Where BigLaw Leadership Trainings Falls Short
Legal Practice Intelligence
August 02, 2022
There are few people out there with bad intentions, but there are firm leaders with bad habits. I recently spent an hour on a call with the managing partner of an AmLaw 200 firm who was seeking my advice on succession planning and specifically with their practice and industry group leaders, many of whom were very senior and had been in the role for well over a decade.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Will More Law Firms Follow This Example
LinkedIn Personal Page
January 26, 2022
It’s reported that a number of law firms, particularly in the U.K., have begun bringing on individual independent directors, who are not lawyers, to join their boards. In published comments, I suggested that the addition of outside advisers would likely help law firms expand their “cognitive diversity” and that the next step for Reed Smith would be to transition this group, after the board becomes comfortable, making them a natural part of their monthly meetings. Then we’re talking about a significant achievement.”
See publication
Tags: Leadership
6 GOALS We All Need to Obsess Over.
LinkedIn Personal Page
January 10, 2022
NOW is the right moment to block out some time to look forward to jump-start your 2022. You can certainly do this alone, but I’d love for you to do this with your team. As we head into our third year of Covid, perhaps it’s time to get the team together and embrace a new way of thinking: We don’t know what will happen next, or how long this will last, and it does NOT matter. We will get through it, step by step, day by day, by coming together and dealing with what is in front of us.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Potentially Lucrative Micro-Niches
Personal LinkedIn Page
November 14, 2021
On my Twitter feed (@ConsultMcKenna) I’ve been identifying a number of Micro-Niche areas of opportunity that I do not see many firms exploring.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Why Did Lawyers Ever Adopt the “Transactional” Label?
PatrickMcKenna.com
October 27, 2021
I’d heard this a number of times over the years from clients but was struck by an article authored by the editor of strategy+ business (PwC) wherein he states that “Transactional has become something of a DIRTY WORD in the business world. It suggests a short-term, one-off mindset and a commoditized approach to value. Nobody wants transactional relationships.”
See publication
Tags: Leadership, Legal and IP
Why Did Lawyers Ever Adopt the “Transactional” Label?
patrickmckenna.com
October 21, 2021
I’d heard this a number of times over the years from clients but was struck by an article authored by the editor of strategy+ business (PwC) wherein he states that “Transactional has become something of a DIRTY WORD in the business world. It suggests a short-term, one-off mindset and a commoditized approach to value. Nobody wants transactional relationships.”
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Great Lessons on Stress
patrick mckenna.com
October 08, 2021
A young lady confidently walked around the room with a raised glass of water while leading a seminar and explaining stress management to her audience.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Four Critical Coaching Questions
patrick mckenna.com
September 30, 2021
Here are 4 Coaching Questions every leader should be asking the Partners on their team
right NOW:
See publication
Tags: Leadership
What Is A Leader?
LinkedIn Posting
September 23, 2021
Having trained hundreds of practice and industry group leaders over the past 20 years one of the first things we talk about is . . . “what is a leader?” And it is not about elusive attributes, esoteric characteristics or aspirational nonsense. It all comes down to day-to-day behavior and this for me, provides some great examples of what the best leaders do:
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Beware the Obstacles to Executing Your Best Intentions
Thinkers360
September 22, 2021
To effectively transform your best intentions into executed initiatives, there are several common hurdles that you need to overcome. Thinking through the following can help you make the leap.
Strategizing and implementing are interdependent. In many firms the process of formulating your plan and then implementing it are separated. Logically, implementation needs to follow formulation since you cannot implement anything until the plan exists. But, not involving those of your partners who formulated the strategy in having responsibility for also executing that same strategy or waiting for months until your strategy document is methodically finalized – threatens knowledge transfer, commitment to sought-after outcomes, and the entire implementation process.
Planning is not doing. Unfortunately, some partners believe that implementing the strategy and “getting their hands dirty” is beneath them. They act as if implementation is something best left to the non-lawyer professionals in the firm. This view holds that one group does the innovative work (planning), and then “hands the ball” off to lower-levels for execution. If things go awry, the problem is placed squarely at the feet of the “doers,” who somehow couldn’t implement a “perfectly sound” plan.
Effective implementation involves many hands. Implementation always involves far more of your professionals than the initial planning did. This presents problems. Communication throughout the firm or across different business units becomes a challenge. And linking strategic objectives with the day-to-day objectives at different offices and groups becomes a demanding task.
Implementation requires enormous time. Make no mistake, to successfully execute takes even more time than that invested in developing the plan. This can be extraordinarily taxing to the billable time expectations and client obligations of those partners who were initially involved.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
My 6 Most Popular Articles This Year.
Personal LinkedIn Page
September 15, 2021
My sincere thanks to those of you who graciously take time to visit my LinkedIn Page or Website Blog and generously read, contribute your thoughts and observations to the various articles and material that I post. Here is a collection of what appears to be the most popular and highly read posts so far this year.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
More Strategic Thought Provokers.
Personal LinkedIn Page
September 01, 2021
Further to my earlier article, here are the final six snippets:
• Approach Strategy by “BackCasting” – Moving from The Future Back.
Research has shown that people who use the current situation and project in a linear fashion tend to be overly optimistic.
• Beware the Obstacles to Executing Your Best Intentions.
Some partners believe that implementing the strategy and “getting their hands dirty” is beneath them.
• Where Do You Spend Your Management Time?
There is a powerful gravitational pull that unconsciously moves us toward fixing things instead of innovating, toward reacting rather than being proactive.
• Quantify and Communicate Real Value.
Clients need and want you to identify what adds value (as they perceive value).
• What is Your Succession Strategy?
Do you know that there is a competitive firm out there right now that is targeting the clients of your soon-to-retire partners?
• Create A Sense of Urgency.
Your challenge is to help people see what changes need to take place.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Some Strategic Thought Provokers.
Personal LinkedIn Page
August 25, 2021
A few brief, pragmatic snippets to stimulate your strategic thinking:
• Fight Established Routines.
Some partners can be like those old spring-powered watches — they have to be shaken hard to get them going.
• What’s Your Competitive Advantage?
If you do include a testimonial, make sure that there is a REAL name attached.
• Welcome New Voices.
If you don’t think one of your younger professionals could have some tasty contributions to make to your Executive Committee, you are clearly suffering a bad case of truth decay!
• Eliminate Barriers to Switching.
Ask yourself: “What keeps this person or company from becoming our client tomorrow?”
• Be A Creator of NEXT Practices.
Simply adopting someone else’s best practice may not be your best practice after all!
• What’s Your Skills-Building Strategy?
The half-life of knowledge is decreasing at a furious rate.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
Be ORIGINAL Rather Than Imitating Competitors
Patrick J. McKenna
August 18, 2021
Many view other competitors, their strategies, their performance and experience as the benchmark from which to set standards for their own firm. That kind of competitive comparison may makes sense, especially as your firm’s performance is often defined by what your peer firms are doing. Where this approach becomes an obstruction is when the logic behind what works for some other firm, why it works and what might work for you, is not assiduously examined and thereby results in firms engaging in nothing but mindless imitation.
See publication
Tags: Management, Leadership, Business Strategy
Unintended Consequences of Being Addicted to Commodity Work
Personal LinkedIn Page
August 04, 2021
One firm leader commented to me that while "most fans of efficiency are very strong on the left-brain – any innovation very much starts in the right hemisphere.” Thus, the “define, measure, analyze, improve, control" mind-set doesn't entirely gel with the fuzzy front-end of invention. When some new revenue generating idea starts germinating, you don't want to overanalyze it, which can happen in an efficiency obsessed cultural framework. That said, one wonders whether this propensity to simply accept commodity work as a natural way of legal life is not indicative of an addiction. Here are some examples:
• We don’t pay as much attention to our overall Brand Image
(Do we care that some work we do might actually demean our public profile?)
• We reward partners for doing shit work
(Are we over-rewarding some who have large billable hours?)
• We don’t force proper delegation
(Are we negating our promise to clients to have their work done at the proper level?)
• We don’t focus on longer-term market innovation opportunities
(Are we demoralizing those who have some ambition?)
Being addicted to commoditized work is the result of strategy decay – and strategy decay is like cancer – it happens little by little and the longer you take to deal with it, the more deadly it becomes.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
Focusing on Efficiency and Commoditized Work Will Have You Seen as Just Another “Vendor”
Personal LinkedIn Page
July 28, 2021
I happened upon an article concerning a new Law Firm Profitability Survey, wherein the author “highlights the many projects that firms are working on to address profitability.” The article lists 16 different projects like timekeeping practices and inventory management, among the favored strategies. If one were to categorize these 16 into how many were internal versus external focused; and how many were operational versus strategic; you conclude that these firms were all obsessing over various internal cost efficiency tactics at the expense of strategic wealth creation – for example, launching a potentially lucrative new practice niche was NOT identified by even one of the firms surveyed!
