February 2008

In this Issue:

Leadership Lessons From Trees Remember the movie Nine to Five with Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, and Dolly Parton?   Lily’s mantra in that movie was “I am a willow; I can bend.”   Back when I was working for four partners and a paralegal—and doing the billing for one of our international offices--I used to have that motto as a screen saver on my computer! read more...

There's No Better Time Than NOW... Are you one of those perpetual procrastinators like me who secretly believe that we have to wait until things calm down a bit before we start to get our acts together?  We’ll get right on it after the big closing, or after the holidays, or after we file this brief, or after the move, or after we get settled into our new offices.  And then there’s always tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow because as we all know “tomorrow’s a day away.”  Of course, that’s the big problem with tomorrow . . . it never comes! read more...

If Not You, Then Who? If Not Now, Then When? What distinguishes humans is our ability to become better than we are.  In order to become better, we cannot just sit back and do nothing—we must take action. read more...

Creating a Marketing Plan for Your Chapter In marketing for your NALS chapter there are a wide range of activities involved in making sure that you are not only attracting new members, but also continuing to meet the needs of your current members and serving the legal profession as well.  Thus a marketing plan can be an important tool for your chapter.  With everyone’s busy schedule today, reaching out to new potential members and letting the community know your purpose and presence can be very difficult and with a marketing plan your chapter can accomplish its goals. read more...

Attend a NALS Conference for Free! FREE?  OK, so the whole trip may not be free, but your air fare could be free.  You're thinking this has to be a scam…airline tickets are not free.  Airline tickets can be free if you use frequent flyer miles.  Maybe you only fly once or twice a year and you think it will be another 10 years before you have enough miles.  That's not necessarily true.  There are many ways to earn miles. read more...

If You Thought You Could Make a Difference (conclusion) If you thought you could make a difference, would you be willing to try?  If you discovered you possessed leadership qualities and skill, would you use them?  If you knew that you could motivate others to make a difference, would you be inspired to do so?  Together we have taken a look at several of the twelve qualities that leaders possess.  Finally, a leader is courageous and committed. read more...