George Is Depressed
By Adam Radzik
Consultant to Professional Firms

George is depressed because he is not busy.

“Adam, please talk to George. He was crazy busy on three cases for several years and now that they’ve settled, he’s sinking deeper and deeper into depression with each passing day. He needs your help.”

George’s reaction has its roots in several erroneous assumptions.

Assumption number one: If I am a superior professional, then I should never be in a situation where I don’t have enough work.

George, this notion is incorrect. The most successful professionals in the country hit dry spots. The possession of comprehensive knowledge, vast experience, and even national prestige cannot prevent periods of reduced demand for services from occurring.

Assumption number two: At this advanced stage of my career, I should no longer have to go out and market my services.

George, this notion is also erroneous. The most successful professionals in the country are constantly marketing, never resting from their networking efforts, as they firmly believe that marketing activity will always be necessary.

George has much that he can learn from Freddy (a farmer).

Freddy had been very busy harvesting his tall stalks of corn. When he finished the harvest and gazed upon his empty field, he did not panic, become riddled with anxiety, or sink into a profound depression. What did Freddy do? He picked up his basket, filled it with fresh seed, and once again walked down the rows of his empty field, throwing seed to and fro in the brown dirt. Now, Freddy has been supporting his family for years. He is realistic. He knows some of the seed will blow away, some will not take hold, some will perish in the winter, and some will be washed away by torrential rains. But Freddy also knows that some will take hold, some will grow, and some will provide delicious sustenance for his family and the community. Freddy believes in seeding his field because he has seen it work season after season.

George would be helped immensely if he began to view himself as a farmer — a farmer who will either be harvesting or seeding. When the harvest is over and the field is bare, there would be no reason to panic, all that it would mean is that the time to seed was here!

If George does not have enough work, he has to gather up his basket of professional services and go out into the world, spreading the news of the benefits clients might receive from using him. As in Freddy’s case, some of the seed will be blown away, but some of the seed will take hold and produce a rich harvest.

Farmers never have the expectation that their fields should magically become full again after their harvest, nor do they have the expectation that because they are well- known farmers they shouldn’t have to seed their fields.

The more that George mimics Freddy’s basic outlook , the more he will flourish and the less mental anguish he will experience.

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Comedy Corner

Successful California professional Jerry Pabst was well known for his who’s who roster of wealthy clients and the fact that he always arrived at business meetings clad in khaki shorts, worn sandals and loud golf shirts. A new client of his, the president of a sizable company who always wore an ivy league tie, sport coat and well-polished shoes, pointed out to Jerry that all the other professionals that served his company dressed in business suits, starched button-down shirts and conservative ties. Jerry smiled and said that the $535 hourly rate he was charging the company was the informal dress rate. Then he confessed that there actually was a formal dress rate that he made available to clients who requested it, and that hourly rate was $935 but to date no client had requested that arrangement.