The very next piece on my pile was entitled, “Commoditized Work Can be a Gold Mine.” In this article, rather than treating commoditization as a negative, they attempted to advocate that “the profitability of commoditized work has never been more important.” Really? Meanwhile 47% of GCs report that the increasing volume of low value work has impacted morale with many saying: "Is that what I went to law school for?" Combining these two articles one might conclude the future of our legal profession seems to be focused on . . . “making better buggy whips.”
Is that really what you want for your career and for your firm?
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
How Do I Get My Lawyers to Focus on Client Industries?
Personal LinkedIn Page
July 20, 2021
Question: “I have been reading your various article on the merits of attorneys having more of an industry focus and I’m intrigued. We have certainly become more cognizant of this topic as COVID impacted many of our client industries in ways that we would never have imagined. I manage a fairly large Litigation Department comprised of about 40 attorneys, fairly partner dominant, and spread out over five offices. Any ideas for how I might approach this with my colleagues and convince them to give re-organizing all or parts of our Department into smaller industry teams a try?”
Perhaps we might provide them with an experience that may allow them to explore some new practice options. Here is what you could do . . .
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Legal and IP
Would You As Firm Leader Benefit From Having An Advisory Board?
Personal LinkedIn Page
July 02, 2021
There is an old saying that goes, it can be lonely at the top — especially if you are a busy law firm leader trying to maintain a modicum of a personal practice while also charting a course for your firm’s future growth.
However, you don't always have to go it alone or rely on the intuition of only your fellow colleagues – some of whom may have their own personal agendas to advance or not have the kind of business experience that you need. A good number of other professional service firms, from accounting to consulting, have found success through having an external advisory board to counsel the firm’s leadership on various aspects of the business — everything from operations to planning for growth or enhancing client service.
Think about the last time you met with a group of business people and had an open discussion, sharing ideas and concerns. An Advisory Board is a formal version of this process. Unlike a one-time event, you might think of an Advisory Board as your own special leadership think tank. Participants can serve as your personal sounding board, a source of insights and expertise — and give you honest and candid advice. If properly constituted, your advisory board will be comprised of people with no axe to grind, and who want to listen and impart their knowledge.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Fixing Firm Compensation Models
Patrick J Mckenna
May 04, 2021
This article evolved from the collaborations between a Fortune 500 GC, a Managing Partner, a leading practitioner in alternative fee arrangements and an international law firm management consultant. It was initially written in 2009 and pretty much forgotten about until now.
See publication
Tags: Management, Legal and IP
When A Leader Needs to Confront Underperformance
Legal Business World
January 28, 2021
One of the more difficult decisions that any firm leader or practice leader will be faced with, is when you have to confront and possibly remove someone on your team who is no longer “pulling their weight.”
When you are faced with this challenge (and you definitely will be at some time in your leadership tenure) you need to understand that the consequences of taking decisive action are rarely as dire as they might seem to you at first glance. Nevertheless, there are numerous reasons why intelligent and capable leaders will go to great lengths to avoid taking any action. In reality, not taking action is the same as announcing that you will continue accepting unacceptable performance.
There are always reasons to put off the decision to take decisive action. A number of leaders have admitted to me, that in hindsight they came up with all kinds of rationalizations to postpone a painful decision that they just knew was inevitable. In the end all they succeeded in doing was hurting both their team and crippling the team’s possible progress in a highly competitive marketplace.
No leader would ever tell you that this is the easy part of the job. It isn’t!
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
How Effective Leaders Delegate
Legal Business World
December 09, 2020
In discussions with new firm leaders before they formally take on the role, I ask them what they think that they will like doing the most, in other words where are they eager to spend their time. The most common response is: “determining strategic direction and implementation.” After being in the job for some months when I come back and have them assess where they have been spending the largest portion of their time, they then confess how it is spent in “day-to-day administrative responsibilities” with absolutely no time for strategic issues. All too often, the urgent crowds out the important.
Whenever I’ve had the opportunity to follow up with new firm leaders and ask what surprised them the most during their first 100 days in the role and what changes they would make to be more effective if they had the chance to do it all over again, one of the more common responses I elicit is “needing to delegate more.”
Delegation is one subject that every firm leader I speak with, has strong opinions about. Some feel that they do it well. Some will quietly admit that they don’t even know where to start. Some have experienced a good example of delegation. Some feel like every time someone has ever “delegated” to them, it felt like they had just been dumped on. Many believe it is something they should do more of to be effective; but there are some who resist it with a passion – almost as if they feel that their fingerprints should be found on everything.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
15 Innovation Questions to Ask Yourself
LinkedIn
November 05, 2020
It is my honor to be Chairing, for the third consecutive year, Ark’s Law Firm Innovation Summit, being conducted virtually. In my opening remarks today, I posed the following provocative questions for the participants to ask themselves:
See publication
Tags: Innovation
How Difficult a Job It Can Actually Be
Patrick J Mckenna
October 05, 2020
The very concept of leadership is elusive and tricky. Every business-book author coins a
new "type" which is then sold as the latest elixir to problems. We see these everywhere:
authentic leadership, transformational leadership, charismatic leadership and other
faddish titles. It is hard to define leadership in a way that is satisfactory to everyone
although most professionals tell me that they believe they know it, when they see it.
What these same professionals may not appreciate is how difficult the job of leading a
firm can actually be. There are a number of truths that aren’t identified in any
guidebook;
See publication
Tags: Management, Leadership, Business Strategy
Embrace Thought Leadership As Your Industry Group’s Strategy for Growth
Legal Business World
September 18, 2020
Successful thought leadership does not arrive by virtue of having a published idea linked to a hope that someone will recognize brilliance and sweep your industry team from obscurity into prominence. Thought leadership only matters if you address a specific audience and can present new ideas that improve their life or work. The best thought leadership, therefore, helps people in an industry do something better or gain insight that helps them better understand their market or their problems. There is little generic thought leadership that is useful. In a globalized online world, clients can quickly find an alternative to you. To establish your group as having an expert reputation – including those who don’t just participate in the industry discussion but drive it, requires consistent, diligent effort.
See publication
Tags: Management, Leadership, Business Strategy
25 Quotes to Jump-Start Your Innovative Mindset
Patrick J. McKenna
September 02, 2020
Innovation does not require some exotic new technology by rather it requires an innovative culture. Today, firms need more radical and game-changing inspiration to be able to meet the challenges that we are all facing. We need new ideas. We need progress. We need positive change. Here is a collection of some of my favorite quotes on innovation to inspire your next move forward. When I need a dose of inspiration or advice, I often turn to these insightful words of wisdom for an added touch of motivation.
See publication
Tags: Innovation, Leadership, Culture
Lessons BigLaw Could Learn from BigTech
LinkedIn
August 25, 2020
As the economy contracts and many companies struggle to survive, the biggest tech companies continue to grow and innovate, putting them in a position to dominate U.S. businesses with an unprecedented reach into shaping how we work, communicate, shop, relax and even where we invest our money. The encroachment of these companies into our lives can be evidenced by the more than one billion daily visits to the big four sites and by last week’s record $2-trillion stock market valuation of Apple – double what it was just 21 weeks earlier.
See publication
Tags: Innovation, Leadership, Business Strategy
Effective Leaders Are Not Necessarily Nice!
Patrick J. McKenna
August 19, 2020
Having spent a good number of years studying, working with and coaching new firm leaders, I have concluded that the greatest challenge for any of us in leading others is the way in which we are hard-wired; our natural instincts to preserve our sense of pride and our need to be (and appear to be) “nice.”
The truth is, most of us would rather have the rock-star surgeon available if we needed a coronary bypass operation, irrespective of the individual’s bedside manner. Having a great bedside manner . . . would be a definite plus! BUT, our critical requirement would be to work with a medical technician with the best possible expertise and exemplary track-record for delivering results.
See publication
Tags: Management, Leadership
Memo to Firm Leader: Are You Getting Minutes from Group Meetings?
McKenna Associates Inc.
August 12, 2020
Whenever I’ve been called in to work with some firm’s practice or industry group, perhaps some group that needs remedial assistance or one wishing to formulate a strategic direction, my first questions of firm leadership is usually to please send me copies of the groups’ most recent meeting minutes. The response I almost always elicit is . . . “Minutes? What the hell do you mean by minutes?” Which tells me everything I need to know!
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Is Your Industry Group Monitoring Trends?
Personal LinkedIn Posting
July 22, 2020
Now, one of the challenges that every industry group leader faces is dealing with busy professionals living in a bubble; head down and consumed in solving client issues such that they are not involved in looking outward or knowing anything about what developments may be transpiring that could affect their practices and their future prosperity. So, one of the important subjects that your group needs to devote some time to focusing on, is in identifying emergent marketplace changes.
