The Five Key Leadership Qualities of Successful Lawyers
Managing for lawyers is not just about practicing law and acquiring clients. It is about leadership. Even if you are in a solo practice, you have to think like a CEO. In a large law firm you might be able to hide and get by as a worker bee. But small law firms and solo practices have a way of highlighting an attorney’s best and worst traits.
Practicing law has always required leadership. However, many attorneys like to see themselves as public servants. This is fine, but to grow your law firm, you will have to become an effective leader.
Leadership starts with clearly defining what a leader is and is not. Attorneys have to realize that management and leadership are not the same things. Management is reactive, while leadership is proactive. Managers take what is handed to them and make sure that everything goes according to the plan that was laid out by the leader. Leaders reach out for what they want and they chart a course for success. Whether you realize it or not, the day that you decided to open a solo practice or to run a small law firm was the day that you agreed to be a CEO.
If you want to lead your firm into a bright future, then you will need to lead your law firm. Following are the five key traits of effective law firm leaders.
1). Leaders take responsibility. In law, just like in life, things will not always go as planned. Pointing the finger, however, is a waste of time and energy. Yes, you need to review what went wrong so that you make better choices next time. And yes, there may very well be someone on your team who is not doing their part. But the odds are that you hired that person. So, once again, the buck stops with you.
Part of taking responsibility is admitting when what went wrong was your fault. Don’t hide behind excuses of how busy you are or try to explain away your mistakes. Be honest with yourself and the people you work with. They will respect you more for taking responsibility than for trying to avoid it.
Accept that challenges are a part of operating any business, including a law firm. Don’t spend too much time navel gazing and pondering what went wrong. Get back on the horse and try again.
2). Set far reaching goals. Every now and then good fortune falls from the sky. But more often than not, the law firms that achieve real success are the ones that planned for it. Make sure that you don’t just plod along day after day, client after client. Have a vision for where you want to take your firm. Your goals should be financial and nonfinancial. If you are in a solo practice do you have a goal to hire other attorneys down the road? Decide now how many you want to hire and by what date.
Leaders inspire people. Hoping to make payroll is not going to inspire anyone. You have to look beyond what is plaguing your firm today. Have a vision for how the problems will get solved and for how the firm will move forward. Communicate this vision to your colleagues. Your vision for the firm is not a fairy tale. It is the first step in building a plan to grow your firm and to provide your absolute best to every client.
3). Be approachable. This is one of the most important characteristics of a leader. If people are afraid to give you feedback and constructive criticism, you aren’t going to be an effective leader. And guess what? If the people you work with are intimidated by you, how do you think your clients feel? If you have a history of losing your cool when people in your firm rub you the wrong way, you need to stop. Not only do you need to stop, but you may have to start seeking out feedback in ways that make the other people in your firm feel safe.
One idea is to have them all write down an area where they think you need to grow. This should be done anonymously. Then set up a meeting time for you to read their feedback and then discuss it with them. Some of what they share will be hard to hear, but leaders don’t bury their heads in the sand. Instead they face reality and find solutions.
4). Be decisive. Making decisions can be difficult, especially when there is a lot on the line. Someone once said that “not making a decision is making a decision”. Don’t let circumstances lead you and your firm. Take control of your firm and its future by making choices, even ones that are tough to make. You may need to lay someone off in order to weather a difficult financial time. Of course, this isn’t something to take lightly, but decide what needs to be done for the firm and do it.
5). Be honest. This is a critical characteristic for all leaders, but it is especially important for attorneys. Honesty is not just about being up front with clients about their case and what may be coming down the road. Honesty is about having integrity even in the little things. Don’t have your receptionist say that you’re out of the office when you’re not. If a client somehow figures out that you really were there when they called, then you have lost the most important quality in your relationship with them.
Leadership traits need to be nurtured and cultivated. As you become more and more comfortable with thinking of yourself as a leader, work on the traits mentioned above. Find ways to put them into practice. The bottom line is that you are in a leadership position and you will need to embody the critical characteristics of a leader in order to grow your firm.
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