​One of the biggest challenges in business development is not the outreach itself. It is what happens after you send it.

You reach out to someone you have been meaning to reconnect with.

You follow up after a good conversation.
You send an article or a quick note to stay in touch.
Then you hear nothing.

No reply. No acknowledgement. No clear signal that anything is happening.
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When that silence happens enough times, it can start to get in your head.

​Before AI tools became part of my workflow, I was spending a significant amount of time across many aspects of my work. Preparing for meetings, customizing proposals, following up after coaching conversations, researching companies and contacts, and rewriting emails to make sure the tone and message were right.

That preparation has always mattered to me because it leads to better conversations. It also takes time.

Over the past year, I have been experimenting with tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and meeting note platforms such as Fathom to better understand where they genuinely add value. The goal is not to shortcut the thinking process. The goal is to reduce the friction around getting started and capture information more effectively.

Lessons from the ABA White Collar Conference

One of the things I’ve been reminded of this week at the ABA White Collar Conference in San Diego is how powerful it is to meet people in person.

In a world where so much of our work happens over Zoom, email, and text messages, it’s easy to underestimate the value of simply showing up.

I almost didn’t make the trip.

Conferences require time, travel, and energy. And if we’re honest, there’s always that quiet question in the back of your mind: Will this actually be worth it?
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That said, I’m glad I came.

​One of the most common things I hear from professionals I work with sounds reasonable on the surface.

“I know I should be doing business development — staying in touch, following up, putting myself out there. I just don’t have time right now.”

They’re busy. Client work is intense. Deadlines are real. The calendar fills up fast. None of that is a surprise.
What stands out is what’s sitting underneath that response.

Most people aren’t short on time.

They’re carrying an assumption about what business development requires.

They picture long blocks of focus. A carefully worded message. The right moment. Something that feels thoughtful and polished enough to send.
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So they wait.

​One of the reasons I love working with experienced professionals is that they’re incredibly smart.

They’re deeply knowledgeable. Thoughtful about their work. They take pride in doing things well.

That intelligence is a real asset in their practice or role.

When it comes to business development, though, it can get in the way.

High-performing professionals tend to overanalyze every BD action. They think through every angle, anticipate every possible response, and try to optimize the outreach before it ever leaves their head.

That’s usually where things stall.
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I see this all the time, and it shows up both externally and internally.

​Every January, we watch the same thing play out during the NFL playoffs.

A star player has a great game. The cameras follow them. The highlights run all week.

But no one actually believes that one player wins a playoff game alone.

You don’t have to be a sports fan to know this is true. Complex outcomes are always the result of coordinated effort.

It takes protection up front. It takes teammates doing their jobs. It takes trust, timing, and adjustment in real time.
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In other words, it takes a team.

​The last couple of weeks gave me a good reminder of something I don’t say often enough.
It’s okay to step away.

We hosted family here in the mountains over Christmas, and we got lucky. Snow falling throughout the day. Quiet. The kind of white Christmas that feels like you’re inside a snow globe. No rushing anywhere. Just being together.

Then my wife, Aja, and I took the kids to San Diego to spend the last week of the year with her family. And for once, I really disconnected. No half-working. No checking email just in case. I was present with them and gave myself permission to be off without guilt.

Now I’m back, rested, clear-headed, and starting the year with full batteries.
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That reset made me think about what I see with a lot of professionals in early January.

Every great team understands the same unglamorous truth. Championships aren't won by superstars alone. They're won by depth. They're won by preparation. They're won by the people who weren't supposed to be in the spotlight but step into it anyway.

That’s the “next player up” mentality.

When someone goes down, the team doesn’t panic. They don’t lower expectations. They don’t rewrite goals. The next player steps in, ready to contribute, because the standard never changes.
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It sends a clear cultural signal:
We don’t depend on a few heroes. We depend on all of us.

When I started my consulting and coaching practice nine years ago, I set up my website with a blog section. I did it because I thought that was what credible coaches were supposed to do. Write articles. Share ideas. Build authority.

There was one problem. I could not bring myself to write the first post.

I was not sure if I would be any good at writing. I was not sure if I would enjoy it. I kept waiting for the perfect idea and the perfect draft. That approach kept me stuck for more than a year.

At one point, I even asked my webmaster to hide the blog link in the navigation bar because it sat there empty. The truth was simple. I was trying to avoid the feeling of not being good enough.
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Most professionals do the same thing. They wait for confidence that never comes.

Most professionals treat pricing conversations like a test they’re about to fail.

Here’s what changes when you stop defending and start asking.

A bankruptcy lawyer once faced a client with a budget of $250,000, well below what the engagement would normally cost. He had two choices: push for full scope or walk away.

Instead, he got curious.

He asked what outcomes mattered most, helped the client prioritize, and designed a hybrid solution that fit the budget.
He didn’t make as much on that first project, but he earned something far more valuable: trust. The client came back with multiple matters worth ten times the initial fee.
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When you bring curiosity and transparency into pricing, the conversation stops being a negotiation and starts becoming the foundation of a partnership.