Staying on top of industry-related market information can be achieved, in the following 10 ways.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
In Matters of Strategy: Beware of Best Practices
Personal Blog
June 03, 2020
What is it about this term, ‘best practices’ that makes it sound so persuasive, and yet why don’t they always seem to work as well as some might be suggesting? I would caution that it is nothing more than the myth of a single standard of excellence; the one right way to compete.
In fact, I have a few concerns that come to mind that I believe are worth you considering
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
What to do with your industry focus when your chosen industry falters
Legal Executive Institute
May 14, 2020
Retail is among a number of industries that are experiencing severe stress, previously from the trade wars and now largely due to the shuttering of many brick-and-mortar stores due to the ongoing pandemic. Indeed, we are currently witnessing something akin to collapse in the clothing apparel retail segment, with J.Crew, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman all filing for bankruptcy. While these business failures appeared to result from a dramatic and immediate reduction in demand, other factors were largely observable and predictable to anyone monitoring developments in the retail industry.
See publication
Tags: Leadership, Retail, Business Strategy
Hanging Up The Crown
CBA National
March 29, 2020
Taking over from some long-serving firm leader or a founding partner can present an enormous challenge for a new managing partner. In some firms, it gets ridiculously difficult when the new leader is given only a few weeks, or even days, to prepare themselves before having to step into the role -- or when the incumbent is not fully supportive of the transition.
A departing firm leader can undertake a number of actions to make the leadership transition much smoother.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership, Legal and IP
Are You Ready for “The Social Distancing Recession?”
LinkedIn
March 15, 2020
Wise law firm leaders will be balancing dual agendas – with their first priority toward navigating unprecedented challenges while also looking past the storm to a time when valued clients will need help in handing deals that are once again possible and attractive assets that are up for grabs at significant discounts. Most of us are hunkered down, but as markets stabilize and we get used to video conferencing with clients, deal-making promises to kick back into high gear.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership, Legal and IP
Clients Value You Having a “DEEP” Industry Focus: So Do You?
Legal Executive Institute
March 11, 2020
While attorneys tout their deep technical or functional expertise, most clients view that as table stakes. They assume you’re an expert in employment law, international tax or complex litigation. And as clients face increasingly complex business challenges that go well beyond any one (traditional practice group) area of the law, they wonder if you really understand the key aspects of their industry. To be fair – they don’t care if you don’t know the intricacies of making their widgets – but they DO want you to know the idiosyncratic aspects of what they are having to deal with.
See publication
Tags: Leadership, Business Strategy, Legal and IP
Does Your Firm Have A REAL Industry Focus?
Legal Executive Institute
February 20, 2020
Understanding Your Client’s Industry is the single biggest differentiator among law firms. Unfortunately, for too many firms, any pretense of having a real industry focus is simply a list of industries displayed on their website – without any recognition that perhaps clients can discern the difference. Bad News Flash: you are not fooling anyone! Here are a dozen diagnostic questions (not intended to be comprehensive) that you might internally review and discuss, to evaluate where you stand with respect to having a genuine industry focus.
See publication
Tags: Leadership, Business Strategy, Legal and IP
How Do You Get Your Practice and Industry Groups Firing on All Cylinders?
Legal Business World
February 15, 2020
You appointed professionals to positions as practice group leader whom you thought would do the job (and who promised you that they would try); you provided them with some basic training; and you endeavored to periodically meet with them all as a group to provide a bit of a pep talk. Despite all your efforts, only a FEW of your groups are functioning as you had hoped. So what to do?
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
The Art Of Leadership
fivehundred magazine
November 01, 2019
This article is intended to outline for new firm leaders the eight challenges that they often do not expect when first taking the reins and certainly don't talk about amongst their peers.
See publication
Tags: Leadership, Change Management, Risk Management
Strategy Innovation: Getting To The Future First
LinkedIn
July 10, 2019
Download your copy of my new 240-page eBook - Strategy Innovation: Getting To The Future First – https://lnkd.in/grsexeq
If you want your firm to WIN in today’s highly competitive environment you need to possess an unwavering and intentional focus on tomorrow. This book is intended to help you advance your innovative, entrepreneurial, and strategic thinking to develop a thirst for pulling the future forward on behalf of your firm and it’s various competitive practices.
See publication
Tags: Innovation, Business Strategy, Legal and IP
e-Sports Practice
Legal Executive Institute
March 28, 2019
eSports has become a specialized micro-niche of opportunity over the last few years. The stunning rise in the popularity of particular teams of video gamers competing against one another in front of a live and broadcast audience is becoming big business.
See publication
Tags: Marketing, Business Strategy, SportsTech
When Your Strategic Plan Needs To Get Implemented
Personal LinkedIn Page
March 01, 2019
Planning is not doing. Unfortunately, some partners believe that implementing the strategy and “getting their hands dirty” is beneath them. They act as if implementation is something best left to the non-legal professionals in the firm. This view holds that one group does the innovative strategizing work (“the thinkers”), and then hands the ball off to lower levels. If things go awry, the problem is placed squarely at the feet of the “doers,” who somehow couldn’t implement a “perfectly sound” plan.
Whenever I think about the effort that is required to go into implementing your firm’s strategic plan, I’m reminded of a particular business book title that grabbed my attention when I first saw it . . . Hope Is Not A Strategy!
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Digital Transformation - Part 2
Legal Executive Institute
February 27, 2019
The US market, the largest and most mature as to digital transformation, is also one of the fastest growing and was the first to go all out in this area. And while law firms have been slow to identify this micro-niche as a lucrative area of focus, the consulting profession has not.
See publication
Tags: Digital Transformation, Innovation, Leadership
Digital Transformation - Part 1
Legal Executive Institute
February 20, 2019
Today, successful companies realize the costs of failing to innovate in a business landscape that is seeing incumbents displaced at an increasingly rapid speed. Intel, which has more than 100,000 employees, holds quarterly innovation days where employees can report the digital threats and opportunities they see in the distance.
See publication
Tags: Digital Transformation, Innovation, Leadership
When Your Strategic Plan Needs To Get Implemented
Legal Business World
February 11, 2019
Planning is not doing. Unfortunately, some partners believe that implementing the strategy and “getting their hands dirty” is beneath them. They act as if implementation is something best left to the non-legal professionals in the firm. This view holds that one group does the innovative strategizing work (“the thinkers”), and then hands the ball off to lower levels. If things go awry, the problem is placed squarely at the feet of the “doers,” who somehow couldn’t implement a “perfectly sound” plan.
Whenever I think about the effort that is required to go into implementing your firm’s strategic plan, I’m reminded of a particular business book title that grabbed my attention when I first saw it . . . Hope Is Not A Strategy!
To effectively transform your best intentions into tangible action, there are EIGHT common hurdles that you may need to overcome. Thinking through the following will help you make the leap . . .
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Strategic Challenges That New Firm Leaders Face
Legal Business World magazine
January 14, 2019
Most lawyers have NO idea what the huge scope of this job entails (ever seen a job description?), how much exhausting travel can be involved, how much time it really requires, how lonely it can be at the top, and how ill prepared many new firm leaders are when they assume office! There are a number of common questions that I find are asked about leadership transitions and the challenges that new firm leaders often face and so I have identified those with my observations and experience with respect to each
See publication
Tags: Innovation, Leadership, Business Strategy
Conducting A Strategic Review Versus A Strategic Plan
Personal LinkedIn Page
January 02, 2019
I believe that instigating a strategic review is very different from initiating a strategic plan, but the two often get confused. I see too many firms thinking that they are developing a strategic plan when they are really investing their time in conducting a strategic review.
How is a strategic plan different?
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Metrics To Stimulate Innovative Action
Personal LinkedIn Page
December 01, 2018
If you are a firm leader, look at the issues that are currently consuming your time.
I often ask of firm leaders a couple of questions that painfully illuminates where they spend their time. First: “What proportion of your time is spent solving problems versus what proportion is spent on exploring new opportunities?” After a rather awkward reflection period, the answer I usually elicit is about 80% on solving problems and maybe 20% on exploring opportunities.
I suspect that it is really more like 95% on problems and 5% on opportunities, but let’s analyze what their response infers. This means that as the firm leader, you are spending 80% of your time and energy looking backwards and fixing things, while only 20% looking forward and creating things. Firms operating in this mode will find it hard to lead in their marketplaces.
See publication
Tags: Innovation, Leadership
Every New Innovation Can Look Like a Failure in the Middle
Personal LinkedIn Page
November 01, 2018
In the "middle," you can overspend resources; both time and money, because forecasts are always overly optimistic. You should expect to have the unexpected pop up that no one knew would be there. After all, no one has been down this path before.
