All things to all people – reality or disaster?

In the business of law, leadership demands agility of its leaders. A well-rounded Partner or leader of an in-house team needs to be the best player on the team when needed (technical and strategic acumen), a capable leader of people, as well as a client and relationship builder. All done with a keen eye to a saturated broader legal market ripe for disruption and demanding that we all embrace change to simply keep up (let alone, have any chance of getting ahead).

Investment in good leadership is central to growing a people business such as law. In the battle for talent, the reality remains that the key point of difference for retaining good staff and winning client work is, simply put, good leadership creating alignment across all levels of the law firm. I have first-hand experience of the costs associated with this failure. In my former role, I took over as Managing Partner at a time when the business lacked cultural cohesion in Australia, including effective on-the-ground leadership. Recognising this challenge was central to correcting the course - I can certainly attest to the reality that in the absence of effective leadership, operational issues continually bubble up to the top of the business, leaving leaders with little bandwidth to focus on broader strategy and growth.

An investment in leadership starts from the premise of the Self - working to win the inner-game necessitates that all leaders prioritise respect over popularity and develop skills of emotional intelligence.

Respect before popularity

A leader needs to prioritise being respected over being liked. The earlier this is genuinely integrated in any leadership story the better. Sounds cliche, but not easily hard-wired into our reptilian brain. Being a part of the tribe is, after all, is a necessary survival instinct. As a former Managing Partner and law firm co-founder, I grappled with the reality that the higher I climbed, the fewer genuine peers I had. This isolation can be particularly pronounced in a profession where client demands are incessant, and the stakes of decision making are high.

An impressive title (Partner, Head of, Chief Counsel, etc.) bestows important honorific respect, but, it stops there. Genuine respect takes time to develop and is earned through actions - the ability to stay calm under pressure, composed in a crisis, and the ability to inspire and influence others. John Maxwell, a renowned leadership expert got straight to the point when he said that “leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.”¹ Anyone who has occupied leadership roles, won't be surprised that the research indicates that loneliness in leadership positions can erode job satisfaction and increase stress.²

Acknowledging this reality, law firms are now starting to embrace leadership coaching as part of their toolkit. A good coach forms part of this support system - a ‘thought partner’, bringing an objective lens to the table, assisting the leader to obtain a better understanding of the issues they confront, whilst ensuring on-going accountability. Other support measures are also vital, including the mentoring of emerging leaders, peer support within the workplace and an effective work/life balance ensuring broader familial and social connections are maintained.

Emotional intelligence- the foundation of the elusive inner game

Nirvana's raw grunge sound of the 1990s marked a move away from the more polished and commercial pop of the 1980s. Likewise, Daniel Coleman pioneering work on emotional intelligence (EI) represents a unique 90s contribution to the field of leadership. Emotional intelligence is any leader’s ability to recognise, understand and manage their own emotions, necessary to manage the emotions of others. Attaining a higher level of EI is the lifelong work of any leader. This goes beyond the realm of the personal - higher levels of EI fosters trust and collaboration in teams. Influence is exercised through consistency and authenticity, better communication and empathy - all skills honed by improving EI. Leaders with higher EI are also better equipped to manage conflict, a critical factor in maintaining the trust of the team on a day-to-day basis.

My coaching methodology therefore starts with self-awareness as the core skill underpinning EI – working with leaders to understand their strengths and weaknesses, their values and how they impact others.

An investment in Leadership Coaching

As a profession, we have a long way to go before adequately investing in the development of leaders and in assisting our colleagues making the transition from technical/client proficiency to broader leadership acumen. This remains the business-critical challenge. In a market ripe for further disruption, only the businesses that effectively invest in leadership development and growth will retain talent to successfully compete in an uncertain future.

Damien van Brunschot
+61 412 538 968
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.evolveresolve.com

¹ Maxwell J.C., The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.
² Harvard Business Review (2017) The Loneliness of Leadership.