor, and a relentless interest in what’s next.
Steve Bell, a principal in LawVision’s Business Development, Sales & Growth practice group, was the first law firm sales director and the originator of the industry’s first direct-sales team. As co-facilitator of LawVision forums, including the CSO/CMO Boardroom and the Business Development Director Boardrooms, he supports today’s client development leaders as they seek out new pathways and approaches to success.
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