|
http://www.patrickmckenna.com/blog
Page << Prev 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 Next >> of 95
Post # 460 – Thursday, April 8, 2010
Uniting A Divided Firm
 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:
I’m about to become (in two months) the new managing partner at a firm where approximately one-half of our lawyers are in one city (where my office is), while the rest are dispersed over four smaller locations, and across three States. There is a strong sense of us-and-them that unfortunately has developed. And being yet another managing partner from the firm’s largest office doesn’t help. One of the priorities, that I want to direct some of my attention to addressing, is to implement actions that would serve to make our long-distance working relationships more cohesive. I am planning to visit each of the offices before I assume leadership, and on a regular basis thereafter, but that doesn’t really address the core issue here. What has been your experience with handling this situation? What advice, what specific strategies and activities would you suggest that I implement?
Read: Uniting A Divided Firm 
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).
Post #459 – Thursday, April 8, 2010
Economic Recovery – Still Pending
As we drift into the second quarter of 2010, the financial press is optimistic, economists are irrationally confident and investors are overwhelmingly bullish. The crisis of '07-'09 gave us a fright. But it's all behind us now. How do we know? We just read the paper!
According to reporters, everybody is making more and more stuff. This helps assure that the recovery “has legs.” Even Auto sales came in stronger than expected in March. So it sounds like the recovery has wheels too. What I want to know is: Who’s buying this stuff and where are they getting the money? So to answer my question, we turn to hard macroeconomic data and . . . a slightly different storyline begins to emerge:
 CONSUMER CONFIDENCE. By an almost 2-to-1 margin Americans believe the economy has worsened rather than improved during the past year, according to a Bloomberg National Poll conducted at the end of March. Barely one-in-three Americans say the country is on the right track. Fewer than one in 10 say they believe the economy will be strong again within a year. Just 4 percent of Americans who cut back on spending during the recession now say they are confident enough to open their wallets.
CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY. Nearly 7,000 people go bankrupt every day - a record number. The 149,268 consumer bankruptcies filed in March represented the highest monthly consumer filing total since Congress overhauled the Bankruptcy Code in 2005, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI). The March filing total represented a 34 percent increase from February and a 23 percent increase from March 2009.
HOUSING. The number of foreclosures is still going up. There are now 4.5 million houses in the process of foreclosure or 90 days delinquent.
EMPLOYMENT. Peak to trough, December '07 to February '10, 8.3 million jobs were lost. Take away the statistical tricks and the number of people with real jobs actually fell last month - despite reports of an additional 163,000 new jobs in March. But wait. The private sector added 123,000 jobs last month. Except, according to my understanding, it needs to create 100,000 just to stay even with population growth. Meanwhile, the "U6" measure of unemployment, which includes "underemployed" and long-term unemployed laborers, rose to a record-high 16.9% of the workforce in March.
Not surprisingly, therefore, some skeptics are suggesting that the "recovery" in consumer spending we have been reading so much about is a complete fantasy. Meanwhile . . .
GOVERNMENT DEBT. Last year Uncle Sam borrowed $2.1 trillion. This year it will borrow $2.4 trillion. Without this money, US government spending would have to come to a halt. The US counts on lenders. In the last ten years US Federal Debt per person has gone from $20,000 to $40,000. If we were to also include the present value of the government's future unfunded liabilities like Social Security and Medicare, the debt per person would soar to more than $250,000!
And what's this? The Wall Street Journal reports that "multi- generational households" have returned, forced together by joblessness.
What to make of it all? The underlying story of the economy has not changed. We are still in the midst of the Great Correction.
Post #458 – Friday, April 2, 2010
The Spring 2010 Issue of International Review Is Now Available
Spring has sprung and the latest issue of my International Review magazine is hitting the desks of managing partners everywhere. Once again this issue contains a number of pragmatic articles on law firm management and strategy:
• Strategic Planning As A Continuous Process
More firm leaders are now recognizing, as they catch their breathe from months of turbulence, that conventional approaches to strategic planning – now belong to a bygone era.