And the middle is when the critics attack. Opponents start to notice and will offer favorable comments about the project . . . only when it looks like it might be a winner.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Innovation
Everything You Need To Know Has An Expiration Date
Personal LinkedIn Page
October 01, 2018
As a professional one of the things we tend to ignore and overlook is that everything we know has an expiration date. In an earlier era, many professionals retired having practiced in the same area, having attained competency and then spent their time doing pretty much the same thing from the day they entered their profession. Today, continuous learning and skill building are conditions precedent to maintain a healthy career.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
Inspiring Leaders Connect With The Heart and Mind
Personal LinkedIn Page
September 01, 2018
There can be no real glue holding a firm together and certainly no leadership, without some degree of intimacy - some human acknowledgement of one another; that we are all people, each one with a unique story, unique difficulties, unique dreams. Leaders must see into the heads and hearts of those they would lead. Leaders who think leadership is about them have it exactly wrong. Ignore the people and the people will ignore you.
It all starts with getting to know your colleagues, their strengths, their shortcomings; their aspirations, and their fears. In spite of the best social media tools . . . there is NO substitute for face-to-face human interaction. The very best way to get to know what other people in your firm want is to sit down and communicate with them about it – on their own turf. Find the common ground.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
How Conventional Strategizing Can Be A Waste of Time
Legal Business World
June 09, 2018
Many firms that have been involved in conventional strategic planning are failing to improve their ability to differentiate themselves, their competitiveness or their relative growth, in spite of the investment of time and effort in the planning exercise. One needs to recognize that the typical strategic planning exercise now conducted and infused with massive quantitative data misses the essence of the concept of strategy and what is necessary for being innovative and differentiated.
See publication
Tags: Innovation, Management, Leadership
Do You Help Your Colleagues Feel Like Winners?
Personal LinkedIn Page
June 01, 2018
Our energy and enthusiasm for continual growth and improvement is strongly influenced by whether we feel like winners, taste success, and are having fun along the way. It’s all too easy to let what is yet not finished overshadow what we have accomplished.
Determine what you want to celebrate as the starting point for your cheerleading. The hoopla and celebration are not only for the sake of fun, but for the sake of calling attention to and reinforcing your team’s values and accomplishments. If it is important within your firm to have professionals involved in community and civic organizations, then celebrate when one of your people gets appointed to some position of significance. If one of the goals is to generate new clients, then celebrate when someone or a team achieves some major progress with client origination. If your firm values loyalty, then celebrate with years of service gatherings. The point here is that everything about a celebration must be matched to its purpose.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Scrape The Barnacles Off The Bottom of Your (Leader)Ship
Personal LinkedIn Page
May 01, 2018
I remember fondly one particular firm leader who commented to me “leadership is not the things you do to or for your people. But rather, it is more often the impediments you scrape away, leaving space for folks to empower themselves.”
SO, what exactly have you done today to remove obstacles to success from the path of the would-be heroes, the dedicated client-serving professionals that you lead?
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Leading to the Future: Evolution of Blockchain and Its Impact on Your Clients
Legal Executive Institute
April 26, 2018
It was only back in mid-2015, while speaking at a couple of legal conferences (including one on Client Growth Strategies), that I would ask, “Show of hands, how many of you have heard of blockchain?” only to confront an audience that had no idea what I was talking about. Fortunately, I would speculate that most of these same folks have now heard of blockchain and have some notion of what the label refers to… but do they really?
See publication
Tags: Blockchain, Innovation, FinTech
Be A Star Catcher: Discover The Best in Others
Personal LinkedIn Page
April 01, 2018
Firm leaders can invariably ensnare themselves in the trap of looking only for problems and failures to be fixed, rather than seeing successes needing to be replicated, emulated and multiplied. Focusing predominantly on problems and failures encourages your people to become overly cautious. It does almost nothing to encourage success, especially at the vital task of regularly innovating slightly new ways to do something better.
The most effective leaders go to great lengths to regularly, obsessively, and enthusiastically point out individual’s successes and positively reinforce those accomplishments. They make extraordinary efforts to stimulate more numerous future successes by promoting current successes. They accord particular recognition, often with great fanfare to individual and group demonstrations of commitment.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Avoid Tolerating Mediocrity
Personal LinkedIn Page
March 01, 2018
Mediocrity can insidiously work its way through every nook and cranny in your firm. The symptoms are numerous: from aimless meetings that begin late to an acceptance of missed deadlines; from commitments that have little follow-up to surreptitious dialogue in the form of whispers and rumors; from reports long on flash but short on substance to failures to confront individual underperformance.
In a culture of mediocrity, complaining, blaming and offering excuses - “what we ought to do . . .” quickly replaces accountability. Lethargy and complacency replaces action. Reactivity and defensiveness replaces initiative and risk.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Focus Your Leadership on Innovation, Not Fixing Problems!
Personal LinkedIn Page
February 01, 2018
Most of us as professionals are veteran problem solvers. We are trained to resolve the issue, put out the fire, correct the underperformance, and generally “fix” the problem. There is a natural gravitational field which unconsciously moves us toward fixing things instead of improving, toward restoring instead of increasing, and toward reacting rather than being proactive.
See publication
Tags: Innovation, Leadership
Your Firm Can NEVER Be Something The Leader is Not
Personal LinkedIn Page
January 01, 2018
When one thinks about the words most closely associated with “leader” you might very well think of terms like catalyst, trailblazer, executive or visionary. Now if you then ask a respected firm leader, with some years of experience, what words are most closely associated, you are likely to hear terms like coach, servant, facilitator and friend.
Whether in service to your firm as a firm leader or even someone who has the responsibility for heading up a group, by now you will have heard all of the common clichés about how the job of working with and managing other professionals is akin to being the only fire hydrant on a street of dogs, like lighting your hair and then putting the fire out with a hammer, like nailing jello to the wall, pushing string across a table, or (the one I like most) “like herding cats.”
See publication
Tags: Leadership
The Power of What Your Client's Say
Legal Business World
December 05, 2017
A testimonial is usually a written communication from a client that talks about what is special about you, your practice group and/or your firm. Preferably a testimonial should describe the work undertaken, highlighting the success achieved, and include a comment that the client is happy to recommend you.
The power of a testimonial or of someone endorsing your service can be the key that unlocks the doors of the subconscious mind. It is tangible evidence that allows you to showcase the specific ways you are meaningfully differentiated and distinctive from competitors.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Leaders Accumulate Incremental Victories to Make Monumental Progress
Personal LinkedIn Page
December 01, 2017
Leaders know that the most effective change strategies come by way of accumulating little incremental victories – even if and when your ultimate goal may be a complete overhaul of the system.
Start with your business plan or practice development agenda for 2018. Involve in your planning initiative all of your colleagues who can be counted upon to help in the implementation efforts. Individual professionals only support, believe in, and show commitment for some direction that they themselves have had some active part in formulating. Planning together and having people make their own decisions increases the likelihood of commitment to implementation.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Publicly Contested Horse-Races Don’t Usually End Well
Legal Business World
November 17, 2017
When a firm leader’s departure is predictable, firms need to take appropriate steps to ensure a controlled and effective succession process that minimizes the inevitable ‘disruption’ likely to occur. Having a contested election isn’t necessarily a negative, it only becomes problematic when it becomes public and political.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
More Leadership Transition Misfires
Legal Business World
November 17, 2017
Your leadership transition process can also become dysfunctional when either of two specific things are allowed to occur
See publication
Tags: Leadership
As A Leader, People Follow Your Example Not Your Advice
Personal LinkedIn Page
November 01, 2017
In order to be an effective leader you need to take advantage of the power of modeling or setting a positive example. You need to make yourself highly visible on a regular basis in a myriad of different ways and use that exposure to reinforce what you believe in, what direction you believe your firm or team should be headed, and how you intend to get there. As a leader, you have at your disposal a wide variety of “trivial tools” embedded in your daily message sending and receiving activities that can be used to energize and influence.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
True Leadership Requires Being An Enthusiastic Change Agent
Personal LinkedIn Page
October 01, 2017
It is gross understatement to acknowledge that we are living in a world of accelerating change. That said, ironically this is likely to be the past that somebody in the future will be longing to return to.
Your job as the leader isn’t to adapt to change, but to create change. So why not enter the fray with all guns firing, all hands on deck, and everyone focused on the targets you have chosen. No one enters the Olympics shouting “Go for the bronze!” Pursuing the gold and ending up with the bronze may be a noble effort, but pursuing the bronze and ending up in 13th place makes little sense.
See publication
Tags: Change Management, Leadership
The Best Leaders Ask Really Good Questions
Personal LinkedIn Page
September 01, 2017
There can be no real glue holding any firm together and certainly no leadership, without some degree of intimacy - some human acknowledgement of one another; that we are all people, each one with a unique story, unique difficulties and unique aspirations.
It all starts with getting to know your people, their strengths, their shortcomings; their dreams, and their fears. And to that end there is no substitute for face-to-face human interaction. The very best way to get to know what other people in your firm want is to sit down and communicate with them about it - on their own turf.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Six Great Leadership Nuggets I’ve Overheard
Personal LinkedIn Page
August 01, 2017
For Example:
• When hiring candidates, ask for their operating manual.
