The Essence of NPA—I hope to popularize the phrase over the next few months. This endearing phrase came out of our recent Global Conference in Texas by way of my dear friend and Chairman’s Award Recipient, Laura Schmieder. As I mentioned in a recent Chairman’s Corner, the Essence of NPA is the people. And one of the most efficient ways to get to know your fellow members are at small informal get-togethers. A lot can be discussed over a cup of coffee, lunch, drink after work or even stopping by a member’s office.
For example, about three weeks ago I had the pleasure to meet in NYC Steve Sokol of Sokol Associates, (#1425) of and Will Sciarretta of Jameson Legal, (#8623). It was great to meet them in person and spend a couple of hours with two relatively new legal search members. I made a pivot back into legal search in March of 2020 and with the help of NPA members, I have been expanding my offering. Getting a sense of Steve’s expertise in the NYC legal search market has already led to a candidate of mine at the offer stage. In addition, from our meeting Steve came away with a game plan as to how he can diversify his offering outside of legal recruitment. Will shared with us Jameson Legal’s global capabilities, which opened up my eyes to some great initiatives that can be commercialized globally by NPA members. Just a fast reminder to members about legal search—it has never been so hot. Great demand, very high salaries, it takes some time, but it can very lucrative. Always happy to chat about legal search as a specialty or how you can integrate legal search into your current business.
On a different front I had lunch two days later with Steve Silvi of Datapath Search (#1364)…Steve is a great operator and supporter of NPA out of Norwalk CT (my home town). I met Steve for the first time last summer at a local NPA golf outing in Connecticut. Of course, I tried to recruit Steve to come to NYC meetings and the Global Conference. Not going to happen. Steve was very transparent. Still, he is always available to the NPA engagement and membership teams, and he loves to do splits. I bring up Steve as a classic example that there is a place for everybody in NPA. In Steve’s case, he is not going to go to big meetings or stray too far out of town, but he is always open to a small sit-down locally. By sitting down with Steve, I found out that our businesses had much more in common than I thought.
Of course, face-to-face meetings are not a requirement at NPA. But I am sure you will agree that a relationship supported by a personal meeting is typically a stronger relationship. So, please consider setting up a meeting with an NPA affiliate, especially new members. Be proactive, reach out. Get to know your local NPA partners, it could yield some great dividends.
Also a fast shout out and CONGRATS. We have had two new firms make their first placement:
- Lasca Weiss of Veromni Firm (#5092); she was in Fort Worth
- Tim Flanagan of Flanagan Search (#2101); Job Board Placement
Lastly, members please log in to NPAmarketplace. In particular, members need to fill in, and recheck, their profiles. Too many partners are not being found in common searches due to missing, incomplete or incorrect information. Make this a priority!