Talent is Everything
“I believe the real difference between success and failure in a corporation can very often be traced to the question of how well the organization brings out the great energies and talents of…
It can always Wait
People often complain that watching a cycle race is like watching paint dry. Admittedly, if you have to listen to 5 hours of David Duffield, it can get pretty monotonous (others may disagree). Even…
Playing your legal career by the numbers (always?)
I have been banging on about my message for nearly 2 years. “Soft is Hard; Hard is Soft.” Tom Peters But still the numbers predominate the argument. This is where it is at…
Too Much Style ~ Too Little Substance
It is hard to escape the winds of change blowing through the legal profession.
- ABS
- Outcomes Focused Regulation
- On-line legal services
- A lack of work in certain areas necessitating a root and branch review of the business
Many partners will wonder:
(a) why they went into law; and
(b) why such an esteemed profession could find itself in such a precarious (falling like a stone) position.
A real show of strength: “I Don’t Know”
“The Big Trick is turning “I don’t know” into a show of strength, rather than an acknowledgment of weakness. Leaders do have a “weakness”: They really don’t “know”. By what leaders offer isn’t knowledge – it’s a smidgen of wisdom and (above all) spirit. The spirit that goes into having the raw nerve to unleash the passion and unleash the talent of others. In fact, that’s the ultimate “toughness” of leadership.”
Tom Peters, Leadership Essentials
Do you have a message?
There is no point in lamenting the lack of leadership in legal practice. The fact is that whilst the partnership model pervades the landscape, leaders (if they exist) will be forced to retreat in the face of dissent. It is almost a case of he who shouts loudest ….
Absent then a clear vision, or an agreed set of principles by which you govern the practice, you have, at the very least, to have a message. And I don’t mean the “We deliver great client service” type.
I mean: what do you stand for?
A pile of wasted talent
I have spent the last year on a mission: to challenge all lawyers to answer the fundamental question:
“Are you the most of anything?”
I don’t just mean, are you making progress up the slippery slope to partnership? No, I mean making the most of your ability.
But, in truth, where I really want to aim this question is at the people (supposedly) in charge.
The question, of course, has to be reframed: “Are you making the most of the talent within your midst?” But it is posited on the same foundation.
Why the silo mentality is a slow road to ruin
Let me make one thing clear: a Silo mentality in legal practice stifles growth – both individually and collectively.
Look about you.
How many lawyers work for ‘their’ clients?
How many are working against an individual target?
And how many are prepared to pass on work which is better suited to someone else in the firm?
I see no discernable difference in legal practice since starting my professional life in 1996. There appears no lessening of the ‘I’ approach (“One for one and all for one …!”).
It goes beyond hoarding.
