Why It Is Difficult To Lead A Practice Group Or Law Firm

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers Why it is Difficult to Lead a Practice Group or Law Firm A lawyer called me this week asking about Practice Group Planning. I told him I was a practice group leader who found it difficult to get our lawyers on the same page.  Since then, I have wondered why it is so difficult to lead a practice group or law firm. Is it difficult because we leaders do not have the right stuff? Other than a thick skin, what is the right stuff to be a law firm or practice group leader? Based on my reading I believe a leader must have a clear vision of where he or she wants to take the group and a plan to get there. To that end, when I was a practice group leader my vision was to develop the preeminent construction law practice group in the United States. With the help of members of my practice group, we developed a Construction Law PG Strategic Plan which included targeted differentiators. We decided our differentiators would be: We developed a plan to implement each of these differentiators. I would not be writing this if we achieved the vision of becoming the preeminent construction law practice in the United States. What challenges kept us from achieving that goal? Several years ago I read a piece titled Personality: Why 25% of Lawyers Can’t Sell. It included a discussion on lawyer traits by Dr. Larry Richard.   Most, if not all, the traits discussed not only identify why some lawyers can’t sell, but more importantly why it is difficult to lead a practice group or a firm. Here are the six traits that distinguish lawyers: What does this information tell us about leading law firms and practice groups? I can tell you from experience that it is really important for the firm members to share aspirations and values. Famed business writer and consultant, Jim Collins, calls this getting the right people on the bus. If lawyers in the firm do not share aspirations and values, then the skeptics will find problems with the leader’s vision and the lawyers who do not want to be led will simply refuse to do what the needs to be done to accomplish the vision. Do you have the right people on your bus?   I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.