By Robert Denney bio
Here are some quick pointers to keep in mind, whether you’ve been a firm leader for decades or are new to the position.
- Have a vision. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never get there.
- Develop a strategic plan and follow it. Hell is paved with good intentions and business plans that were never implemented.
- Manage your firm or operation. Don’t let it manage you.
- Leadership is the art of getting someone to do what you want done because he or she wants to do it. Be a leader, not just a manager.
- Remember the three keys to being a good leader:
- Listen and communicate.
- Listen and communicate.
- Listen and communicate.
- Believe in yourself, even when no one else does. Remember these words: “If it is to be, it is up to me.”
- Your lawyers and your staff are your most important assets—then your clients.
- Don’t equate being busy with being productive.
- Don’t achieve efficiency at the expense of creativity.
- Get timely information—in advance. Most reports tell you what did happen. You need to know what might happen.
- Remember what they did in the old neighborhood butcher shop—they trimmed the fat. Do likewise. It isn’t the people you fire who hurt you; it’s the people you don’t.
- Ignore the latest management fad.
- If it ain’t broke, fix it. When things are going well, make them even better.
- The client is not always right—but their opinion is the only one that counts.
- If you’re the Managing Partner and everyone loves you, you’re probably not doing your job.
- Expect the unexpected. Employees quit. Lawyers and clients leave. Technology crashes. Always have a contingency plan: “What if…?“
- When things go well, spread the credit around. When things go wrong, take the blame yourself.
Note: Further discussion of some of these principles, as well as other timely issues, are posted on my website, www.robertdenney.com.
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