Note to Managing Partner: Step Up!

I had coffee this morning with a very creative and effective friend and colleague who is working with a 200+ multi-office law firm. Charged by firm leadership with creating a more effective process for evaluating associate performance and guiding them through standard steps of professional competency, he had put together a strong program . . . anticipating all aspects, resolving all conflicts, clearing all the hurdles of resistance. Not only was everyone on board, including the committee with which he worked, but there was strong insistence from the Managing Partner that his clear vision for this be realized quickly and completely.

Virtually 10 minutes into rolling out the new system, firm wide — partners, associates, recruiting, staffing, evaluation, library, etc. – my friend started to receive critical e-mail messages. By the next day the Managing Partner was struggling with rumors that “the associates are unhappy!” with the new system. By the following week, Mr. Visionary-Managing-Partner had cratered to the criticism of a couple of his senior partners and e-mailed a simple survey question to all: “Do you like this new program? Yes or no.”

Oh, did I mention that the Managing Partner as well as the committee members were all otherwise occupied and unable to participate in the launch of the program?

Hmmm. Let’s see. . . . who was hung out to dry, here? That’s right. My friend. He was ensnared by the typical romance of law firm leaders who talk big change and innovation without understanding and accepting their role in making it happen: Taking the risks to make it so.

Any leader of any organization who determines to make radical changes must assume that he or she will take (and absorb) some pretty big hits as part of the process. It is naive to assume otherwise. And by that I don’t mean a leader must throw themselves under the train, but a do believe that a thoughtful and firm investment of personal and organization power must be applied.

What would that have looked like in this situation?

1. What if Mr. Managing Partner had “owned” the new program and announced it in person at a partner meeting and then an associate meeting. What if he explained not only the details of the system but, more importantly, the concepts and how they relate to the firm’s strategic goals.

2. What if a group of senior partners were enlisted to “sell” the program to their peers and direct reports through a process of training them to participate in it: how to conduct a performance review, how to evaluate using the new standards, how to access your own performance. . . .

3. What if, once critical remarks began to arrive, Mr. Managing Partner responded uniformly with something like “I know it seems uncomfortable right now. But I believe in the goals of this new program and I think that, if you give it a chance, you will as well. What we are doing is committing to change our behaviors in order to invest in both the future of the firm as well as the individual futures of our associates. We owe them rigorous training and development as lawyers. In return, they owe us their best and most earnest work to become the kind of lawyers our clients demand.”

Like I’ve said before, getting the great ideas isn’t even half the process of innovation in a law firm. Selling the ideas and turning them into reality? Now THAT is where the magic lies!