Building Without a Blueprint-The Hidden Cost of Being the First

Speaker A: Foreign. Welcome back to the Right Hand Podcast and another installment of our special series, Building without a Blueprint. Uh, this series is dedicated to the law firm owners who are building something extraordinary without having been given a roadmap. Um, you know, like attorneys who may be the first in their family owned the business, um, the first to become a lawyer, first to build a law firm, the first to navigate leadership, hiring, finances, uh, growth and all the challenges that come with entrepreneurship. Uh, many law firm owners had to figure it out as they go along. And it's not because they wanted to. It's because they didn't always have access to the same networks, mentorship, um, resources, or maybe examples that others have had. So building without a blueprint is about those journeys. It's about the lessons, the setbacks, the victories, the realities of building something that may not have ever existed in your family or your community. So if you felt like you're writing the playbook while trying to win the game, this series is for you. So let's get into the conversation. Um, and today I wanted to talk about something that I don't think gets enough attention in conversations about entrepreneurship. And it's something that I've witnessed time and time again while working with law firm owners, um, and especially with first generation professionals or say, minority owned firms, um, uh, entrepreneurs who didn't inherit a business or step into an established network. So that's why I'm calling today. We're calling today, um, the hidden cost of being first. Because being first is something to celebrate, um, but it's also something that carries weight and it's a weight that people never see, um, people on the outside. Um, so what does being the first mean? And, and, and it can mean a lot of different things. Uh, being the first. Maybe you're the first lawyer in your family, or maybe you're the first, you know, person to earn a professional degree in your family. Maybe you're the first business owner in your family. Um, maybe you're the first person to build wealth through entrepreneurship. Or, or maybe you're the first person to believe that your family could own a law firm instead of simply working for someone else. So, you know, whatever your story may be, um, being the first means that you're walking a path that few people around you have walked before, and that changes your experience as a leader. Um, I guess one of the unique challenges in that, uh, of being the first is that your support system may love you deeply, but they may not fully understand what you're experiencing. So, you know, your family, they want you to succeed. Your friends are proud of you, your community celebrates your accomplishments. But when you're trying to decide whether to hire your first associate or, um, you know, whether to invest in a new office or how to improve profitability, there may not be anyone else around you or close to you who has faced those decisions. And it's not because that they don't care. It's simply because they've never had to make them, um, decisions like that. And that can make leadership feel isolating at times. Um, and success, it could create distance. Let's be honest about it. Um, here's something that doesn't get talked about a lot that you know that success can, can create distance. And, and it's not intentional, um, it's not malicious. Um, it's just something that naturally happens. And as your responsibilities change, your conversations change, um, your, your concerns change, um, the decisions that, that you're making are now different from the decisions that many people around you are making. And you know, so when you may be thinking about payroll while others are thinking about, hey, vacation plans, things like that, you may have worries about cash flow while someone else is worried about their next performance review. So your, your worldview changes, your world changes. And sometimes that creates a feeling that very few people truly understand the burden that you're carrying. Um, and then there comes a little bit added pressure. And for many minority owned law firms, success can carry that extra layer of responsibility. It can feel like, uh, you're representing more than just your business, more than just your family. Sometimes it feels like you're representing an entire community and you want to prove that you belong. Um, you want to create opportunities for others. You want to build something that people can point to with pride. And that's a powerful, powerful motivation. But it can also become a heavy burden because when every setback feels like it reflects more than just you, then, then the pressure increases a little bit. Um, and then there's always the pressure to, to you're the, you're the lawyer, you have to have all the answers. And when you're the one that everyone looks up to, some underlying thing happens and you begin believing that you should always know what to do. People come to you all the time for answers. Um, employees depend on you, clients trust you, family, um, members admire you. And slowly asking for help starts to feel uncomfortable for you. Uh, and you tell yourself that, uh, you know, I should already know this. You know, I got this far, I'll figure it out, I should know all these things. But what I've learned is that after years of working with law firm owners, the people who appear most confident are often asking the most questions behind the scenes. And they just know when and where and who to ask. They're asking the questions in the right place. Um, because there's no award for doing it alone. And this is, I think, is one of the most important messages that I can share. There is no award for making the journey harder than it needs to be. No, um, one reaches the end of a successful career and says, I'm glad I never asked anybody for advice. Or I'm glad I made every mistake myself, or, you know, I'm glad I carried all that burden, all that stress alone. Wisdom often comes with shortening your learning curve from learning what someone else has already figured out. And that's not weakness, that's stewardship. That stewardship of your business, of your family, of your future. Um, I guess one of the best things a law firm owner can do is intentionally build relationships, build a network, be part of a network. Um, build relationships with people who are understanding the journey. Um, that's one of the reasons why we have our law firm. So, like, minds can get together and just bounce ideas off each other and, you know, learn from people. And that could be other law firm owners, business, um, coaches, consultants, uh, um, industry peers, uh, professional organizations. Um, there's a lot of mastermind groups out there. Leadership, uh, communities and these. Just don't think I'm old for networking. They're places where you can ask questions without feeling like you have to pretend that you've got everything figured out. Um, because the truth is, most successful business owners are still learning. Um, someone even 25 years into it, still learning. It's just that they're learning together. So, you know, when things get difficult, I encourage firm owners to remember why they started this the first place. Uh, maybe it was your freedom. Um, maybe it was more independence. Maybe it was, um, creating, you know, opportunities that your parents never had. Or maybe it was building something that your children could inherit M. Someday. Um, maybe serving the community, um, like you felt like the community deserved better access to legal representation. Whatever that reason was, don't lose sight of it. Um, because purpose has a remarkable way of sustaining us during difficult situations. When I, when things get tough for me, I think about the reason why I started. Rubin Allen. Why am I doing this? Um, because most people think that they're building a law firm, but I think they're building something much bigger. Um, they're building an example, an example for younger lawyers, for future entrepreneurs, for their families. Family members for the community. Um, they're proving that success is possible, and they're creating a blueprint that didn't exist before. And perhaps that might be one of the greatest gifts any entrepreneur can leave behind is that blueprint. And not just that the business was successful, but that they left a path that someone else can follow. So, you know, if today's episode resonates with you, I want you to remember something. Being the first doesn't mean you have to be the only one. It doesn't mean you have to carry every burden in silence. It doesn't mean that you have to, um, solve every problem on your own. You know, one of the greatest acts of leadership is recognizing when someone else experience can help accelerate your own growth. Uh, because building without a blueprint doesn't mean that, that you have to build without support. Um, it means creating a blueprint for the people who come after you. You know, that's just what I want to say. Thank you for joining me. Another episode of Building without a Blueprint. So, in our next episode, what we're going to do is we're going to talk about something every growing law firm eventually faces. And that's, uh, why, you know, it's, it's gaining. You get success without that infrastructure and why growth can become your biggest risk. And so we'll explore why so many firms celebrate growth only to discover that growth without actual systems or leadership and or operational structure can actually create more stress, more and success. So until next time, keep building intentionally. Um, keep investing in your leadership. And remember, you're not just building a firm, you're building a legacy. Thank you for listening to the Right Hand podcast. If you are a law firm owner looking to build stronger, more organized or more profitable firm, please visit ruben-allen.com and learn how we help law firms grow. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to follow the show and share it with another law firm leader. Until next time, keep building the law firm you set out to create. Thank you.