Getting the structure right is only half the battle
Recently I was working with a group of leaders in a mid-size law firm who were wrestling with the issue of how to make the “income partner” role more attractive so as to stem departures. Much of the...
View ArticleWhy Leaders Need Empathy and Flexibility
When I design a leadership course for a law firm, I usually include an assessment component. Effective leaders need to be self-aware–they need to understand their strengths and weaknesses, their...
View ArticleWhy Skeptics Make Good Lawyers and Lousy Leaders
I recently finished conducting a 6-month-long “Action Learning” leadership program with a mid-size law firm. The idea is to train lawyers to be leaders by actually placing them into real live...
View ArticleSupercharging Multi-Rater Feedback
This is the time of year when a lot of law firms administer multi-rater feedback surveys—these can include “360-degree feedback” or simply “360’s”, as well as peer reviews and upward evaluation...
View ArticleSuccession Planning for Baby Boomer Leaders
Baby Boomers are beginning to retire. In the legal profession, one microcosm of that trend is that managing partners are beginning to retire. In the old days, managing partners were mainly full-time...
View ArticleWe need a Chief Resilience Officer
As I’ve talked with law firm leaders over the past six months, increasingly I’ve heard them describe a troubling list of symptoms that they’re seeing in their lawyers. In their own words, here’s what...
View ArticleThe Psychologically Savvy Leader
In talking to law firm leaders these days, what I am hearing most frequently are their concerns about disruptive change and its impact on their ability to maintain a profitable and competitive firm....
View ArticleLawyers Are Skeptical — Can You Believe It???
This post is a reprint of an article that I wrote for the ABA’s “Legal Career Central” website. It was originally published on November 15, 2015: The Lawyer Personality: Why Lawyers Are Skeptical I’ve...
View ArticleLeading Lawyers: Your Most Potent Tool is Your Mindset
This post was originally published at the Legal Executive Institute website, a ThomsonReuters site, on April 15, 2015: Are you a practicing lawyer who is transitioning into a leadership role? Whether...
View ArticleMaking Your Law Firm a Great Place to Work
This post was originally published at the Legal Executive Institute website, a ThomsonReuters site, on May 13, 2015: The Great Place to Work Institute publishes an annual list of the “100 Best Places...
View ArticleTea Reading or Testing—What’s the Best Way to Hire?
This post was originally published at the Legal Executive Institute website, a ThomsonReuters site, on July 29, 2015: Amidst the head-spinning change and the increased competition that all law firms...
View ArticleLeading Like a Psychologist
This post was originally published at the Legal Executive Institute website, a ThomsonReuters site, on September 16, 2015: In my conversations with law firm leaders, I am hearing more and more...
View ArticleWhat Can Social Science Tell Us About Ethics?
This article originally appeared in the March 2016 Ethics Corner column of the ABA online publication Business Law Today: Can ethical behavior be taught? Most definitely. The social sciences have...
View ArticleToward Better Leadership: Self-Development, Focusing on Strengths & Accepting...
This article first appeared on Tuesday May 17, 2016, on the Legal Executive Institute blog site, which is curated by Thomson Reuters. One of my favorite leadership books is The Extraordinary Leader by...
View ArticlePodcasts: The Stress of Change . . . and What To Do About It
These two podcasts were originally published at the Legal Executive Institute website, a ThomsonReuters site. Podcast #1 discusses why change is hard for lawyers, and Podcast #2 discusses what you can...
View ArticleThe Essence of Leadership for Lawyers
More advice has been written about leadership than just about any other topic in the social sciences. My clients often ask me if I can distill this leadership wisdom into a very short synopsis that’s...
View ArticleTea Reading or Testing—What’s the Best Way to Hire?
This post was originally published at the Legal Executive Institute website, a ThomsonReuters site, on July 29, 2015: Amidst the head-spinning change and the increased competition that all law firms...
View ArticleLeading Like a Psychologist
This post was originally published at the Legal Executive Institute website, a ThomsonReuters site, on September 16, 2015: In my conversations with law firm leaders, I am hearing more and more concern...
View ArticleWhat Can Social Science Tell Us About Ethics?
This article originally appeared in the March 2016 Ethics Corner column of the ABA online publication Business Law Today: Can ethical behavior be taught? Most definitely. The social sciences have...
View ArticleToward Better Leadership: Self-Development, Focusing on Strengths & Accepting...
This article first appeared on Tuesday May 17, 2016, on the Legal Executive Institute blog site, which is curated by Thomson Reuters. One of my favorite leadership books is The Extraordinary Leader by...
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