Tell candidates: “Imagine you're a robot. What does your manual say under 'ideal operating conditions.'” Once they answer, follow-up with this question: “What does the 'warning label' say?” You're likely to get insightful, unpredictable and even humorous answers but this is likely to be very subtle way of gauging an individual’s self-awareness and revealing their personality.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Sound Leadership Counsel in Six Words
Personal LinkedIn Page
July 01, 2017
According to literary lore, Ernest Hemingway was once challenged while in a bar, to write an entire novel in just six words. I thought about that in the context of what I might (tongue firmly in cheek) title my autobiography one day – “My Life: It Won’t End Well.”
From the trivial to the profound, this six word constraint forces one to figure out the essence of what matters most. This constraint often inspires rather than limits individual creativity. To that end and in having some fun with a group of colleagues, I’ve composed the following and would now invite you to join in and expand on my initial meandering:
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Preconditions To Setting-Up Your Own Advisory Board
Personal LinkedIn Page
June 01, 2017
You don't always have to go it alone or rely only on the intuition of your colleagues. A good number of professional firms have formed an advisory board to counsel the firm leader and/or the firm’s elected board on various aspects of their business – everything from operations to personnel to planning for growth.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
The Challenges in Sharing Leadership
Legal Executive Institute
June 01, 2017
The job of leading a law firm may certainly be demanding enough for two professionals; but the test is selecting the right two people to share the role. From my vantage point I have witnessed multiple examples of attempts to split the firm leadership job that led to clashing egos and crippling power struggles, especially if one of these two partners conceals any ambition for holding the position alone.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership, Management
How Can You Really Differentiate Your Practice?
Legal Business World
May 02, 2017
At a time when the demand for legal services is flat, the root of all successful strategy lies in being differentiated. Your firm and your individual practice groups must all work at making themselves distinctive and intrinsically more valuable to clients.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
How Having An Advisory Board Can Add Value
Personal LinkedIn Page
May 01, 2017
If you are like many Firm Leaders you probably belong to one or more peer organizations where you can network with fellow professionals. But, what I’ve learned is that you may not feel comfortable sharing your most sensitive or pressing management challenges, or discussing competitive opportunities among those same peers. Having your own advisory board can supplement those peer networks and relationships.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Manage The Disruption When Leaders Leave
Personal LinkedIn Page
April 01, 2017
When a firm leader’s departure is predictable, as in the case with their term reaching an end — there are numerous uncertainties (such as the identity of an appropriate successor) that, if handled poorly, can have a major negative impact on your firm’s performance. It is important to understand that overall performance can suffer, sometimes spectacularly so, during any transition from an outgoing leader to a new one — and I have witnessed examples of this diminished performance extending for as long as a year.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
The Five Challenging Paradoxes of Firm Leadership
Legal Business World
December 12, 2016
Over the past decade I have had the privilege, through my consulting, research and interviews, to peek behind the veil surrounding the challenge of becoming a new managing partner (or whatever title best signifies your firm’s leader). From candid discussions about the stress involved in looking like you know what you are doing and the huge time demands imposed by your partner’s requests, to feeling disorientated by the scale and scope of the mandate, many professionals quietly struggle with the various pressures that accompany their term in office.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
The Myth of Visionary Leadership
Legal Executive Institute
October 03, 2016
While almost every book on leadership suggests that a true leader needs to have a vision (with more than 400 books listed under “Visionary Leadership” on Amazon) I think it is nice in theory, sounds profoundly intelligent as a concept, but is absolute nonsense in its application with highly talented professionals.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Innovation, Leadership
Solving the ‘Commitment Drift’ Frustration
Legal Executive Institute
July 28, 2016
If there is one single frustration that I hear from firm and practice leaders on a continual basis it is trying to determine how to deal with the “commitment drift” of those partners who make promises but don’t always follow through. In other words, how do you ensure task completion on important projects when your partners agree to do something at the implementation stage, and you’re uncertain that you will see the necessary committed follow-through?
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Innovation, Leadership
Involving Firm Leaders in Selecting their Successors
Legal Executive Institute
June 06, 2016
Firm chairs and managing partners can play a very critical role in identifying and developing leadership talent within their firms — most specifically those lawyers ready to head up offices, practice groups and industry teams. But in my experience, there are a number of reasons why I would be cautious about having your current firm leader choose his or her successor.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Innovation, Leadership
Competitive Plagiarism
McKenna Associates Inc.
September 15, 2015
Many firm leaders view other competitors, their strategies, performance and experience as the benchmark from which to set standards for their own firm. That kind of competitive comparison makes sense, especially as your firm’s performance is often defined by what your peer firms are doing. Where this approach becomes an obstruction is when the logic behind what works for some other firm, why it works and what might work for you is not assiduously examined and thereby results in firms engaging in mindless imitation.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Firm Strategy: Understanding Industry Dynamics
Bloomberg Law
July 23, 2015
Editor’s Note: This post is written by an advisor to law firms who has written extensively about the legal industry. It is the first article on how law firms are becoming more industry focused.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Beyond the Mea Culpa
American Lawyer Magazine
June 01, 2015
Why you made that strategic error, and how to recover from it. (Hint: Ignoring the problem or rationalizing it aren't options.)
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Being An Effective Leader Is All About Relationships
Personal LinkedIn Page
November 01, 2014
It has been my observation, over the years, that many leaders rank low on empathy. They understand it intellectually, they just don’t pay enough attention, ask the right questions or comprehend that it is not just about what your colleagues think, but about how they feel. To be an effective leader you need to do more than just manage the bottom line and watch the numbers like a hawk. Obviously that may be necessary, but so is offering suggestions, being supportive, being a source of creative ideas, helping your people think through their roles and helping them make the best use of their time. If fact, that is precisely what the best leaders do.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Are You Developing A Star Culture
Am Law Daily
July 18, 2014
It is important to weigh the value that developing a star culture may bring – and the costs that come with it. For example, star cultures can obsess over the wrong metrics, suppress innovative behavior, and impair partner morale.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Firm Leadership Is NOT For Wimps!
International Review
April 25, 2014
Here are 8 leadership truths that we don't talk about, but that I know to be valid based upon anecdotal evidence gleaned from countless discussions and interviews with firm leaders much wiser than I am.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
6 Factors That Can Impede Effective Firm Leader - COO Relationships
Of Counsel Newsletter
April 15, 2014
The reality is that a COO inevitably finds him or herself with a brand new boss while at the same time, some new Firm Leader realizes that they now have to work closely with an individual whom they may not even know very well. There are any number of factors that can make this “forced marriage” rather challenging, if they are not conscientiously addressed.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Publications publication titleStrategy Innovation: Getting To The Future FIRST (240-page eBook) publication date2019 publication descriptionLegal Business World Publishing publication descriptionIf you want your firm to WIN in today’s highly competitive environment you need to possess an unwaver
McKenna Associates Inc.
September 15, 2013
There is now significant evidence to show all leaders are susceptible to overusing their strengths. Your natural desire to be forceful and forthright can, under pressure, become perceived to be abusive and authoritative. Your operating preference to always seek consensus can drift into periods of protracted indecision. The desire to dramatically improve performance and the firm’s profitability can incite a preoccupation for short-term expediency.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Malignant Leadership
The American Lawyer Magazine
January 15, 2013
It wasn’t until a pair of more recent failures, of Howrey and Dewey & LeBoeuf, that we’ve seen the industry begin to hold a firm’s own leadership accountable for its failure.
Too often, boards and/or executive committees facilitate firm failures by denying, overlooking, or “working around” crucial issues. In other words, firms fail when good people do nothing! There is an absence of checks and balances. Power is centralized, and those responsible for monitoring have either been silenced or choose to be mute. So when the board is benign . . . the leadership can become malignant.
It can take some time to realize that a firm leader is on a path to disaster. This is particularly the case when the leader has had a stellar career. Fortunately, there are firm-governance steps that can be taken to curb a malignant leader. While this list is not exhaustive, it does present plenty of options for consideration.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Crazy Like a Fox
The American Lawyer Magazine
February 01, 2012
Why the increase in nonequity partners (and decrease in associate ranks) makes business sense.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
Low Return: The Unintended Consequences of Financial Incentives
American Lawyer Magazine
November 01, 2011
Financial incentives are The Am Law 200’s favorite motivational tools, but their value is limited, and they carry risks.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
Methodologies That Make Strategic Planning A Waste of Time
McKenna Associates Inc.
June 10, 2011
Many firms that have been involved in conventional strategic planning are failing to improve their ability to differentiate themselves, their competitiveness or their relative growth, in spite of the investment of time and effort in the planning exercise. How many firms with a beautifully presented strategic plan have anything meaningful to show from their efforts? One would think that the application of strategic planning methodologies would have achieved more measurable results.
