I recently gave a presentation and a young lawyer asked:

What skills do rainmakers have? 

Generally rainmakers have a high degree of emotional intelligence. There are plenty of books on emotional intelligence. If you are interested in my favorites send me an email.

While you may be born with some of the emotional intelligence characteristics, most can be and should be developed.

• Rainmakers have a high ego drive, meaning they get great satisfaction from convincing the client to hire him or her.
• Rainmakers are very empathetic, meaning they are able to see the world from the clients’ point of view. Most lawyers are logical thinkers and less able to see from the clients’ point of view. 
• Rainmakers are eternal optimists. Most lawyers are pessimists and say: “yes, but” rather than “sure how.” 
• Rainmakers handle defeat or criticism well. Most lawyers do not. 
• Rainmakers exude a passion for their work and their clients. It is hard to see passion in most lawyers. 
• Rainmakers focus on developing relationships more than developing business. Some lawyers are more focused on getting the business.
• Rainmakers have confidence inspiring personalities and genuinely care about the people they are serving.