Heather Townsend

Heather Townsend is the global expert on what it takes to make partner. She is the best-selling author of 5 books, including 'How To Make Partner And Still Have A Life' (co-written with Jo Larbie), 'Poised for partnership', 'The Go-To Expert' and 'The Financial Times Guide To Business Networking'.

Why you now need both sponsors AND an influential firm mentor to rapidly progress your career in a Big 4, Magic Circle or large firm

Accepted wisdom used to be that you only needed an influential firm mentor to rapidly progress your career in the Big 4, Magic Circle or Mid-Tier Firms. In this blog post I share an exclusive extract from the 2nd edition of ‘How to make partner and still have a life’ (Click here for a free …

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How to make partner lesson 4: the importance of having a niche

In summer 2016 Heather Townsend revealed the 10 lessons that every potential partners needs to learn to an audience of 200 lawyers and accountants. In this short 2 minute video clip, Heather talks through the fourth lesson – the importance of having a niche. What is lesson number 4 about?  Let me give you some …

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5 simple ways to stay in touch with your clients until they are ready to buy

You do the work and generate a warm hot lead. It was all going so well until the client stalled. In this blog post I share an exclusive extract from the 2nd edition of ‘How to make partner and still have a life’ (Click here for a free sample chapter) and detail why your clients may …

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How to make partner lesson 2: Thinking and feeling like a partner

In summer 2016 Heather Townsend revealed the 10 lessons that every potential partners needs to learn to an audience of 200 lawyers and accountants. In this short 2 minute video clip, Heather talks through the second lesson – thinking, feeling and acting like a partner The road to partner is shrouded in mystery and conjecture. This …

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What to do if clients keep mistaking you for the junior member of the team

  This is a common occurrence experienced by women in professional services sectors, particularly when meeting a brand new client or new client team members. It comes from the unconscious bias that the man must be the more senior person. This is extremely frustrating and can potentially cause several issues including: Your personal frustration and …

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The reason why NOW is the right time to start working on your business case for partner

I regularly speak to audiences of lawyers, accountants and consultants about the challenges of making partner. In my talks I often share the ten lessons that my clients have learnt along their journeys to make partner. In this blog post I am going to share the tenth and final lesson; starting working towards your partner …

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How to stay focused on your career progression when you are too busy to think

Long hours in a Big 4, city law firms and other large firms are often seen as the norm. In fact it can be easy to become so busy that it becomes impossible to stay focused on progressing your career. In this blog post I share an exclusive extract from the 2nd edition of ‘How …

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Changing the word impossible to possible.

How to keep yourself constructively busy and motivated when work is light

Long hours in a Big 4 and other large firms are often seen as the norm. But what happens if you find yourself on the bench and scratching around for something to do? In this blog post I share an exclusive extract from the 2nd edition of ‘How to make partner and still have a …

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Treat your practice like a business if you want to get to partner

I regularly speak to audiences of lawyers, accountants and consultants about the challenges of making partner. In my talks I often share the ten lessons that my clients have learnt along their journeys to make partner. In this blog post I am going to share the eighth lesson; treat your practice like a business. Profit …

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What is typically expected of me when I get to manager in a Big 4 or Mid-Tier firm?

It’s been hard work but you’ve finally made it to a manager or associate role in your firm. In this blog post I share an exclusive extract from the 2nd edition of ‘How to make partner and still have a life’(Click here for a free sample chapter)  to show what is typically expected from you …

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