Are You a Rainmaker?

Personal Effectiveness

Are You a Rainmaker?
By Bob Moore, CMC, MCC, The Effectiveness Coach®

Word Count: 398 Words
Reading Time: Less then 3 minutes

Are you a professional advisor or executive of a knowledge based business who needs to generate new business? Regardless of the product or service your offer, a steady flow of prospective clients is essential for you to survive these challenging times and be prepared to thrive when the economy improves.

What exactly is a rainmaking or business development. Ford Harding, author of the book, Creating Rainmakers has this to say about rainmakers. They effectively generate leads for new business. They generate enough business to keep others in their business employed. Except for very unique technicians or specialists, this description could ft almost everyone in a business. Unless, of course, you have all the business you need or want, which is not likely in this economy.

I recommend we all be better rainmakers. The question is not do we need to be, but how effective are we? While there is no single, best way to make rain, highly effective rainmakers share some common characteristics, skills and disciplines, including the following:

1. Rainmakers tend to be optimists who can spot a business opportunity and believe they can get it. Research overwhelmingly supports the connection between optimism and success in many different fields. However, there is also evidence that optimism is a skill that can be learned. Optimism, just like what Peter Drucker discovered about personal effectiveness, can be learned and in many cases must be learned.

2. Rainmakers tend to build on their optimism and expect significant results from their efforts. They are driven and motivated to get results. I hope you will not confuse the notion of being driven with being a “workaholic” or the requirement to give up a balanced life. Balance is also very important to rainmakers

3. Rainmakers follow a system. Systematic does not mean detail-oriented, rather, it means a highly disciplined approach to following a planned process of business development. For example, you are not likely to hear highly effective rainmakers use the excuse of not having time for business development activities.

If any of this fits for your business or profession, I recommend Ford Harding’s book, Creating Rainmakers (click here to purchase from Amazon in paper back for $10.14).

To learn more about how your personal style influences rainmaking, contact me for a free sample of the sales version of the Success Insights behavioral report. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with Success Insights in the Subject.

Enthusiastically,

Bob

Bob Moore, CMC®, President
Effectiveness, Inc/The Effectiveness Coach®
Aligning Human Capital with Strategic Objectives

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