One needs to recognize that the typical strategic planning exercise now conducted and infused with massive quantitative data misses the essence of the concept of strategy and what is necessary for being innovative and differentiated. Indeed the word “strategy” has unfortunately become a devalued term, challenged only in the buzzword hall-of-shame by “synergy” or perhaps “out-of-the-box thinking.”
But the problem here for most of us isn’t with terminology. When research study after research study now suggests that the only way for your firm to grow is at the expense of competitors, the need for you to craft a truly competitive strategy could not be more acute. The real problem is one of not continuing to utilize shop-worn, tired old approaches, which simply don’t work anymore.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Evaluating Your Performance As a Managing Partner
McKenna Associates Inc.
September 15, 2010
“There is an old adage in managing a client’s expectations that states, whether we like it or not, we are going to be measured. If we take a very passive approach the measuring stick against which we will be measured will be exclusively a creation of our client. Alternatively, we can help create and shape the measurement criteria.” My message was that as the firm leader you should take the initiative and I provided a quick-and-easy sample of 29 evaluative factors that any firm leader could use to elicit feedback from their colleagues.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Leadership Transitions: Seven Steps To Ensure Success
Law Practice Magazine
July 15, 2009
This is the specific guidance you will need to help you and your predecessor determine how you will work together going forward.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Where Your Industry Group Initiatives Really Fail
Legal Business World
November 03, 2021
This article is an excerpt from my soon-to-be-released new 17 Chapter / 200+ page e-Book entitled, "Industry Specialization: Making Competitors Irrelevant"
See publication
Tags: Leadership, Business Strategy
Be Dominant Somewhere Rather Than Mediocre Everywhere
Legal Business World
August 11, 2021
From your firm’s perspective: is each practice truly profitable, is the practice worth committing further resources toward developing, or what would the downside be if we were not to provide these services? Indeed, could we somehow fine-tune or reposition this business unit so as to be regarded as the preeminent authorities in some new niche or selective area of client need?
While many firms engage in some form of strategic planning, only a few really come to realize that having three to five truly strong practices is preferable to having a good number of mediocre practices that serve only to consume resources, dilute profits and diffuse strategic focus. Firms and their business units need to clearly articulate what their selective focus is. Imagine having as a compelling challenge and managing your firm consistent with a strategy that states: “We will have as integral to our firm, only those business units that are clearly number one, two, or three in every market we serve.”
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
Claiming To Be Full Service Is An Exercise In Irrelevance.
Legal Business World
July 14, 2021
Too often your firm’s strategy, assuming that you have one, is focused on the wrong issues.
Many keep asking, “How can we effectively compete with (that particular firm) at what they are doing in (some particular area)?” Firms are so intent on watching each other and imitating what each other do, that they fall victim to competitor inertia. The more your firm looks like everyone else and as any distinguishable differences between firms blur, competition leads to commoditization.
Many firms attempt to be different but are not truly differentiated because they pursue forms of uniqueness that clients simply do not value. Some of the most prominent examples of this are firms that propagandize their: number of lawyers; reputation and years in business; growth in revenues; promise to assign the best people; commitment to superior client service; various (pay-to-play) “Best Lawyers” awards; devotion to producing results; etc. Sorry: these are ALL table stakes, not points of meaningful, to clients, differentiation.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
The Most Lucrative Growth is Industry Focused But Only If You Get Granular
Legal Business World
July 02, 2021
I was reading an interesting interview with Sandy Thomas who was just reelected for his third term as Global Managing Partner at Reed Smith. What struck me was when he was asked about the direction of his firm and his growth priorities, he responded that Reed Smith will concentrate what he calls its “talent, time and treasure” as the firm embarks on a new four-year plan. The focus will be on developing capabilities in five core industries: financial services; life sciences and health; energy and natural resources; transportation; and entertainment and media. The interviewer observed, “That’s a wide net -- but compared to some Big Law leaders who seem loathe to imply any scrap of business is less important, it’s practically a laser-like focus.”
We all know intuitively that we need to have our firm grow but the subject of growth can be a tricky topic such that it becomes important to have an informed perspective on how to think about it. Growth creates healthy practices, strong firms, opens up opportunities, excites and attracts good lateral talent, and rewards partners. But do we really know how to achieve it? And I am not going to blow smoke at you here – law firms and lawyers do NOT understand the intricacies of Industries.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Learning Faster Than Your Competition Can Be Your Strategic Advantage
Legal Business World
March 23, 2021
Firm and group leaders need to pose a few very serious questions to their colleagues in one-on-one (virtual) coaching discussions:
1. “Do you believe you are adding real value or simply passing along legal information to our clients? In other words, my beloved partner, what is it that you can specifically do for clients today, that you could NOT do for them at this same time last year?”
2. “What do you need to do, in the time that you have available right now, to build your skills and reinforce your opportunities for when we come out of this pandemic so that you can have an even more successful practice?”
3. “As you see this pandemic continuing to unfold, are you plugged into what is happening around you and inside your client’s industry, such that you can interpret whatever is transpiring and be the source of proactive counsel – before the client has to ask?”
4. “Are you trying out any new ideas, new techniques, new technologies and I mean personally trying them, not just reading about them? Or, are you waiting for others to figure out how to innovate and re-engineer your practice – (and re-engineer you . . . right out of that practice)?”
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
Get Your Industry Focus In Sync.
Legal Business World
July 24, 2020
When exploring what factors clients use to select their preferred firms, three criteria were tops: Specialization (are you doing something that we cannot just get everywhere else?); Technology (are you using technology to improve your productivity and collaboration?); and Ability to Understand Client Needs (which sounds a lot like the commonly phrased – do you understand our business / industry?)
This article provides some prescriptive guidance on how what label you attach to your industry group actually matters; how you need to be very specific about the sub-industry you are targeting; how there are areas of lucrative opportunity that may defy simple industry categorization; and why industry sector expertise is THE differentiator.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Enough with The Visionary Leadership BS.
Legal Business World
June 17, 2020
Last week I came across another article by another supposed best practices researcher that claimed to have surveyed more than 1800 law firm partners on “what they really want from their leaders.” This author informs us that they “asked partners to describe, in their own words, what they saw as the key strengths of their leaders.”
Survey Says . . . “being a Visionary” is at the top of their list. Can you just imagine?
While many books on leadership suggests that a leader needs to have a vision (with some 627 books currently listed under Visionary Leadership on Amazon) I think it is all very nice in theory, sounds profoundly intelligent as a concept, but is absolute BS in its application for you leading a team of highly talented professionals.
Let me tell you about some of the garbage that gets spouted about what leadership is all about and what does work.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
Big Industry Groups Suck!
Legal Business World
June 10, 2020
In a recent webinar on industry group best practices, the panelists were asked whether there was an ideal size for their groups. “How big do you allow an industry sector group to become?” asked the moderator. According to the first panelist: “I would say, our membership is unlimited . . . the more the merrier.”
Unfortunately, bigger does not always mean better, and nowhere is that more evident than when it comes to measuring practice or industry group effectiveness. In the process of David Maister and my writing First Among Equals, we devoted an entire chapter to our observations from working with and interviewing the leaders of high performing practice and industry groups – across professions. In it we reported emphatically that one of the clearest ways to ensure failure is to allow membership to grow beyond a small, solid working group.
Here’s a half-dozen important reasons why big groups suck, why we need to strive for smaller teams, and some prescriptive options for you to consider in making a course correction.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
Seeing the Future First – Analyzing Strategic Trends
Ark Publishers
May 12, 2020
This is a forward looking article intended to help readers look around the corners to see and analyze new developments.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Horizon Scanning: Modernizing Legal Service Delivery
Global Law and Business
May 01, 2020
This book is about leading your firm into the future with respect to positioning it to take advantage f changes already on the horizon.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
The Lawyer’s Guide to the Future of Practice Management
Ark Publishing
October 14, 2019
am pleased to have contributed a chapter to this new book intended to provide guidance, and market knowledge on what today’s legal marketplace might look like tomorrow.