• Passion, People & Principles 
by David H. Maister
Managing, in a professional service firm, requires that you know how to effectively deal with people and take responsibility for the effectiveness of your communications.
• Measuring Practice Group Performance
by Managing Partner LAB
The LAB was formed to provide pragmatic advice to assist new managing partners with their critical burning issues and help them succeed. Here is one of the latest questions and responses.
• Value Focused Fees: It’s No Longer Whether or Even Why Not – Now It’s When?
by Jeffrey Carr, Patrick Lamb, Patrick J. Mckenna and Edwin B. Reeser
When it comes to discontinuing billing by the hour, complacency and vested interests in perpetuation of the status quo, traits shared by both outside and inside counsel, remain as formidable hurdles.
• The Question of Whether to Focus On Core Practices
by Managing Partner LAB
The LAB was formed to provide pragmatic advice to assist new managing partners with their critical burning issues and help them succeed. Here is one of the latest questions and responses.
• Law Firm Leadership Reflections: Practical Advice For Those Who Manage
Excerpted from my Blog, here are a selection of short snippets for reflecting on how to get your partners to follow-through on their commitments and how to stay focused amidst unending interruptions.
 I am pleased to have been putting out this magazine for some years now. It essentially started when I first began mailing copies of periodic articles I had authored to select managing partners back in the Fall of 1998. Today, I am (to the best of my knowledge) the only law firm consultant to publish their own magazine for firm leaders. If for some reason, you haven’t received your Spring International Review magazine, please shoot me a note and I will be pleased to get a copy sent off to you.
Post #457 - Friday, April 2, 2010
Soundings
• I’m reading about . . .
Leadership development is at a crossroads today,” says Gianpiero Petriglieri, Affiliate Professor of Organizational Behavior at INSEAD. “When you consider the expanded realm of responsibility for today’s leaders --industrial or political -- given globalization and instant interconnectivity, you realize the challenges. Petriglieri adds: “It’s the amount of information (the leader) has to deal with, the emotional intensity, the sheer complexity of some of the challenges we face. All this does not lend itself to any one individual, no matter how smart or capable or morally-grounded he or she is, to come forth with a solution and then persuade others of its soundness.” The morale of this story: Leadership today requires less charisma and more consensus.
• It’s worth noting . . .
If you're looking for some concise tips to focus your leadership, here are eight from the late Peter Drucker:
- Make sure that what makes a difference gets done
- Check your performance against previously defined goals
- Say no to things that don't contribute to the real mission
- Know early when to stop trying to do something that can't be done
- Organize travel and leverage new technology if it's possible
- Have a maximum of two organizational goals at the same time
- Make sure the people around you understand your priorities
- Build on your strengths. Find strong people to do the other necessary tasks
• I was surprised . . .
Ongoing research stretching back a quarter of a century reveals that narcissism levels have risen steadily among U.S. college students. Narcissism is associated with self-importance and expectations of special treatment — and the current generation’s mean narcissism score approaches that of a celebrity sample of movie stars, reality TV contestants, and famous musicians.
• I’m concerned with . . .
The way society is evolving is enabling shorter attention spans. The effect of our fascination with the latest electronic gadgetry goes far deeper than we would like to believe. Day in and day out we allow ourselves to be exposed to sound-bite news and event coverage on television. According to a study by sociologist Kiku Adato, in the 1968 presidential election the average time each candidate spoke without interruption on the network news was 42.3 seconds. By the 2000 campaign, the average time had shrunk to 7.8 seconds. The people you want to reach have been raised in the sound-bite culture. They are used to professional politicians and entertainers getting to the point in a matter of seconds. There is also a greater emphasis on the impact of the visual medium. One result has been the phenomenal growth in online videos – Cisco Systems predicts that by 2012, nearly 90 per cent of consumer Internet traffic will consist of videos.
• I chuckled at . . .
When you are very young, you get lots of praise. Your first word gets weeks’ worth of gushing. You get praise when you first start working. You complete some project and there is even more praise. Then, one day, the praise fountain turns off. It’s not like you stopped doing good work — it’s almost as if people think that once you get to a certain age or certain place in life, you don’t need praise anymore. It’s funny how that works. I think we all need praise throughout our careers. I’ve never met a firm leader of practice group head that didn’t want to know that they were doing well. It applies to everyone — the price of praise is free. Praise someone today.
