Whatever your role, these five keys will help you lead your firm to greatness. If you are your firm’s leader you can use these keys directly. If you are a team leader, you can adjust and use them to lead your team to excellence. If you have no official leadership role, you can use your influence to support your leaders’ efforts as they use these keys to lead your firm to greatness.
- Envision the Future. Successful firms learn from the past, act in the present and plan for the future. Your firm undoubtedly includes people who advocate for each of these time perspectives. As the leader, it’s your job to envision the future and bring it into reality with strategic planning built on lessons from the past and excellence in the present. Your firm will excel when everyone is informed and motivated by a shared vision.
- Model the Vision. You are by definition a role model and an important part of your job is to embody the vision, values and character of your firm. You will increase your influence if you remain visible and accessible, physically and virtually, by keeping your door open as much as possible, walking your office halls and being active and available online. When you are highly visible and model the behavior you expect, you will provide consistent direction and inspiration to those around you.
- Provide Structure. Your job, and that of your firm’s leadership team, is to provide structure, support and relative security so that others can focus on doing their jobs well. Appropriate structure assures, to the degree possible, the firm’s financial strength and longevity. It expands the opportunity for creative thinking and problem-solving by minimizing chaos, uncertainty and unnecessary redundancy.
- Hire and Develop Talent. Your firm will benefit now and in the future if you establish and sustain a commitment to hiring and developing great talent.?
----a. Hiring the Best. This might or might not mean hiring “the top of the class.” It does mean hiring people who fit the culture and values of your firm and have the skills, knowledge and talent you require. Hiring for fit requires aligning your recruiting and hiring efforts with your firm’s culture and values. It requires behavioral questioning and careful listening during the interview process, rather than heavy, even singular, reliance on GPA and class standing. ?
----b. Bringing out the Best. You have the opportunity and responsibility to continuously develop the talent on your team through mentoring, coaching, and training. Not only will you increase the capabilities of your firm, you will also increase employees’ productivity, satisfaction and retention, all of which translate to increased profitability. Circling back to “model the vision” above, one of the many ways you can promote professional development is to visibly continue your own. - Offer Guidance. In addition to being a role model, you have the opportunity to mentor individuals on your team, whether on a continuous or as-needed basis. Depending on the size of your firm, you might mentor all members of your firm or just senior members, in which case you can and should expect them to mentor others. Everyone in your firm will be more effective and successful if they have the ear of someone from whom they can seek guidance regularly or as needed.
These five keys will help you lead your firm to greatness!