Law Firm Marketing - A Search for Leadership

The Partner Pole Early Expressions of Law Firm Marketing

In ancient times the totem pole was a symbolic expression of past generations. It offered information about a tribes identitya type of linear -understanding of generations that came before them and the leaders who showed them the way. It enforced group solidarity and provided a necessary relational context to their lives. The totem pole was worshiped and ritualized. The history of a whole tribe could be understood by this one linear expression. Symbolic communication, as a group organizing method, is also found in law firms. Law firms proudly list their partners names on letterhead and post them on doorways. Often some of the names are symbols of the pasta lasting recognition of those who came before as well as those who are currently carrying the torch of the firms traditions into the future. This symbolic communication portrays the history of a firms leader-ship and is an indicator of predicted performance. But what happens when the firms past is forced to yield to the firms future? When it becomes necessary for the firm to reinvent itself and set out new organizing principles that match its visionwhen the old belief system is no longer in sync with the needs and demands of changing markets and clients? Most firms are facing this challenge right now, and some are not even aware of it. The partners I spoke with clearly recognized the need to re-invent themselves or risk sacrificing growth and prosperity.

Are You the Leader?

Who among you will lead the charge? This is a very personal decision that should not be taken lightly. It will depend not only on your own willingness to take on the challenge, but also on the willingness of the key partners who make up most of the power base at your firm.

If you are up for the challenge, accept this knowledge and get on with leading. If not, find the person in your firm who is ready and able to lead and offer that person all the support you can. Youll soon realize that the quality and commitment of your support for this person will be recognized as an important form of leader-ship in its own right.

The Genetics of Leadership

Its been said that some people are born leaders. That may be true, but for most of us, leadership is an acquired skill that comes from our mind-set and our desire to effect positive change. Similarly, people are not born extraordinary. Instead, they choose to accomplish extraordinary things. As recently as 2003, scientists discovered that our natural traits are not set in stone. (See Matt Ridleys Genome and Nature via Nurture.) Rather, our genetic codeespecially the code responsible for our brain functionis neither unchanging nor unchangeable. As we respond to the challenges and stimuli in the world, so do our genes. Depending upon our needs and the degree of our determination, different formulations of our genetic code are activated. This results in the emergence of a new pattern of genetic instructions. Contrary to what scientists formerly believed, our genes remain active, malleable and fluid throughout our lives.

Until these discoveries were made, the received wisdom was that the traits that enable us to think like lawyers or strive for excellence or find the courage and charisma to lead were handed out to usor notat birth. It was taken as fact that our neural makeup was primarily dictated by the genetic code we inherited from our parents. If we were fortunate enough to have inherited smart genes, it was anticipated that we were destined for greatness; if the opposite happened, we were destined to be the village idiot.

In reality, the reason so few of us break out of the mold is not due to genetics at all. Its because of the fact that, strange as it may sound, most of us surrender to our strengths rather than engage our weaknesses. If we tend to be naturally gifted in mathematics, we gravitate toward mathematics. If we show an early talent in the arts, we gravitate in that direction. Its simply easier to rely on our existing strengths than it is to develop new strengths from scratch.

Psychologist and theorist Carl Jung described this irony in his book Psychological Types:

"Experience shows that it is hardly possible for any-one to bring all his psychological functions to simultaneous development. The very conditions of society enforce a man to apply himself first and foremost to the differentiation of that function with which he is either most gifted by nature, or which provides his most effective means for social success. Very frequently, indeed as a general rule, a man identifies himself more or less completely with the most favored, hence the most developed function."

Since Jungs time, however, neuroscientists have discovered that the human tendency to follow the path of least resistance is not merely ironic but counter-productive. We now know that the brain grows stronger, developing at a much higher level, when we force ourselves to think in new and different ways.

Until now, you may not have thought of yourself as a leader. But that is no reason to believe you cant become one if your motivation is strong enough. The first question to ask yourself is this: What does it mean to be a leader?

What Is a Leader?

The stereotypical image of a leader is that of a commanding figure, able to speak to large groups of people. We think of leaders as people who speak their minds and are charismatic performers, able to manipulate peoples emotions in order to get things done the right wayusually their way.

This popular stereotype is not only unrealistic, it describes characteristics that are undesirable in a leader and, if we dare to admit it, characteristics that make a leader quite dysfunctional. Real leaders are listeners; they dont bark out orders from behind their desks. Such leaders find ways to develop strengths in the people they work with. They work through people, by understanding and evoking their intelligence, creativity and participation.

The ideal leader works for the firm, not the other way around. In fact, leadership is more a property of the firm than of the leader. In mid- to large-size firms, it is unrealistic to rely on one person to provide all of the leadership.

