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Post #480 – Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Are You Being Afflicted By Strategy Viruses?
I invite you to read my latest column for Slaw – Are You Being Afflicted By Strategy Viruses?
Slaw identifies itself as “a cooperative weblog on all things legal.” Slaw has been publishing for five years and gets 30,000 unique visitors and about 100,000 visits every month. For the past two consecutive years it has been the winner of three different awards as the best legal blog.
I’m honored to have been asked to become a regular columnist and invite you to comment on my latest meandering.
Post #479 – Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Words of Advice for The Words of a Leader
 Listen more than you talk. Use your words sparingly. Leading doesn’t mean that you are required to talk more than anyone else. In fact, it is quite the opposite.
Carefully relect upon what you want to convey before you talk. Choose your words deliberately.
A well-turned question is often more effective to get people thinking than a dozen statements. Manage your questions to comments ratio.
All of your words must include respect as a foundation. As soon as respect is omitted from your message, you’ve lost.
Make certain that your words and your body language match. Given a choice between the two, studies indicate that people will believe your body language over your words.
Tough conversations on performance are part of your job. Embrace this reality and don’t sugarcoat your message. Do keep them focused on behaviors, and keep the behaviors linked to performance.
Genuine words of encouragement and well-deserved words of praise are rocket fuel for individuals and practice groups.
“The do must match the tell.” The words of leaders not backed by actions and support are just so much hot air.
Be aware that your words as a leader will be amplified and distorted. Manage your words carefully.
Post #478 – Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Ever Had a Job?
Here's an interesting item that is going around the Internet: If July has ides, this is it. A chart that showed past presidents and the percentage of each president's cabinet appointees who had previously worked in the private sector - you know, a real life business, not a government job? Remember what that is? A private business that had to meet a payroll payment?
 • Roosevelt - 38%
• Taft - 40%
• Wilson - 52%
• Harding - 49%
• Coolidge - 48%
• Hoover - 42%
• FDR - 50%
• Truman - 50%
• Eisenhower - 57%
• Kennedy - 30%
• LBJ - 47%
• Nixon - 53%
• Ford - 42%
• Carter - 32%
• Reagan - 56%
• GHWBush - 51%
• Clinton - 39%
• GWBush - 55%
And the Chicken Dinner Winner is .........................
Obama - 8%
Only ONE IN TWELVE in the Obama Cabinet has ever had a real job.
Yep, EIGHT PERCENT!
And these are the guys holding a "job summit" . . . the guys who are going to tell you how to run your businesses.
Ouch!
Post #477 – Tuesday, July 20, 2010
When States Go Bankrupt
From my favorite economist buddy, I received an e-mail last week explaining that while the private economy has done a reasonable job attempting to pave the way for growth, the next big shoe to drop for the US may be the revealed insolvency of some of its big states . . .
 A San Diego County panel - faced with $2.2 billion in unfunded pension liabilities and $1.3 billion in unfunded health care liabilities - recommended, among a number of other possible actions, filing for bankruptcy. According to Grant's Interest Rate Observer, four major American cities (Miami, Detroit, Los Angeles and Harrisburg) have all hinted at the same this year.
The big states are even worse. The Economist reports on Illinois: "By 2018, Illinois will be paying $14 billion a year in benefits, equal to more than a third of the state's revenue, compared with $6.5 billion now."
Plugging those kinds of gaps means getting creative with new forms of skullduggery. For instance, the State of New York, with its $9 billion budget deficit, is looking at a proposal to borrow $6 billion from its state pension fund in order to make a $6 billion payment due to that same pension fund. (Yeah, you read that right!)
The trials of Illinois and New York are not isolated incidences. Apparently, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: At least 46 States face or have faced shortfalls for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2011, which will begin on July 1 in most States). These come on top of the large shortfalls that 48 States faced in their current budgets (FY 2010). Yet incredibly - or maybe not - Moody's maintains that "the credit profile of the US state and local government is very strong.
Huh? Do you wonder why anyone should take what these ratings agencies say seriously? In any event, what we may see happening is a great big bailout from Uncle Sam, which itself is broke - bleeding astronomical deficits and in hock for record amounts.
Post #476 – Monday, July 5, 2010
What Are You Paying Attention To Going Forward?
 As your firm’s leader, what you pay attention to determines what your colleagues perceive to be most important. It therefore follows that if you do not track what is going on outside of the walls of your firm, you may soon be caught dealing with a priority that seems urgent but is less important than the one you should be dealing with. Determining what you will pay attention to is your first priority in effectively leading your firm. Here are a few challenges that you should not loose sight of:
Don’t get caught with your attention firmly fixed in the rear-view mirror.
