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

CHAPTER 24Thoughts on Becoming a Rainmaker : Stop Trying to Be Wonder Woman or Superman

Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive. And go do it. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.

—Howard Thurman, American civil rights leader

We've all had heroes in our lives. The women and men we've looked up to, aspired to become, and wanted to be like. A funny thing happens, though, when we get to know our heroes more closely: at some point we realize they are humans just like us. In addition to their many admirable qualities, they also have bad habits, quirks, and weaknesses. When we take our heroes down off of their thrones, we stop thinking of them as heroes at all.

Rainmakers often take on a mythical persona in the office. Part of their mystique comes from us believing they are magic, wizards in tinseled capes. They work in mahogany‐paneled offices, drive S‐Class Mercedes, dine clients at the finest restaurants, and fly first class. Meanwhile, we're working in a tiny office, driving a Toyota, eating Chinese take‐out, and sitting at the back of the plane. It's no wonder we're a bit envious.

But here's the thing. Rainmakers are not wizards. And they aren't Wonder Woman or Superman. Rainmakers are real people just like you and me. Behind the lore and legend of the rainmakers are people who once worked late into the night dining on leftover pizza and driving home in rusty hatchbacks.

What We Can Learn from the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and the ...