39 FEB 2022 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM YOUR FIRM HAS A STORY THAT YOUR CLIENTS DON’T KNOW – AND THEY SHOULD • “My practice is the most important in the firm, regardless of how large it may be.” What is the result of failing to address these issues? Predictably, growing a firm becomes more about happenstance than effective positioning. This is frequently when firms engage us — because they are experiencing inconsistent, unpredictable growth. They are often, quite simply, stuck. Your most valuable growth asset We have learned in working with law firms that there is no reason to be stuck. There is no reason to fall back on table stakes when seeking to grow the firm. That is because every firm owns an asset that no competitor can claim, regardless of whether they boast similar certifications and experiences. That asset is the firm’s unique story. We have come to call it your ‘Capital S Story’ because it rises above all the other stories a firm or practitioner may share. Your Capital S Story stands above because it answers these critical questions: why someone on their firm’s most unique asset, the only one that no competitor can claim, they fall into the trap of comparing experiences and certifications. Why use your Capital S Story? Once, it was all too easy for logically minded professionals, including lawyers, to dismiss storytelling as some sort of marketing gimmick that had no place in growing a firm. However, functional MRIs and similar tools have demonstrated convincingly in the last two decades that the human brain is hardwired for story. In my book, 'Finding Your Capital S Story', I relate an experiment by Dr Uri Hasson at Princeton University, who captured the brain activity of a storyteller and then proved that when more than 30 listeners heard the story, their brain activity mirrored that of the storyteller. This is a phenomenon known as neural coupling and it is essential to engaging any audience, including law firm prospects. It is essential to differentiating your firm from competitors. Biology is not the only scientific proof of storytelling; the famed psychotherapist Carl Jung learned the power of stories while practicing in Switzerland during World War I. During that war, Switzerland was a neutral country. As a diaspora of refugees entered Switzerland, Jung worked with a great variety of patients. Regardless of language, economic attainment or personal experiences, he found his patients told the same stories over and over again, which led him to the concept of what he termed “the collective unconscious.” In a similar fashion, the mythologist Joseph Campbell, by studying the stories told around the world in various cultures, came to the conclusion that there are a set of archetypal stories that we humans tell ourselves over and over again. Campbell is best known for developing what he called the Hero’s Journey, a story archetype that is at the heart of many great films and books. There are hundreds of variations of archetypal stories. These lie at the heart of should hire you, work for you or partner with you. The answers to these questions define the very character and nature of the firm. Few lawyers I have met would consider their firm a carbon copy of a competing firm with similar credentials. Yet instead of focusing Your Capital S Story stands above because it answers these critical questions: why someone should hire you, work for you or partner with you.
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