There is a plethora of leadership theory out there, some of it useful, much of it interesting to those who like leadership theory. Too many leadership articles quickly become a wish list of what we’d like from our leaders, not so much about what we as leaders can actually provide. Idealism over reality.
It seems like there is ready advice to determine how to become a law partner, each firm will have their model of what you have to achieve to be considered, and most partners can tell you what they had to do to get there. What can be a little trickier is deciding if you really want to become a partner.
Too often in law firms a coach is only ever engaged for remedial purposes. The message sent to the lawyer is: you have a problem, you are not up to scratch, a poor performer; you can have a coach to ‘fix’ the problem.
Rather than seeing a coach as a positive thing, as a vote of confidence, a perk, an opportunity to maximise potential – which is much more in keeping with how executive coaching is viewed outside the law – the remedial coaching focus can create a stigma that makes lawyers more reluctant to engage a coach.
Despite the considerable efforts of HR departments to change the culture, and some significant inroads to a more flexible work environment, the billable hour model has the tendency to disincentivise efficiency and encourage a culture of being married to your work.
While different business models and increased fixed price agreements are being flirted with, negotiating the reality of clocking up the hours is an essential part of any successful career.
One of the great challenges senior lawyers face is being a leader while also ‘on the tools’. Time is at a premium. This can mean that developing your team, or even having a team meeting, can get de-prioritized, and pushed out until you can get your head above the affray – an occasion which just never seems to eventuate!
When it comes to promotion the emphasis tends to be on your technical and business development ability not necessarily on your leadership skills, and yet it’s the leadership skills that can really get your team humming.