The most successful managing partners I have seen rarely dominate the group; rather they support the group by keeping it focused and on task.

Exceptional leaders work hard to remove barriers in communication among their key people. They see their role as smoothing out processes. They are facilitators, not dominators. They think about ways of making others more effective and productive, making it easier for them to do their jobs. And when their effort results in success, these leaders rarely take the credit, instead giving it to the group, where it belongs.

The single most important quality people look for in a leader is honesty. For most people, this is what determines whether a leader is worthy of their confidence and loyalty. With honesty often comes wisdom. For firms in the midst of great change, leadership requires a unique set of skills. Leaders must be able to work through teams of people, delegating work and rewarding performance while encouraging persistence. Such leaders encourage excellent performance at every level. Effective leaders are relentless in their determination to keep reaching for higher levels of performance. Interestingly, leaders like these seem to work best when the chips are down and change is upon them.

The Best Leaders Are Perspective-Driven

The most dynamic types of leader are perspective-driven. These in-tensely inquisitive people need to know what actually causes firms to grow and prosper and, just as importantly, what causes them to falter. They want to know what clients think about the firmwhat clients actually experience when they visit and do business with the firm. Perspective-driven leaders seek to discover new ways of serving, new ways of making clients feel valued, and new ways of earning trust. They seek what many managing partners would rather sweep under the rug. Thats because perspective-driven leaders know that the creative process depends more on differing views than conforming ones. A common trait of perspective-driven leaders is that they are pain-fully honest and realistic when it comes to evaluating performanceincluding their own. These leaders do not claim to have a monopoly on knowledge. They understand that their point of view is simply thattheir point of view.

They know that to completely understand a major challenge, they must turn to people who think in a variety of ways; thinking in teams is usually more productive than thinking individually. Perspective-driven leaders do not let dissent or disagreement distract them from their goal of problem solving. In fact, such leaders are attracted to disagreement, especially from intelligent and competent people.

Listen to how one managing partner dealt with disagreement:

"Most of our partners were having a major problem with our top administrator, who was insisting that we convert to an entirely new computer system. The partners couldnt see how the cost and expense of putting in a new system could possibly be worth the projected productivity gains. We just werent seeing what he was seeingand none of us were willing to make the effort to see the problem through his eyes. No one doubted he was a talented and intelligent administrator. But no one here could possibly imagine that an administrator might be seeing something that we couldnt. I later realized that it was our arrogance that was get-ting in the way. When we finally put the system in, a year later, we were kicking ourselves for not having done it earlier. . . . "

True leaders value the differences among peopleand more importantly, they respect those differences. The more a leader discovers what was previously unknown, the more opportunities can be identified. Leaders must be committed more to understanding the problem from an-others perspective than worrying about protecting their own understandng.

Playing at Top Performance Levels Leadership and Marketing

Great leaders, like great athletes, are relentless and uncompromising when it comes to reaching top performance levels. It is this tenacious desire to be the best at ones game that drives them. Perspective-driven leaders recognize the limits of ones own perceptions and appreciate the need to interact with different types of people. They realize that people do not always see the world as it is, but tend to see it from the perspective of who they are and how they view and inter-act with others. This is why such leaders encourage diversity. This is why you might hear an effective leader say, Jay, you seem to see this issue differently than I do. Tell me how youre seeing it. I want to see what you see.

Most people in management roles would rather learn from whats working at their firm than from whats not working. Typical managers seek out agreement among their coworkers rather than finding opposing views. Perspective-driven leaders seek just the oppositethey are more interested in whats missing from the firm that, if instituted, would make a qualitative difference and elevate performance.

A business litigation firm in rural New York was experiencing a serious decline in new business. When the partners got together to discuss the issue, they thought it would be useful to see what other firms were doing that they were not. Giving associates bonuses had always been discretionary, based on their overall performance. But the partners realized, when they compared their compensation packages with those of other firms, that theirs lacked a specific and immediate reward structure for associates.

One partner said, We found that associates were especially motivated when they knew exactly what they would earn from new income they brought in and when they could expect to receive their share. We were amazed at how quickly they responded.

This firm was acting proactively. They sought not only what was working, but also what was not working in their new business efforts. When they discovered that there was a decline in associate-generated revenue, they looked at what was absentfrom the associates perspectives. Discovering what was absent allowed them to take immediate action to remedy the situation to everyones satisfaction.

Knowing Your Game

Perspective-driven leaders consider the challenge of finding whats not working at their firms to be particularly interesting. Thats not to say they dont acknowledge their firms strengths, but they are much more intrigued by their weaknesses. Why? Because they understand that removing weakness builds strength and increases performance. It is like finding the beautiful elephant in the block of stone. When you eliminate whats not working (whats not the beautiful elephant), you often get closer to what is working.

