Leading with Intention: Turning Year-End Lessons into BD Momentum

By: Meg Williams

As the year comes to a close, legal marketing and business development teams finally get a narrow but valuable pause. After a year of supporting attorneys, managing competing priorities, and keeping initiatives in motion, this is our opportunity to step back and assess not just what was delivered, but what drove growth. Activity is easy to measure, but its impact requires more thought.

Most firms experienced a familiar mix this year: strong wins, stalled initiatives, rushed efforts, and a few projects that revealed uncomfortable truths. That reflection is not optional. It is where the most useful insights live. Which efforts did your team see that truly increased attorney engagement or client traction? Where did momentum fade because priorities were unclear, data was missing, or execution moved faster than alignment with leadership? And just as important, what programs were paused or abandoned that may need to be revived?

As a marketing and business development leader, I have found that the strongest plans for the year ahead never start with a blank page or a list of industry trends. They start with disciplined reflection. Before setting new goals, take the time to pressure-test last year’s assumptions and outcomes. A few practical steps can make this process far more effective:

First, audit your initiatives against outcomes, not effort. Identify three to five programs that directly supported revenue growth, client expansion, or attorney engagement, and document why they worked. This becomes your foundation for the coming year.

Second, clarify ownership and decision-making. Many BD initiatives stall not because of lack of effort, but because responsibility is shared too broadly. Assign clear owners, define success metrics early, and confirm attorney sponsorship before launching new efforts.

Third, streamline what feels scattered. If your team is managing too many “important” initiatives, none of them will perform at their best. Consolidate where possible and eliminate activities that create visibility without advancing firm priorities.

For those of us supporting attorneys and firm leadership, clarity is the real advantage. Clear priorities help attorneys focus their limited time. Clear ownership keeps initiatives moving. Clear metrics allow teams to course-correct before opportunities are lost. When goals are grounded in reflection, they are easier to communicate, easier to measure, and far more likely to gain traction across the firm.

The shift into a new year should not be about doing more. It should be about doing the right things, more intentionally. Thoughtful reflection, paired with focused action, is what turns lessons learned into sustainable growth.