The Lawyer’s Guide to the Future of Practice Management provides law firm leaders with expert opinion on the very latest guidance and market knowledge on what today’s legal marketplace might look like tomorrow, organized into four crucial areas of practice management – technology, people and culture, finance and strategy – before taking a horizon-scan of the future, and what law firms need to be aware of in the coming months and years. For my part, this represents the 37th book that I have contributed to over the course of my career. For a complete list of all of the various books that I have authored chapters for, you need only look here:
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
Dispute Resolution and Lawyers, A Contemporary Approach, Sixth Edition
West Academic Publishing; 6th edition
September 08, 2019
CasebookPlus Hardbound - New, hardbound print book includes lifetime digital access to an eBook, with the ability to highlight and take notes, and 12-month access to a digital Learning Library that includes self-assessment quizzes tied to this book, leading study aids, an outline starter, and Gilbert Law Dictionary.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
The Lawyer's Guide to the Future of Practice Management
Global Law and Business
September 01, 2019
The Lawyer's Guide to the Future of Practice Management provides law firm leaders with expert opinion on the very latest guidance and market knowledge on what today's legal marketplace might look like tomorrow, organized into four crucial areas of practice management - technology, people and culture, finance and strategy - before taking a horizon-scan of the future, and what law firms need to be aware of in the coming months and years.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Legal Leadership: A Handbook for Future Success
Global Law and Business
November 01, 2018
To position oneself as a contender in a fast-moving and competitive market, the legal leader of the future must push back against these trends by acting strategically, engaging in people management, investing in their employees, and creating a working environment that places emphasis on communication, teamwork, and growth and development.
Legal leadership: a handbook for future success combines the latest and most relevant intelligence from those on the frontline of law firm leadership and management, to serve as the catalyst for change and the foundation on which a strong leadership practice can be built. Drawing on their expertise and experience, our authors - ranging from behavioral psychologists to senior management figures and pofessional coaches -present a wide range of competencies and strategies to cultivate as part of a leader's personal and professional development. Whether you are already a member of your firm's senior management, or in a junior position with big aspirations, Legal leadership: a handbook for future success provides the essential tools to equip you to become a leader of the future.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Developing Your Growth Strategy: Seeking Clear Blue Waters
Legal Business World
June 09, 2018
One of the little ironies I’ve observed over the years is firm-wide strategic plans that get drafted and finalized without any allowance for input from the various business units that comprise your firm. In other words, what I’m proposing here is that what you, as firm leader, are managing is NOT one homogeneous firm but rather a portfolio of very different business units – such that what may be required to develop, market and grow a very successful and profitable Health Care Group will be very different from that required for a highly successful Labor and Employment practice. Like many clichés, this one turns out to be true – a successful firm strategy is largely built around having strong practice groups, positioned in growing market (micro) niches, developing a distinctive presence, doing higher value work.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership
Tackling Partner Underperformance, Second Edition
Global Law and Business
March 01, 2018
Drawing on original and academic research from the past 8 years, and featuring contributions from law firm performance experts including Edwin Reeser, Angus Lyon, and Patrick McKenna, author Nick Jarrett-Kerr's highly anticipated Tackling Partner Underperformance 2nd Edition covers topics including:Trends in partner performanceUnderstanding why partners underperform or are underproductiveJudging, rating and evaluating partnersAligning performance with partner compensation and rewardsSupporting and rehabilitating underperforming partnersStress and mental illness impact on performanceSystems for partner performance managementUnderperformance cultureGovernance, communication and conflict management and more.
Tackling Partner Underperformance 2nd Edition is arguably the most comprehensive study ever undertaken into partner underperformance in law firms, and those firms (regardless of size and location) who utilize and implement the information, advice and practical strategies for addressing this issue, will see significant differences in their productivity and ultimately profitability.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Managing Legal Change Initiatives
Global Law and Business
September 01, 2017
In these turbulent times for firms, change initiatives must be properly managed to ensure the whole firm can successfully shift to the new norm and stick to it. Without the proper support and management, a firm runs the risks of alienating their workforce - who will not take well to sudden and imposed change.
Managing Legal Change Initiatives looks to illustrate the best methods of introducing and managing change in a sector that is known for being adverse to it. The book highlights the critical obstacles and pitfalls that law firms will face during transitional periods, and outlines some of the best methods of approaching organizational change; from building a change framework to follow, to encouraging a shift in partner behavior through the compensation strategy. This new book also explores why change is so difficult for individuals - with discussion of the neuroscience behind change, and the role of emotional intelligence in leaders to help garner a transformation. With the disruptions to legal services predicted to continue for some time, it will be those firms who adapt, put into place, and act upon a change management strategy that will be the ones capitalize on changes to come.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Effective Practice Group Leadership
Global Law and Business
September 01, 2017
Law firm practice group leadership is not for the faint hearted.As firms compete increasingly at practice group level, leaders are being asked to run their groups like business units; to develop and implement a strategic plan that supports the goals and competitiveness of the firm; and to coordinate and lead their partners to enhance the efficiency, performance, and profitability of their groups. Many firm leaders complain that some of their group heads are not producing the results they want to see. But how many practice group leaders receive the tools and support they need to succeed in this critical role? How many are selected for demonstrable leadership skills? And how often are they held accountable for how well - or otherwise - they perform in the role?With contributions from a wide range of experts, Effective Practice Group Leadership explores these key questions and more. The book examines the demanding role of the practice group leader (PGL) in law firms today, the challenges of the role - from gaining buy-in for group initiatives to approaches to measuring and managing performance of the leader and the group - and demonstrates the enormous contribution PGLs can make to the profitability and performance of their law firms, when armed with the tools and the authority.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Proactive Leadership: Conducting a Strategic Plan “Premortem”
Legal Executive Institute
August 14, 2017
Having worked with members of your law firm’s Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) for a number of months, you’ve finally come to the point where you have a draft of a strategic plan that has been approved by the partners and now just needs some attention directed toward how certain components will actually be implemented.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Innovation, Leadership
Becoming A Visionary Law Firm: Developing Board Foresight
Ark Publications
July 21, 2017
Nearly every law firm of any significant size will have a Board of Directors or Executive Committee comprised of partners elected by their peers, for some predefined term. Some Boards are primarily concerned with providing oversight on the activities and actions of their management team (managing partner, management committee and administrative professionals) and some are actually charged with developing the firm’s formal strategic plan or direction such that the management team can then focus primarily on implementation. In either scenario, your elected Board is a valuable resource . . . if used properly.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Measuring and Managing Performance for Law Firms
Global Law and Business
April 01, 2017
Measuring and Managing Performance for Law Firms offers an overview of the measurement and metrics that firms can employ to effectively manage their work force and firm-wide performance. Discussing a range of topics from metrics that stimulate innovative thinking, effectively managing high-performance teams and dealing with stress in the work place, and implementing "balanced scorecards" and "opportunity scoring assessments" to track firm performance and effectively utilize internal information resources.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
The Challenges Inherent in Assessing Law Firm Leader Performance
Legal Executive Institute
March 20, 2017
The first challenge that needs to be addressed is the fact that most leaders of large law firms don’t have a formal written job description, so how can you evaluate someone unless they are clear on what the job is?
See publication
Tags: HR, Leadership, Legal and IP
Unlocking The Mystique of Understanding Industry Clients
Legal Business World
March 15, 2017
Today many firms would assert they have embraced having a smattering of industry groups in their firms. Nevertheless, it is interesting and informative to look at what some of these groups may actually signal to clients about the firm’s industry knowledge and competence.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Innovative Strategies to Attract, Develop and Retain Legal Talent
Global Law & Business
March 15, 2017
The competition for talent that leading experts started to describe in the 1990s has now become a reality in the legal profession. Like most industries across the globe, the legal industry is facing a shortage of exceptional people. Although in some jurisdictions there are more lawyers than the market can absorb, the reality is that the number of lawyers with the right skills is limited and that organizations are fighting to attract and retain the best professionals in a legal market that has become globalized and where mobility is now the norm. The ability of law firms to adopt innovative and tailored recruitment and retention strategies for their size, culture and market has become a strategic priority and one of the biggest determinants for a firm’s competitive success. This practical handbook, coordinated on behalf of the International Bar Association, explores the opportunities and challenges for adopting effective recruitment, development and retention strategies.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Managing Your Legal Organisation | Global Insights
Magic Lawyers
January 01, 2017
A compendium of thought pieces by global management experts and conversations with leading Indian Senior Law Firm Partners.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Rise of The Legal COO
Global Law and Business
January 01, 2017
Rise of the Legal COO examines the scope and variety of the legal COO role and how the challenges and demands of the position have altered as law firms have evolved over the last two decades.Heavily backed up by the first-hand experience of the contributors, the book also covers key topics such as how the COO fits into and supports the firm's leadership and what happens when leaders transition, factors that influence success (or not) as a legal COO, and key considerations for law firms thinking about introducing or developing the role. This book features:A number of current COOs at large and midsize law firms share first-hand experience of the role at one or more firms.In exclusive interviews, current COOs talk about how they relate to and support other leadership positions, get buy-in for change, and how they add value in the role.Insight is provided from sought-after consultants who regularly advise the leaders of big name law firms.Key topics covered include the most popular COO models used in the legal sector and reasons for the adoption of each model, what makes a COO-MP relationship successful, and how to deal with leadership transitions.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Inovativni Pravnici 2016
Economia
August 08, 2016
Dear Mr. McKenna, I'm a journalist from Czech republic.
