A managing partner of a large firm called me into his office one day and said, “Kathleen, what the #*?%@ is all this talk about ‘leadership’? Why should I invest in developing my leadership skills or the skills of my partners? I’m already the managing partner of this firm.” What he wanted from me was a short and sweet definition of the word “leadership” so that he could quickly dismiss it and get on with his day, but, despite the year that I spent studying leadership at Georgetown, or perhaps because I am a lawyer myself and find it difficult to give a simple answer to anything, I could not quite give him the pithy response that he was looking for. Instead we sat down to talk about what it means to be a leader and how effective leadership could impact lawyer performance and profitability.
“Leadership” is one of those big, ambiguous words and it can mean vastly different things to different people and in different contexts. Leadership competencies range from interpersonal skills such as communication and emotional intelligence to specific skill sets such as strategy, law firm governance, change management, and marketing. There is, therefore, no single definition of leadership. It means different things for different people and in different contexts, and the traits that propel a leader to success in one setting might derail him in another.
In my mind, when I look at a leader, I look at three distinct dimensions:
The managing partner and I settled in for a talk. Stay tuned for a look at these three questions.