OK. We’ve made the business case for leadership development to the managing partner, and we’ve had a long chat about who leaders are, what they do, and the results they get. He is convinced. Now comes his real challenge as the leader of his firm – convincing busy partners to spend their valuable time on a non-billable program that will take them away from their practice and not have a direct impact (at least in the short term) on their practice. His own leadership skills will be put to the test!
Here’s the logic one managing partner used to make the case to his partners who were skeptical about the need for current leaders go through a leadership program: The firm’s most exciting and profitable work involved matters where large teams of professionals were working together. Leadership training would make each of the partners more effective leaders of their teams and, where they weren’t the lead attorney, more effective team members. Whether as a leader or a team member, their teams would be able to serve the firm’s clients more effectively and successfully. Therefore, leadership training would enhance the firm’s ability to serve its clients and make its attorneys attractive client team members. All of this would generate even more exciting and profitable work for the firm. In this firm’s case, the managing partner was able to convince fully half of the partners to go through an intensive leadership training program.
If that’s not convincing enough, leaders can use fear to convince their partners. No, I’m not shy about using this as a means of influence! One way of doing this is to undertake a crisis management analysis to highlight the risks of poor leadership within the firm. This involves looking at various scenarios such as the retirement, departure or sudden death of existing leaders, a failure to secure credit, a change in markets that eliminates a once lucrative practice area, the termination of a lease, being fired by a large client, or another major catastrophe. After creating the sense of urgency that generally arises when such risks are surfaced, it is easier to overcome the complacency of partners contented with the status quo.
Firms that do not have a strong enough leader already in place to make the case to his partners may have to wait for an actual crisis to occur before he can convince them of the importance of developing leadership skills – if it’s not too late. The economic hardship that many firms have been facing in today’s market, coupled with the precedent of some large law firm failures due at least in part to poor leadership, may appear to some to be just such a crisis.
And, if all else fails, the managing partner does not have to wait to develop his own leadership skills. Perhaps if he does, he will be able to convince his partners next year!