How to Win Client Business When You Don't Know Where to Start

CHAPTER 4Rainmaking for Introverts and People Who Don't Want to Sell: Winning Client Business While Being True to Yourself

At its core, the idea of purpose is that what we do matters to people other than ourselves.

—Angela Duckworth, author, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Carl Jung, the father of modern personality theory, first introduced the world to the concept of introversion and extroversion in his 1921 classic Psychological Types. According to Jung:

Introverts are drawn to the inner world of thought and feeling, extroverts to the external life of people and activities.

If we accept the premise that we have to become rainmakers if we are to become partner – or for our solo practice to thrive – this creates an interesting conundrum for a big swath of us. Marketing ourselves is viewed as the realm of the outgoing, the charismatic, those with the gift of gab. There's a reason why we think this way. And to understand why, we need to go back over 100 years.

According to cultural historian Warren Susman, Jung's theories spawned a shift in early twentieth‐century American societal values away from a Culture of Character to a Culture of Personality. In the Culture of Character of the 1800s, the ideal self was serious, disciplined, and honorable. In the emerging Culture of Personality of the twentieth century, Americans became captivated by those who were bold and entertaining.

This shift in American thinking is exemplified by the success of Dale Carnegie. Born ...