Solo Practitioners

Back In The Race: What's Your Motivation For 2015?

Unless you can find a way to motivate yourself, your solo practice will likely fail. So find your motivation.

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Today, I want to talk about motivation, which is a common thought as the new year approaches. Many years ago, at a very low point in my life, I first saw Alec Baldwin’s famous Glengarry Glen Ross speech. If you haven’t seen it before, watch it here (warning: NSFW language). In the scene, Baldwin’s character, Blake, a master salesman, belittles a company’s sales force for their weak performance and threatens to fire the worst performers.

At the time, I was unmotivated and depressed. And the assurances of my friends and family that “everything will be O.K.” and to “hang in there” was not making me feel better. So I took Baldwin’s message to heart. His words didn’t immediately have an affect on me, so I listened to it again once in a while.

Over the years, I listened to those who caustically advocated the “tough love” message while criticizing those who lived sheltered lives. You know the type — think Miranda Priestly or the stereotypical drill sergeant. They constantly shout “you are not special” or that “you are not guaranteed anything in life.” I thought that if I listened to the message enough times, it would osmose into my brain and it would change me into a fearless, confident woman.

In the beginning, it probably got me out of my funk. Depression was replaced with anger which was later replaced by serenity. But as time went on, the tough love message had less of a motivational effect on me. Looking back, I don’t know if it did anything for me other than make me anxious and second guess my decisions. So why did I continue to listen to these people or read their message? I don’t know. Maybe it was for the entertainment value. Millennial bashing is great clickbait and the hipster crowd ironically likes to read about it.

Now going back to Glengarry Glen Ross, I recently did some research on its plot. It was originally a short play and the famous scene with Alec Baldwin was added into the movie adaptation because otherwise it would have been too short for production. The company that is the centerpiece of the story had to sell undesirable real estate at inflated prices to people who could not afford it. When the salespeople couldn’t perform under these conditions, the company calls Blake (Baldwin) who blames them for being weak and forces them to compete against each other in order to get the “good leads.” But this threat only motivates the salesmen to do something devious: steal the good leads from the company and sell them to a competitor.

There have been mixed reactions to the Glengarry speech. Some thought it justifies greed and ruthlessness and the rest of the story serves as proof of the potentially dire consequences. But others believe that it should be interpreted as a cruel but honest assessment of the ways of the world and serve as an incentive for positive change.

In preparation for today’s column, I watched Baldwin’s epic performance again. But this time will be the last. While I appreciated the refreshingly harsh but candid message from the curmudgeons back in the day, it no longer motivates me to take action. While I remember Alec Baldwin proclaiming that it takes brass balls to sell real estate, I now remember him more for the presentation of his Schweddy balls.

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The point I want to make is that if you haven’t done so already, try to find out what motivates you to go the extra mile or work the extra hour. If you have a solo practice, you will not get much for your work. Your emails will be ignored. You will be on the bottom of the client referral list. Clients will be hesitant to pay you. You will lose a few cases here and there and you will have to explain to your client why you lost. There will be lonely nights where you will wonder why you are putting up with this. This can last for years.

I previously profiled the closure of two solo practices and each left because they didn’t have the motivation to continue. This isn’t a bad thing — their motivation was elsewhere. Unless you can find a way to motivate yourself, your solo practice will likely fail. So find your motivation.

Shannon Achimalbe was a former solo practitioner for five years before deciding to sell out and get back on the corporate ladder. Shannon can be reached at sachimalbe@excite.com.

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