Post #456 – Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Myth of Moving Toward A Corporate Structure
 Client commitments kept me from participating at this latest Georgetown Law Conference ("Law Firm Evolution: Brave New World or Business as Usual?"), so I had to content myself with reading the various blog reports, presentation papers and watching some of the excellent YouTube interviews hosted by Gregory Bufithis, chairman of ThePosseList.com and Lisa DeMonti from MyLegal.com.
While I thoroughly enjoyed reading much of the material and there were obviously some very intriguing discussions, I must admit that I cringe every time I hear some commentator talk about how they think “we are going to be moving more toward a corporate structure.” And, from another commentator, we hear: “I worry about firms who are not lead by people of vision.”
Now I don't know about you, but I’ve heard these views propagated for as long as I can remember. Having served as an officer and director of a number of public companies during my career, I’m not sure I understand what the allure of moving toward a corporate structure means. Can someone please enlighten me?
One can only guess that some people must believe that such a structure will somehow make it easier to manage people. Perhaps these commentators think that it empowers the management of the organization to make faster decisions without being hamstrung by having to satisfy multiple partners (who all think that they have a valid opinion to share). Such naiveté!
And, a leader with vision. That terminology has become such a hollow cliché. Can someone identify one professional service firm, anywhere, who had a leader who said to the professionals: "Let me tell you about my vision" . . . and everybody got very excited and the firm subsequently achieved great things? I’m dead serious. I’m not suggesting that it’s not possible. I’m merely reporting that in three decades of working with professional firms, I’ve never encountered a real live example.
Consequently, I certainly don’t think that either of these can be treated as serious answers to the change challenges facing the profession. As I reported in an earlier post (#454), there is ample documentation to show that even the all-powerful corporate CEO cannot make change happen just by snapping his or her fingers. There is no logical evidence to demonstrate that moving to a corporate structure should make it easier to manage any organization.
Even the greatest command-and-control operation on the planet has its challenges. A personal friend of mine is a Lieutenant Colonel who just recently returned from serving in Afghanistan. Dana shares an interesting point about life in the military. Outsiders assume that troops will completely change direction whenever some commander gives an order. As with all other organizations, Dana tells me that when the military culture is threatened, people resist. In fact, it is often the people at very high levels who become the invisible resisters. As a result, an organizational transformation never follows a clean top-down process. It, instead, has to be a social movement in which commitment spreads.
What this conference should remind us of is . . . that at some point there comes a reckoning when unforseen challenges disrupt our environment. Something, beyond the normal range of experience of both our firm and its leadership, needs to be done. At this point 'more-of-the-same' is not enough. When firm leadership resorts to imposing solutions from above, there is predictable resistance. This is not so much a reflection of unwillingness to change. It is the reaction to the top-down approach, an approach which makes professionals feel maginalized. The proper task of leadership is to frame the challenge and characterize it in such a way that creates immediacy. Leadership must then draw the community that is affected into tackling the new challenge.
Post #455 - Friday, March 26, 2010
How The Effective Leader Communicates
 Always be sensitive to the fact that your words, as a leader, will be amplified and distorted. Manage your words carefully.
Pause to reflect before you speak. Choose your words deliberately. A well-timed question can be more effective in getting your partners thinking, than you trying to be persuasive. Manage your questions to comments ratio.
The fine art of leadership communication hinges most on you listening more than you talk. Leading doesn’t mean that you are required to talk more than anyone else. In fact, just the opposite.
All of your words should be based on showing respect as a foundation to building and sustaining relationhips. As soon as respect is left out of your words, you’ve lost.
“Your do must match the tell.” Make certain that your words and your body language match. Given a choice between the two, empirical studies indicate that people will believe your body language before they’ll believe your rhetoric.
Genuine words of encouragement and well-deserved words of praise are rocket fuel for individuals and practice groups.