For perspective-driven leaders, finding whats missing in their organization is like working a puzzle. The more pieces they find, the more complete the picture becomes and the easier it is to find the next missing piece.

Its no different from the mind-set of a great athleteand athletes dont get any greater than Michael Jordan. Even at the height of his career, Jordan was notorious for studying his game tapes the day after he played. To him, reaching higher levels of performance meant learning as much as possible about how he played. It wasnt vanity that drove him to study his game. It was his desire to see what he could not see from his perspective on the floor during a game. By changing his perspective, he could see things that he might have missed before. He might notice, for example, that in fast breaks in the last quarter of a game, he tended to pass the ball more to the left than to the right. Was this a mistake on his part? Thats not the point. What great athletes like Jordan look for is more knowledge about how they play their game. Its finding that next piece of the puzzle that lets them get closer to seeing the complete picture.

Powerful Leaders Are Great Listeners

Perspective-driven leaders have many traits in common. One is being masterful at communication. This does not mean just being an effective speakerit also means being an effective listener. The way one listens is said to be more important than what one says.

Providing consistently high levels of service requires constant listening to feedback from clients, and the people listening must be the most senior members of a firms leadership. Unfortunately, for the more senior partners, its too easy to avoid such listeningthey become insulated from the front lines. The inertia of this avoidance is enforced by those who wish to protect top leadership from unpleasant experiences such as speaking directly with dissatisfied clients. This happens in even the most well-intentioned firms. To counter it, firms must be proactive.

The best firms, for example, are obsessive about conducting in-depth debriefing sessions after a matter is concluded. These meetings are essential to ensure the firms ability to track its progress in serving clients, and clients also appreciate and admire the firms frank and honest willngness to improve its relationship with them. Most leaders pretend to listen. Perspective-driven leaders, on the other hand, are fully engaged in the listening process. They are tenaciously committed to understanding the perspectives of others. To them, listening is not just waiting for someone else to finish talking or a com-petition between views. Nor is the goal of listening necessarily to reach agreement.

Rather, astute listening is the process of working through issues and separating the emotional from the logical while discovering more about the assumptions used to draw conclusions. Good listeners care less about being right than they do about building strong coalitions among their people. Often people listen in order to validate their own replies. Few actually listen to understand another persons perspective, and even fewer try to understand the person behind the perspective. Listening has become a -unilateral waiting game. We nod our heads to look attentive and interested, but inside were working up a clever reply. (Finish up, so I can tell you what I think about it!)

Sadly, most of us dont bother to really understand the people we listen to. This is not just a trait of lawyers, but lawyers in particular should not settle for how most people communicate. Providing legal service demands that we strive to reach a much higher standard than most people in interpersonal communication. It is not by chance that we are called counselors-at-law.

People need to be understood. This need is second only to their need to survive. They need to participate in communication that affirms and validates them as people. Listening is perhaps the single most important aspect in client communication. No matter how much time it takes, it is worth every moment. Furthermore, it is said that it is only after we listen and listen well that we earn the right to be listened to.

It is through listening that you will begin to discover what your clients truly value. Only when you know what each clientindividuallyvalues can you hope to provide them with the type of excellent service that builds loyalty and praise.

Listen to the Clients You Already Have Basic Law Firm Marketing

It is not the hundreds of potential clients that might one day become revenue opportunities that count. Its your existing clients that are your greatest assets. Investing in them by listening to them will generate your greatest return. The traditional 80/20 rule applies to most large firms: That is, 80 per-cent of a firms revenue comes from just 20 percent of its clients. So marketing well must begin with your existing clients. Listening to these clients, reassuring them and making sure that they are well-served at every level must be your first priorities.

Henry Dahut is an attorney and marketing strategist who works with some of the largest law firms in the world. He is the author of the best selling practice development book, "Marketing The Legal Mind" and offers consulting services in the area of strategic branding and law firm marketing. Henry is also the founder of the legal online help-portal GotTrouble.com - the award winning site that helps people through serious legal and financial trouble.

Henry Dahut henry@henrydahut.com

Dahut Group Consulting offers services in law firm marketing and strategic brand consulting. Henry has been retained to perform strategic branding and marketing consulting for some of the largest law firms in the country.

Henry Dahut is the author of Marketing the Legal Mind (LMG Press) and is the founder of http://www.GotTrouble.com - a consumer law and financial help portal.

Copyright - 2007 All Rights Reserved http://www.HenryDahut.com

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