Are You A One Bagger, Two Bagger Or Three Bagger

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers Are You a One Bagger, Two Bagger or Three Bagger? The other day I was looking at some of my old bookmarks and I found an on line article by Kerry Salls.  Kerry talks about Daniel Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind and the importance of storytelling. Stories are easier to remember than facts. She tells a story she heard about Wal-Mart employees. It seems that employees started as baggers. Sam Walton came up with a system for ranking all baggers. You were a 1 bagger, a 2 bagger or a 3 bagger. I will let you read the description of each. I am pretty sure lawyers in your firm fall into three categories: • One baggers are average lawyers. They know what they are doing and they are technically proficient. They get “their hours” and get their work done during normal business hours. They do not see things beyond the details of the assignment. They are not overly passionate about their work or their clients. • Two baggers are good lawyers. They also know what they are doing and they are technically competent. They are more inquisitive so they see more than the details of the assignment. They are typically capable of managing an assignment. • Three baggers are great lawyers.They are cut from different cloth. They are passionate about their work and their clients and they are self-motivated. For them, work is fun and so they work harder than good lawyers. They are never content with  what they know. They are always learning new things. They try to become comfortable outside their comfort zone. They see potential issues that impact their clients before other lawyers do. They have high energy and they are enthusiastic. They sacrifice when necessary to help their clients.   Suppose for a moment you are a client with a complex legal situation. Which type of lawyer would you trust to help you?   I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.