Tough conversations on performance are part of your job. Embrace this reality and don’t sugarcoat your message. Keep people focused on behavior and keep the behavior linked to performance.
Post #454 – Sunday, March 14, 2010
The Firm Of The Future - Is All About Change
 Fifteen years ago, a Harvard scholar by the name of John Kotter published a book entitled Leading Change. At that time, studies revealed that only about 30% of change initiatives actually succeeded, so Kotter’s book was welcomed as were his simple steps to implementing change. Unfortunately it proved not to be all that simple. In spite of literally thousands of texts and articles published on this same topic, a recent survey by McKinsey & Company (1546 business executives) clearly shows that today, only about . . . are you ready?
. . . 30% of change initiatives actually succeed. So, I guess, thus far, nothing has really changed!
Even worse for us, neither Kotter’s work nor most all of what has been published thus far, speaks to the task of bringing about meaningful change in a professional service firm. So, in a top-down corporate organization, where the CEO says jump and only 30% of the people bother, one can just imagine the enormous challenges faced in an environment where everyone wants to have their personal say as to whether a jump is really required, whether it should be in shoes or bare feet, on cement or grass, on what particular day, and how high.
In yet, all consulting assignments are about change. From helping law firms to develop and implement a strategic plan to assisting clients with initiating an effective client team, all of my efforts over the past three decades have involved processes that require some form of change. Now I certainly wouldn’t claim to have all the answers. I have, however, researched, developed and tested a framework for how firm leaders actually manage to bring about changes in real-life applications. I was delighted to have the opportunity to talk about what I’ve found works at the Ark Forum earlier this week to an audience of over 80 participants in New York who eagerly embraced the how-to-change message. You are welcome to download a copy of my White Paper which was among the materials distributed.
I am now currently organizing a one-day master class for later this year that will deal exclusively with the issue of leading change in a law firm. Please stay tuned.
Post #453 - Sunday, March 14, 2010
Post #452 – Monday, March 1, 2010
The Leader’s Role in Integrating Laterals
 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:
Like many firms, we seem to have been more active, recently, in attracting talented laterals to our firm. I read an article that stated “law firm management must take a proactive and strategic role in planning the firm's partner integration efforts.” So, as a brand new firm leader, what specific actions would you recommend I take responsibility for, in helping orientate and integrate these new lawyers?
Read: The Leader’s Role In Integrating Laterals
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).
Post #451 – Monday, March 1, 2010
Dead Strategy
 When talking about law firm strategy, I have for some years now shared with lawyers what I find to be a rather inspiring quote: “You don’t want to be known as the best of the best . . . You want to be known as the only one that does what you do.”
Now you might think that that wisdom emanates from a Tom Peters or a Jack Welsh – and you would be dead wrong! It actually comes from, of all paces, a musician by the name of Jerry Garcia who was the lead guitarist, founder and often seen as the primary spokesperson for an American rock bank formed in 1965 and known as The Grateful Dead.
In the March issue of the Atlantic magazine there is an interesting article entitled: Management Secrets Of The Grateful Dead. Here are a few teasers:
• The Grateful Dead pioneered ideas and practices that were subsequently embraced by corporate America. One was to focus intensely on its most loyal fans. “The Dead were masters of creating and delivering superior customer value,” claimed Barry Barnes, a business professor at Southeastern University in Florida.
• The Dead became one of the most profitable bands of all time. They founded a profitable merchandizing division, did not hesitate to sue those who violated their copyrights, and thrived for decades, in good times and in bad.
• The band incorporated early on and established a board of directors (with a rotating CEO position) consisting of the band, road crew, and other members of the Dead organization.
• The band’s lyricist, John Perry Barlow became an internet sensation. Writing in Wired back in 1994, he posited that in the information economy, “the best way to raise demand for your product is to give it away.” He claimed, “if I give my song away to 20 people, and they give it to 20 people, pretty soon everybody knows me and my value as a creator is dramatically enhanced."
The author concludes by predicting that it should only be a matter of time until ‘Management Secrets’ or some similar title is flying off the shelves of airport bookstores everywhere.
Page << Prev 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 Next >> of 95
|
|
Ashridge House 