In our media house (Economia), we organize our first big CEE Conference about innovations in law. We are also preparing special issue of our Economist Magazine Called "Czech Innovative Lawyers".
I am really interested in your work. Would you be interested in writing a short article on - the topic of "How to become an innovative Law Firm"?
See publication
Tags: Innovation
Bringing Your Strategy Process Back To Life
International Review
July 15, 2016
In today’s environment of declining demand for legal services, you must be able to challenge conventional thinking in order to grow. Conventional thinking only leads to mediocrity, being stuck in the middle of the pack. To grow you have to be willing to break the rules
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
2020 Vision: The Future of Legal Services
Ark Publishing
August 15, 2015
A collection of Chapters written by experts in the profession outlining where and how the practice of law was transforming.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Foundational Success: Building Blocks for Personal and Professional Success
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 2nd edition
October 31, 2014
Creative lead and co-author, Bob 'Idea Man' Hooey, CKD-Emeritus, Accredited Speaker, Spirit of CAPS recipient is an inspirational leader, motivational speaker, and a best-selling, prolific author whose works include "Legacy of Leadership" and "Speaking for Success". His articles have been featured in a multitude of North American trade and consumer publications. He is a respected leader who has been honored by CAPS, NSA, Toastmasters, and the United Nations for his leadership contributions. His Ideas At Work! have been successfully applied by leaders across North America, and around the globe, as well as Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies. His innovative programs have taken him around the world to 39 countries on 5 continents
See publication
Tags: Leadership
In the Company of Leaders: Leadership success can be yours!
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 2nd edition
March 26, 2014
Creative lead, Bob 'Idea Man' Hooey, CKD-Emeritus, Accredited Speaker, 2011 Spirit of CAPS recipient is an inspirational leader, speaker, and a prolific author whose works include Amazon best-sellers 'Legacy of Leadership, Strive for significance - lead on purpose!', and 'Speaking for Success'. He is also the creative lead for Amazon best-seller, Foundational Success. His thought provoking articles have been featured in a multitude of North American trade, association, and consumer publications. He is a respected leader who has been honored by CAPS, NSA, Toastmasters, and the United Nations for his leadership contributions. His innovative Ideas At Work! have been successfully applied by leaders across North America as well as Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies. Visit him at www.ideaman.net Special thanks to these leadership experts for contributing: Dillip Abayasekara, Michael A. Aun, Anne Barab, John Blumberg, Paul Bridle, Marjorie Brody, Jim Cathcart, Steve Chandler, Paul Cherry, Jim Clemmer, Pastor Wayne Cordeiro, Chris Ford, Joyce L. Gioia, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, Stacey Hanke, Tom Hollinger, Bob 'Idea Man' Hooey, Patricia Katz, Janet Lapp, David A Larson, Sr, Mark LeBlanc, Jim Manton, Linda Maul, Eileen McDargh, Stephen McGhee, Patrick J. McKenna, Nancy Michaels, Michel Neray, Larry Ohlhauser, Vilis Ozols, Terry Paulson, Randy G. Pennington, John Reinhart, Sid Ridgley, Sheryl Roush, Mark Sanborn, Joe Sherren, Brian Tracy, Jack Trout, Phillip Van Hooser. Cy Wakeman
See publication
Tags: Leadership
The Future of Legal Services
Ark Publishing
December 17, 2013
As law firm leaders look to the future following the global recession, few will deny that the profession has entered a period of unprecedented change.
This is evident not only in the way that legal services are procured, but also in how firms manage the expectations of their clients. This includes pressure to adopt alternative fee arrangements and to provide a leaner, more efficient service. Gone are the days when lawyers could charge by the hour and clients would pay without question. The client is now very much in control.
Managing Partner's report, The Future of Legal Services features in-depth guidance, analysis of key trends to keep an eye out for, lessons learned, and practical advice provided by the professions most well respected and leading experts on law firm management.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Targeting Profitability: Strategies to Improve Law Firm Performance
Ark Publishing
March 15, 2013
One of the latest publications from Ark publishing, and produced in management report format, this book will be of interest to those who run law firms with the aim of creating enhanced client service aimed at increasing productivity and profit. If you fall into this category and/or tasked with decision-making regarding your firm's future, you'll do well to acquire this expert guide.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
The Extraordinary Managing Partner: Reaching the Pinnacle of Law Firm Management
Association of Legal Administrators
May 15, 2011
This book is about the ingredients of managing partner success; it is about the critical responsibilities of the position; and it is about not just adequately filling the role but scaling the heights and reaching the pinnacle of law firm management.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Law Firm Strategies for the 21st Century (First Edition)
Global Law and Business
September 10, 2010
Published in association with the Law Firm Management Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA), this practical title is the first in a Globe Law and Business series on the business of law dedicated to exploring strategic development in law firms. This book is organized around the market and the resource side of law firm management, and offers new ways to think about strategy and how to discuss it in the context of a partnership. Whether you are a managing partner of a small, large or international law firm, this book offers points of views on those questions that are of relevance to today’s law firm management.
The First Edition is now out of print.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing What's Obvious But Not Easy
The Spangle Press
May 15, 2008
In 18 chapters, David Maister explores the fat smoker syndrome and how individuals, managers and organizations can overcome the temptations of the short-term and actually do what they already know is good for them. I contributed the Chapter: Managing The Multidimensional Organization
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy
Management Skills: A Jossey-Bass Reader
Jossey-Barr Publishers
November 11, 2004
Management Skills contains the best thinking from the biggest names in business management on a wide range of subjects including leadership, shaping the work environment, change, communicating, hiring and motivating employees, leading teams, and much more. The author list of this invaluable resource reads like a who's who of business management. This extraordinary collection features chapters from Robert R. Albright, David Batstone, Warren Bennis, Lee G. Bolman, Richaurd Camp, David R. Caruso, Terrene E. Deal, Christina A. Douglas, Peter Drucker, Deborah L. Duarte, Michael Finley, J. Davidson Frame, Bill George, T. George Harris, Todd D. Jick, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, James M. Kouzes, Edward E. Lawler III, Patrick Lencioni, Clinton O. Longenecker, David H. Maister, Marick F. Masters, Cynthia D. McCauley, Patrick J. McKenna, Henry Mintzberg, Dana M. Muir, David A. Nadler, Mark B. Nadler, Burt Nanus, Parker J. Palmer, Terry Pearce, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Barry Z. Posner, Robert E. Quinn, Kathleen Kelley Reardon, Harvey Robbins, Peter Salovey, Steven B. Sample, Jack L. Simonetti, Douglas K. Smith, Nancy Tennant Snyder, Barry A. Stein, Robert I. Sutton, and Mary E. Vielhaber.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Advisory Board Member
Advisory Board Member
Law Firm Management Mentor
Industry Specialization: Making Competitors Irrelevant
Strategy Innovation: Getting To The Future FIRST
The Art Of Leadership Succession: How To Select Your Next Firm Leader
When It Comes Time To Instigate Change
The State of Law Firm Leadership
Leadership Lessons From The Trenches
Serving at the Pleasure of My Partners: Advice to the New Firm Leader
Passing The Baton: The Last 100 Days
The First 100 Days: Transitioning A New Managing Partner
First Among Equals: How to Manage a Group of Professionals
beyondKNOWING: 16 Cage-Rattling Questions To Jump-Start Your Practice Team
Herding Cats: Handbook for Managing Partners and Practice Group Leaders
Practice Development: Creating The Marketing Mindset
Clients At The Core Marketing and Managing Today's Professional Services Firm
Strategy Innovation: Getting To The Future First
Faculty Member - MBA Workshop Series
LawDragon's Legal Consultants You Need To Know
Contributing Editor
Going Beyond Technology: Innovating in Law Firms Through People and Process
New Insights from Managing Partners On a New Kind of Crisis
CEO Trusted Advisor
Four Critical Coaching Questions
Advisory Board Announcement
Identifying Potentially Lucrative Legal Micro-Niches.
What Is A Leader?
Barriers To Collaboration
Third Annual Law Firm Innovation Summit
Join me at a Virtual Masterclass for NEW Practice Leaders
Would You Rather Lead Strategically?
Aftershocks and Opportunities
Horizon Scanning: Modernizing Legal Service Delivery
Succession Planning Is Inevitable
What High Performing Group Leaders Do: Coach Partners One-On-One
What High Performing Groups Do / Hint: They Take Action! (Part 2)
What High Performing Groups Do / Hint: They Meet Weekly! (Part 1)
Where (Practice/Industry Group) Leadership Training Fails
Suffering Obsolescence (Part 2): Are You Fostering a Skill Building Culture?
Suffering Human Capital Obsolescence: Partners Doing the Same Old Schtick!
Sound Advice for New Law Firm Leaders (Part 2)
The Fearless Leader’s Advisory Board
Are You Interested In Getting To The Future . . . FIRST?
Imagine Having Your Own CEO Advisory Board
