Leaders in law firms have required a more broad and advanced skill-set to deal with an array of new challenges over the past few years. In addi­tion to one of the worst business downturns in living memory, firms have been confronted with increased and varied competition, growing demographic changes, a highly competitive talent market and the need to do more with less on every front.

The demands of business for law firms are constantly changing, and leaders of law firms are faced with a unique number of challenges, according to US research conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership. These challenges include building strategic leadership skills, managing tal­ent and promoting sustainability, making decisions and setting strategic direction, and managing growth while developing new and existing markets and practice areas.

Law firm leaders can no longer rely simply on high lev­els of technical and professional expertise that may have seen them through in the past - a new set of skills and competencies is required to lead their firms in the future.

Are leaders born or made?

One question has been the focus of decades of research: are leaders born or made? Erin Feros, Queensland practice director and board member of Allens Arthur Robinson, believes some of the characteristics required of firm lead­ers are innate and cannot necessarily be easily learned.

"Leadership would be easier if you needed only one or two skills - but the reality is that you need a whole range," Feros says. These include professional respect for peers, acute listening and people skills, fairness, authenticity, drive, commercial awareness, values, strategic thinking, humility, a sense of humour and being "nice", she says, in addition to an ability to embrace shades of grey rather than adopting black and white responses to all issues.

"It is also critical to have flexibility in leadership style - to know when to lead from the front, when to run along­side and when to get behind. This is particularly the case in legal partnerships, where you are working alongside co-proprietors of a business," says Feros, who asserts that a corporate leadership model cannot readily or successfully be replicated in a legal partnership.

Jesse Webb, national managing partner of Sparke Hel­more, echoes Feros's comments and says leaders in law firms require a range of skills and competencies. Webb, who has more than 10 years' experience in law firm man­agement, including prior responsibility for a national prac­tice group and membership of the firm's executive committee, says these skills and competencies include improving client satisfaction, profitability, people and com­munity engagement as well as stakeholder management skills, sound judgment and a willingness to make decisions based on sound advice and appropriate consultation - without fear or favour. Also important, Webb explains, are change management skills and strategic insight, or the capacity to advise and agree with the board on the best possible path forward for the firm.

Balancing legal practice and leadership skills

Leaders in law firms traditionally have a strong legal prac­tice background. This is changing as firms become more commercial and seek leaders with broader leadership expe­rience, however it is still generally held that legal practice experience does benefit law firm leaders.

With more than 20 years' experience as a legal practi­tioner, Webb says this experience can assist firm leaders in relating to and empathising with both clients and lawyers. However, he points out that not every lawyer aspires to become a leader and acknowledges that successful organ­isations need a mix of individuals with good leadership skills and others with technical and specialist expertise.

Feros emphasises that the leadership skills required to lead a law firm successfully are often quite different from legal practice skills, with the former requiring more highly honed people skills. "As a lawyer becomes more senior they will progress to having more lawyers working for them," she says.

"Leadership skills are developed in conjunction with this professional growth. Often lawyers are not aware that they are developing these management/leadership skills. Natural leaders often self-select in this process, as they will be the ones who build successful practices, have happy clients, engaged staff and enjoy a collegiate and support­ive relationship with their peers and staff generally."

Feros, whose primary areas of expertise are privatisa­tions, resources law, capital markets, funds management and superannuation, also notes that being respected pro­fessionally within a firm typically enables promotion to leadership positions in the first place.

The notion that lawyers can be too busy practising to improve their leadership skills is largely a false proposi­tion, Webb observes. While 56 per cent of private firm partners in Australia were offered management training, according to Mahlab's 2009 private practice survey, Webb says those lawyers who want to be leaders simply need to make the time. "I can cite myself as an example," he states. "I ran a busy and robust practice, where I was doing a lot of mining and insurance work. I wanted to be a leader, so I took time out and took myself to Harvard and did a number of management courses to assist me in that progression."

Common mistakes in legal leadership

There are a number of common mistakes that can beset leaders of law firms. Losing touch with the values of the firm or one's own personal values is probably the most serious fault, warns Feros. Others include attempting to impose a "one size fits all" mentality, not being "in traf­fic" to pick up on the heartbeat of the business, and micro­managing rather than having the confidence to delegate, she says.

"I also think a really common mistake for a leader in any organisation is not being yourself. The temptation may be to adopt a style you believe others would expect you to have, for example, thinking you have to be highly charis­matic or highly dictatorial to get your way. Being yourself most likely got you into a leadership position in the first place, so by all means be open to change and developing your skills, but also be yourself. Have an ability to laugh at yourself as well - don't take yourself too seriously," she recommends.

Webb says one of the most common mistakes leaders of law firms make is in poor succession planning, "so that as good leaders move on, there are no others coming up the ranks. Law firms needs to invest in good leaders," he says. However, he also believes the biggest problem area for legal leaders is a lack of consultation with partners - the major stakeholders - of the firm.

Feros agrees, noting that leadership in a law firm requires a peer to be selected to manage other peers and professional colleagues - many of whom may be profes­sionally more senior than the leader. "It is no surprise, therefore, that the perspective, experience and independ­ence of the individual partner needs to be understood, respected and managed. Appropriate consultation and mutual respect is important," she affirms.