The law firm leadership imperative

Earlier this year, my latest book The Heart of Practice: Leadership Principles for Legal Professionals was published. Some people thought I must be crazy to write a book on leadership. After all, there are more books and articles on the topic than one could ever hope to read, so why does the world need another one? My answer is that very few of those books address the unique challenges facing professionals working in law firms today. 

Historically, the legal services industry has been defined, monopolized and regulated by lawyers. However, over the past 25 years, we have seen dramatic changes to the industry. De-regulation, technological advances, generational demands and competitive market forces have all added to the complexity and diversity of an industry which now comprises an array of professionals with expertise in a range of specialisms in areas such as management, finance, information technology and business development. Law firms are increasingly dependent on these people for success. 

It has been my experience that the concept of leadership in law firms is often misunderstood and its value under-appreciated. It is not part of the curriculum at law school, nor has it traditionally been a criterion for partnership. That’s not to say the legal profession is devoid of leaders. For generations, lawyers have been the bedrock of our societies and many have held prominent leadership positions, including 16 Canadian Prime Ministers, 16 British Prime Ministers and eight Presidents of the United States. However, what counted as ‘leadership’ in a law firm, even just 20 years ago, may not pass the test of leadership today. The world has evolved since the turn of the century and so has the concept of leadership. I have come to think of leadership as what you do so as to encourage and influence people to have trust and confidence in you. Its focus should be the long-term development of your firm, your people and the communities you serve so that they can all prosper.

Throughout my 40-year career, I have worked with many legal professionals  — lawyers and executives and, almost without exception, I find them to be an affable and thoughtful group of people. The many conversations I have had with legal professionals and the findings from many of the team surveys I have run lead me to conclude that, in spite of incremental improvement, leadership is not practised enough. For example, I discover:

• Partners who are not leaders. They may have authority by virtue of their status, but they do not possess the requisite skills, attributes or personality traits to lead effectively; or
• Leaders who are not partners. These are people who are not partners (and therefore are not considered to have the same degree of authority) but who exhibit leadership attributes. Typically, CEOs and practice managers fall into this category, as well as some of the younger, more ‘savvy’ generation of lawyers; or
• No one is really in charge. Authority is ill-defined. There is an inadequate governance system, a powerless executive or inadequate decision-making process; or 
• Firms are not run effectively. Often there is no strategic agenda or business plan driving the firm or regulating standards. 

To overcome these shortcomings, I advocate that firms adopt and practise four simple leadership principles:

1. Before you lead others, first learn to lead yourself;
2. Always treat people as you would like to be treated;
3. Run your firm as a business entity;
4. Contribute to helping solve some of the world’s problems.

There is nothing revelatory in these four principles. Readers will probably consider them to be truisms. Yet, in my experience, many firms still struggle to apply these principles in practice. They are interdependent; they need to be practised in tandem, otherwise your leadership will be ineffective. For example, you may have good management, systems and technologies but if you or your partners do not treat people well, they will undermine your management’s efforts to build a successful law firm. Conversely, you and your partners may possess all the personal qualities or attributes of a leader, but if you are not running your firm effectively, you do not treat your people well or you have not got the right management team in place, then your leadership will be compromised.

Why bother with all of this? Well, the business case for leadership has been tried and tested over many years. Numerous global studies provide compelling evidence that leadership is the single largest determinant of business success. The message, corroborated by the ten leaders interviewed for the book is clear: In this new era, if you want to grow your legal business, start leading. By engaging your people, you will improve productivity, increase profitability and enhance the well-being of your people.