Written by My Collaborative Team President, Edward S. Sachs, ACP

At My Collaborative Team it has been our mission to help Collaborative professionals build their confidence and competence.  We believe that by doing that you will increase your chances of building a successful Collaborative practice.  Over the last few weeks, we have been talking marketing and I am convinced that it is time to add a third C, commitment.  

Several weeks ago, my wife and I went to Dyersville, Iowa.  That is the home of the Field of Dreams.  And in the movie the famous line is “If you build it, they will come.”  

At our advanced training last week, we learned from Shawn Weber that there are seven reasons people fail at building an all ADR practice.  They fail to transform, change behaviors, learn the necessary skills, plan, aggressively market, are not flexible with their Processes, and fear.  It seems to me that in order to be able to fulfill all of those aspirations, one must be fully committed to the plan.

On Friday at Happy Hour we continued our discussion.  What we heard from those who have been successful in building an all ADR practice is that they are fully committed to not going to court, under any circumstances.  When I asked what these professionals thought was the difference between them and those in their practice groups who aren’t “getting” cases, the answer was commitment.  Those who do not fully commit always have litigation to fall back on if the prospective client doesn’t decide to go Collaborative.  We heard that clients are more likely to utilize an alternative dispute method if the attorney, or other professional who they are interviewing is fully committed to the Process.

So now the goal of My Collaborative Team is to provide our members with the confidence and competence to make it easier for them to make the commitment to becoming full-time Peacemakers.