Many firm leaders get so caught up in the busyness of business, that they don’t take a good long look at the world outside their firms. Concurrently, the executive committee members also become consumed by these immediate issues, and firmly enmeshed in the fierce urgency of now. Yet, the uncertainty and potential impact of the future demands that we reallocate our attention - because disruptions in the client environment can disrupt our business models with lightning speed. Uncertain client demands, encroaching competitors, and new technologies can be anticipated and managed only by routinely tracking them, even if they don’t have any immediate impact on your firm’s performance. Executive committee members must now spend some portion of their time reading, listening, and thinking about the external environment. Even your senior administrative professionals should allocate some amount of their precious meeting time to looking out rather than in. Jim Collins described the highest performers, as those leaders who were always looking out the window to identify where success comes from and looking in the mirror to find the source of failure. This trait is especially valuable when dealing with an uncertain future.
Don’t fail to challenge assumptions until they bleed.
Many of us often don’t question our beliefs when it comes to dealing with uncertainty. We continue to assume that people will always read newspapers, buy music in stores and pay legal fees based on a billable hour model. We assume that our firms will work best with a practice group structure based on lawyer competencies. We assume that the United States will continue to be the global economic powerhouse and that the US dollar will continue to be the global currency. These could be right or wrong assumptions, but for every firm, whatever is assumed based on the past, is likely to be wrong for the future. As comfortable as it is to determine your priorities based on your past experience—and as much as it saves time and money—it is today, a deadly practice.
Don’t allow hubris to cloud your view of the future.
By definition, arrogance makes you vulnerable to surprises. When you convince yourself that you have the answer—that you have a winning formula that will triumph in all circumstances — then something in the future is bound to get you. As Murphy’s Law postulates, “If something can go wrong, it will.” Intel’s Andy Grove once insightfully suggested that “sooner or later, something fundamental in your business world will change.” The future humbles us all. The challenge for everyone is to look into an uncertain future with a learner’s mindset and maintain flexibility.
Post #475 – Monday, July 5, 2010
What Are Your Corporate Clients Worried About?
 The recent financial and economic crisis has meant testing times for the resilience and flexibility of many companies. The most crucial corporate attribute in such times is the ability to bounce back, while at the same time learning from experience so as to be better prepared the next time around. In April, 836 top managers from across the globe were surveyed and asked how they experienced the economic crisis. The findings paint a sober picture.
As a member of Egon Zehnder International’s Club of Leaders I’ve just received the findings of the firm’s eighth and latest survey on the topic of Resilience - a review of the current state of corporate leadership, flexibility and strategic foresight. Here are some brief highlights from that survey:
• Two out of three respondents identified the ongoing recession as their main external challenge;
• More than half of the executives who responded said their companies face the task of identifying a business model that matches the revised operating environment;
• High on the list of urgent challenges is an inadequate talent and leadership pool;
• Executives mentioned ‘high levels of national debt’ as a threat to their companies; and
• Adaptability, was identified as the most important factor in dealing successfully with future crises, according to the managers surveyed.
You are welcome to download and read a copy of the report – here.
Post #474 – Monday, June 28, 2010
Soundings
• It’s worth noting . . .
these wise words shared with me this past week from a friend on how to live life:
"Be true to yourself. Make each day a masterpiece. Help others. Drink deeply from good books. Make friendship a fine art. Build a shelter against a rainy day."
Message from John Wooden's father. The former UCLA basketball coach carried it everywhere with him (Wooden died on June 4, 2010 at the age of 99)
• I’m re ading about . . .
how firms looking to stand out need to learn to say “no” to work that is not in their wheelhouse. “After all”, says the author of this article in the June issue of Lexpert, “when you offer to be everything to everybody, nobody wins.” Her very convincing and well written article ends with a biographical paragraph stating that the author works with law firms, legal teams and lawyers in all (my emphasis) areas of practice and consults to national, mid-sized and boutique firms.
Oopppps. Let me be the first to confess that it can be really tough sometimes to practice what you preach!
• I love . . .
a new guidebook that appears on the web site of McDermott Will & Emery documenting how they use a Deal Dashboard to project manage transactions. You can download a copy of the PDF at http://www.mwe.com/info/dealsdashboard.pdf. It is a worthwhile read.
• I’m keeping abreast of . . .
our constantly changing economic environment. If, for example, you are banking on Social Security payments in your future, you may be alarmed to discover that, as of September 30 THIS year, (yes, in three short months) that fund will officially begin shrinking. In other words, it will finally begin paying out more than it takes in. Economists always knew this day of reckoning was coming, thanks mostly to the nation's "inverted pyramid" demographics, where more and more retirees come to rely on the contributions of fewer and fewer workers. What they didn't forecast, however, was that this day would come so soon.
