About eight years ago I began closely questioning more than seven hundred lawyers while they were moving from one firm to another; a time when honesty and openness between the recruiter and his candidate is at a high. I learned that the top three reasons for their 'lack of book' were always the same: "I didn't go to law school to become a salesman"; or "I'm just not a glad-hander", or "I'm not going to make promises I can't keep." After 25 years of training in the philosophy of sales, having made myself into a successful rainmaker-recruiter earning high six figures a year, I knew from my own experience, including working with thousands of attorneys, that these were not the real reasons that these attorneys were not making rain. However, my challenge was to develop a program that could not only demonstrate to these professionals why they weren't making rain but could also help them overcome the beliefs that prevented them from becoming successful rainmakers.

This epiphany came about seven years ago during a trip to China when my passport was stolen and the American Embassy took three weeks to get me a new one. During that time, while I was under house arrest at my hotel in Xiamen , China and, armed only with my laptop, I began to write Making Rain , a story based on a huge rainmaker, his 'grinder' (a plodding professional, one who works hard but doesn't bring in business) and the firm's managing partner. These kinds of people work at every law firm. Lawyers know them; their offices are next door. As the story evolves readers naturally develop opinions about the people, the matters and their actions.

At the end of each chapter, I created a series of questions about the actions of the people in the story. Since there are no right or wrong answers, the answers simply reflect how the readers feel about the actions of the characters. The feelings about the characters, in all instances, mirror how strongly the reader identifies with the characters and their actions.

The result was a fast-paced novel entitled Making Rain. Once I had sent the book's manuscript and its questions out to attorneys, the responses started coming in - and, as I analyzed the answers, I realized that my instinct was right: I had created a rainmaking training program that allowed attorneys to see themselves through their responses to the book's characters.

Six years later Making Rain has received many favorable reviews and endorsements. The New York Law Journal said, Making Rain is recommended for anyone who enjoys a good, fast-paced story, and is a must-read for anyone wishing to move up in the legal profession."

After speaking with 200 candidates about their answers, I was able to conclude that the real reasons for their lack of rainmaking were not the ones listed in my first seven hundred candidate interviews. They were materially different. Why? Because in reading Making Rain and answering the questions about the main characters, candidates had answered from their heart and not with socially acceptable responses.

As a result, the answers given by these 200 candidates clearly proved that the real reason that they were not able to make more rain was a fear of rejection flowing from their own self-esteem issues. This was the overwhelming reason that held them back from making more rain at their firms. They feared prospective client meetings and the crushing feelings of rejection that would certainly come if the client didn't hire them.

Armed with this knowledge I began offering my program to law firm partners, grinders, and managing partners. I've made many, many rainmakers. Rainmakers can be made as well as born. The rest is history. It's been proven.

During the last ten years I've also been hired by other professional service firms to recruit partners - and I found in working with successful rainmakers throughout the professional service field that non-rainmakers had the same problem in all professions: they had the same personal obstacles to originating new business. With the success of Who Moved My Cheese I realized that people wanted fast-paced, easy-to-read books that could, in 15,000 words or less, help them overcome their individual obstacles. The idea for Generating Trust was born out of my love of dogs - and my joy in understanding their unique personalities. I started using examples in coaching clients and the arrogant Doberman and the elitist Poodle were born. Generating Trust makes it easy for professional service partners to see what I am suggesting to them. And it's working