Page 205 - Leaders in Legal Business - PDF - Final 2018
P. 205
help... I am going to strongly encourage them.” Sally or George will succumb to the pressure and
then sabotage the process so subtly that they don't even know they are doing so themselves.
Those who show some internal motivation tend to perform magnificently. I can tell you
anecdotally that not all, but many of the people who are helped in this way increase their
performance to a degree that pleasantly surprises their firms. They also love the process, which is
the polar opposite of sabotaging it.
The elements involved in helping an individual enhance performance include:
1) Reducing quantifiable objectives to writing;
2) Exploring whether they need to enhance their substantive expertise;
3) Determining by whom they wish to be better known and then enhance their reputation
to those constituencies;
4) Broadening relationships with clients, especially business ones, with whom they have
only one connection; and
5) Helping them present more effectively in all contexts including speaking, writing,
responding to RFPs, using social media, and more effectively networking at social functions.
Mergers and Competitive Intelligence
“Should we remain local or regional, or should we merge internationally?” It kind of
depends. Many firms need help in assessing their position in their respective marketplaces. Most
do not have the tools of competitive intelligence or an understanding of the various contexts in
which they are practicing and the options that may be available to them. Some of our most
satisfying work is finding information relevant to competition, but also addressing appropriate
candidates for lateral hire or merger. This is far too complex a subject to go into in any depth
here. Suffice to say that some of my proudest moments are those where I have helped prevent a
merger that would have been a disaster or prevented a lateral hire that was a poor choice.
Back to the Future
Working with the Florida State Bar and its task forces into the future has immersed me in
the disruptive technologies and impact of social media on the legal profession. We have long had
important traditions, but external changes are coming at us like bombs in a video game. I seek
permission and often am allowed to offer some catalytic information about these changes in
order to open the minds of those with whom I am working to get them thinking about how they
might strategically prepare for a changing future.
The greatest challenge in advising law firm clients about the future and social media is
that the changes are happening so fast. I keep finding myself saying, “Well, that was true two
years ago...” For example, does each lawyer need to have a profile on LinkedIn? Five years ago,
“no.” Two years ago, “maybe.” Now, “yes.”
We recently sent some information to some senior litigator clients on an Excel worksheet.
We were politely reminded that Excel would be a little difficult for most of them, and we should
use Word instead. In essence, we were reminded that many lawyers even in the most
sophisticated firms are technologically illiterate. I am not making this up. The challenge,
therefore, is to help lawyers in a gentle and empathetic way to see ahead of the bow of their ship
191
then sabotage the process so subtly that they don't even know they are doing so themselves.
Those who show some internal motivation tend to perform magnificently. I can tell you
anecdotally that not all, but many of the people who are helped in this way increase their
performance to a degree that pleasantly surprises their firms. They also love the process, which is
the polar opposite of sabotaging it.
The elements involved in helping an individual enhance performance include:
1) Reducing quantifiable objectives to writing;
2) Exploring whether they need to enhance their substantive expertise;
3) Determining by whom they wish to be better known and then enhance their reputation
to those constituencies;
4) Broadening relationships with clients, especially business ones, with whom they have
only one connection; and
5) Helping them present more effectively in all contexts including speaking, writing,
responding to RFPs, using social media, and more effectively networking at social functions.
Mergers and Competitive Intelligence
“Should we remain local or regional, or should we merge internationally?” It kind of
depends. Many firms need help in assessing their position in their respective marketplaces. Most
do not have the tools of competitive intelligence or an understanding of the various contexts in
which they are practicing and the options that may be available to them. Some of our most
satisfying work is finding information relevant to competition, but also addressing appropriate
candidates for lateral hire or merger. This is far too complex a subject to go into in any depth
here. Suffice to say that some of my proudest moments are those where I have helped prevent a
merger that would have been a disaster or prevented a lateral hire that was a poor choice.
Back to the Future
Working with the Florida State Bar and its task forces into the future has immersed me in
the disruptive technologies and impact of social media on the legal profession. We have long had
important traditions, but external changes are coming at us like bombs in a video game. I seek
permission and often am allowed to offer some catalytic information about these changes in
order to open the minds of those with whom I am working to get them thinking about how they
might strategically prepare for a changing future.
The greatest challenge in advising law firm clients about the future and social media is
that the changes are happening so fast. I keep finding myself saying, “Well, that was true two
years ago...” For example, does each lawyer need to have a profile on LinkedIn? Five years ago,
“no.” Two years ago, “maybe.” Now, “yes.”
We recently sent some information to some senior litigator clients on an Excel worksheet.
We were politely reminded that Excel would be a little difficult for most of them, and we should
use Word instead. In essence, we were reminded that many lawyers even in the most
sophisticated firms are technologically illiterate. I am not making this up. The challenge,
therefore, is to help lawyers in a gentle and empathetic way to see ahead of the bow of their ship
191