• I’m amused by how . . .
some folks must actually think that you are really gullible. I’ve recently done a bit of an update to my listing on LinkedIn and just happened to notice how a number of people have various testimonial recommendations noted on their listing. Now, if you take another moment to look a little closer . . . and (well I’ll be darned!) you will soon notice that the recipient of the recommendation has written a glowing testimonial in return. One might conclude that this is clear evidence that the age-old principal of reciprocation is alive and well. But, I have to admit a touch more skepticism. I think that this is more the result of some insecure individual saying to a friend, “if you write a recommendation for me, I’ll be pleased to write one for you” and then perhaps we will both look like winners. I take this as a hint that one should NOT always believe what one reads about someone on these kinds of social networking sites without conducting some serious due diligence.
Post #473 – Friday, June 18, 2010
Some Undeniable Truths About Change
 If firms want to change effectively, they need to recognize and deal with basic and undeniable truths. These are things that can’t be avoided or changed (ironic), but can be mitigated, leveraged and worked with for change with more ease and less churn.
• Commitment to the past hinders change in the future.
Like a tree’s roots, our hold on the way we do things grows deeper over time. The success or failure of changes in the past, your partners appetite for growth, and the culture of your firm all help determine how deep the roots go and how hard it will be to change.
• Effective communication demands quality and quantity.
Effective communication is critical during any change effort. Honesty, organization, consistency and responsiveness all will help ensure that communications are supporting the change. You can say that again … and again … and again.
• Your actions always speak louder than your words.
What you do and say has far more influence over the success or failure of a change than anything else. Your partners are constantly watching you (not just in scripted moments) for cues.
• People support what they help create.
The movie “Field of Dreams” was close but not exactly right. It is not, “If you build it, they will come,” but rather, “If they build it, they will come.” No partner ever gets excited about, enthusiastic for or willingly supports any direction, strategy or change . . . that they themselves have not had a part in formulating. Your partners inherently connect with something they help build. Engaging people in the change effort early on will pay out big dividends in the long run.
• Firms change only when the partners within the firm change.
It truly does take a village. Law firms are, in essence, groups of people. If your firm is going to change, a critical mass of the partners within your firm need to go through an individual change process.
• Resistance is inevitable.
You probably heard it in high school physics, but Newton said it best . . . “An object at rest tends to stay at rest.” There are personal, structural and physiological reasons to resist change. Firms that expect and deal with resistance proactively will experience the most effective changes.
• Connecting to the head and the heart builds commitment.
In spite of being highly analytical, your partners are not purely rational. They need to have a rational recognition of the need to change, as well as a deeper emotional connection to believe in what the change is all about. Winning the hearts of those who will experience the change will make all the difference.
• Sustaining change takes support and reinforcement.
After an organization changes, you are not in Kansas anymore. Those that make change stick make sure they are hiring, training, developing, measuring, rewarding and communicating with people in ways consistent with the new paradigm rather than the old practices.
To learn even more about change, join me at the University of Chicago on Monday, August 16 for our one-day master class entitled – Overcoming Lawyers’ Resistance To Change
Post #472 – Friday, June 18, 2010
Did You Ever Notice . . .
When you put the 2 words "The" and "IRS" together it spells "Theirs."
The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
A penny saved is a government oversight.
Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft.
Today, it's called golf
The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are " XL."
You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.
Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.
Post #471 – Sunday, June 6, 2010
Building An Environment of Trust
 Two years ago, together with Baker & Daniels Chair Emeritus Brian K. Burke, I co-founded what is now known as The LAB (the Managing Partner Leadership Advisory Board) – a forum designed to provide recently appointed managing partners with a source for obtaining pragmatic advice on their leadership questions and critical burning issues. The formation of this group was the result of suggestions made during our bi-annual First 100 Days master class for new managing partners and has proven to be a valuable resource for new leaders.
Here is the latest question in a series of over a dozen different queries that The LAB members have now responded to:
As someone who is about to become this firm’s newest managing partner, my predecessor identified one challenge that he immediately confronted when he took office. The issue is, after you become the firm leader, how do you get a good grasp of people’s candid views, especially when it sometimes seems like all of your partners, and indeed the whole firm, is conspiring to tell you what you want to hear? In other words, how do you ferret out the truth when well meaning partners edit themselves, your administrative staff are not naturally inclined to disagree with you, and the information you receive is, so often, being filtered?
Read: Building An Environment of Trust 
The LAB responses derive from its members' many years' experience as law firm leaders. Along with Brian and I, the LAB is comprised of the following distinguished current and former law firm leaders: Angelo Arcadipane (Dickstein Shapiro LLP); John Bouma (Snell & Wilmer LLP); Ben F. Johnson, III (Alston & Bird LLP); Keith B. Simmons (Bass Berry & Sims PLC); William J. Strickland (McGuire Woods LLP); Harry P. Trueheart, III (Nixon Peabody LLP); R. Thomas Stanton (Squire Sanders); and Robert M. Granatstein (Blake Cassels and Graydon).
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