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You Can’t Teach Hungry: The Growth Mindset Behind Every Multi-Million-Dollar Book of Business

Despite what most attorneys believe, business development isn’t solely about talent.

Of course, talent matters. Your legal acumen, strategic thinking, and communication skills all contribute to the value you deliver (see previous article From Generalist to Strategic Partner: The Four Stages of Legal Business Development). But talent alone doesn’t build a multi-million-dollar book of business. That takes something grittier, less glamorous, and far more demanding.

It takes hunger!

John Morgan, one of the most well-known trial lawyers in the country and the founder of Morgan & Morgan, wrote a book called “You Can’t Teach Hungry.” In it, he shares how he loved hiring paper boys (when papers were delivered by kids on foot or by bicycle).

Why?

Because the paper boy mentality is the perfect metaphor for a great business developer. Every single morning, rain or shine, sleet or snow, the paper boy wakes up early and does the job, no excuses. He doesn’t get to skip a day because he doesn’t feel like delivering his newspapers. He doesn’t cut corners just because he’s tired. He shows up. Every. Single. Day.

That’s what hunger looks like. And it’s the same discipline required to grow a real business and generate a multi-million-dollar book of business.

Too many lawyers think rainmaking is reserved for extroverts, glad-handers, or people who “just have it.” That’s a myth. Sure, there are naturally outgoing attorneys who enjoy the spotlight. But most of the successful business developers I know built their books through consistent, deliberate effort, not charisma alone.

They followed up when others didn’t.

They sent the email.

They made the call.

They went to the conference - again.

They stayed in touch- again.

They gave more than anyone asked for.

Not because they were always in the mood, but because they were hungry to grow.

Here’s a hard truth: You’re not always going to feel like doing the things that build your practice. You’re not always going to feel like following up with that old contact or writing that LinkedIn post. You’re not always going to feel like making another key introduction for a referral source or attending another event after a long day. And you’re not going to feel like checking up again on that prospect who ghosted you three months ago.

Do these things anyway.

Feelings don’t matter in business development. Discipline does. The attorneys who succeed are those who can separate their emotions from their actions. That’s hunger. That’s professionalism. That’s ownership.

“Be Better Than Yesterday” is one of our firm’s core values because it’s not about heroic leaps. It’s about showing up one notch sharper, one conversation more present, one outreach more intentional than you were the day before.

If you do that for 250 business days a year (and like me and so many others, 365 days a year) without needing a gold star, without needing someone to watch or take notice, you’ll be stunned at how much progress you make in a year. It’s not the big wins that build the book of business. It’s the tiny wins no one sees, compounded over time.

The legal profession, especially in Big Law or well-established firms, doesn’t always reward hunger. If you bill your hours and stay out of trouble, you can build a very nice life without ever making a cold call or asking for business.

But if you want ownership of your career, if you want to control your trajectory and build something that’s yours, then you need to retrain your instincts. The hunger you need to grow a practice is rarely taught in law school or rewarded in early associate life. That’s why most attorneys never develop it. But those who do? They become unstoppable business-producing machines.

You don’t have to be the loudest person in the room. You don’t need to become a walking pitch machine. You don’t have to chase everyone with a business card and a sales script. But you do have to be consistent. You do have to be intentional. And you absolutely have to be hungry.

Because building a book of business is a lot like delivering the newspaper every morning.

It’s not glamorous. It’s not always fun. There’s no cheering crowd, no instant gratification, and no guarantee that today’s effort will pay off tomorrow. You’ll face wind, rain, rejection, and silence. You’ll question whether it’s working. You’ll be tempted to skip a day.

But if you show up anyway, with discipline, drive, and grit, something powerful happens. Your prospects begin to notice you, and your referral sources start to trust you. Your clients grow to rely on you. And while the paper boy might get a few coins at the end of the week, you’ll get something far more meaningful: a reputation that precedes you, a pipeline that sustains you, and matter after matter of new business that shows up, not because you asked, but because you earned it.

Show up. Do the work. Deliver the paper.

Then do it again tomorrow.