by Kathleen Bradley

In the last posting, we talked about “who” a leader is.  Equally important to a leader’s effectiveness, is “what” he actually does.  Business scholars have actually been able to measure the types of leadership behaviors that result in superior organizational performance.  There are numerous studies that have been done in the corporate world which point to behaviors such as modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, leading change, and developing others.  And, for law firms, one study (the McBassi White Paper) has found that the following behaviors are the critical ones relating to law firm performance:

• Inspiring confidence, providing feedback, and eliminating barriers
• Collaborating with employees and inviting input
• Valuing and supporting learning
• Innovative practices and the welcoming of new ideas
• Commitment to the firm’s employees
• Making job-related information and training readily available;
• Continuous tracking of employee engagement; and
• Open and effective communication.

Now that we’ve looked at the “who” and the “what”, let’s look to the next posting for the results that effective leaders get.