The choice of the next managing partner has historically been a knee-jerk response in most companies. Usually the choice is between trying to fill the void by promoting the next best rainmaker or going with a steadfast workhorse or a partner with particularly strong management and financial skills. Some choose an imitator of the previous managing partner. But occupying the most important leadership position in your company is not a decision to be taken lightly or frivolously.
Finding a new leader with the right mix of clout and charisma to reshape your company is a tremendous challenge that is critically important to the future of the company. Don’t fall into the common trap of seeing the incoming managing partner simply as a replacement for the old one.
the copycat
The copycat works to fill the big guy’s shoes by maintaining the status quo. A few personality changes here, a fold, a fold, and soon everyone believes the “Great One” has risen. Or so it seems. But replacing a managing partner with a copycat is bound to fail. Personality cloning is impossible, even in lab rats. The reality is that only the predecessor can be the predecessor, and that person has left the building. Pretending that his personality lives on through his successor is unhealthy and will polarize a company.
the super administrator
Perhaps the most distracting management personality is the super manager. For this partner, great management means great administration. Leadership is measured by proper allocation of spending on yellow slips or cost savings found in recycling case folders. Like an office manager on steroids, this personality is active in forming new committees, rewriting hiring policies, drawing up budgets, and relocating water coolers.
When companies elect a super manager to run them, everyone is initially relieved that someone has finally taken control of the details. But, people soon realize that the changes being made are superficial and, in some cases, downright childish.
This type of managing partner tends to apply Band-Aids to company-wide problems, rather than getting to the root of the problem. Super managers rarely rock the boat, and their own leadership style (or lack thereof) won’t bring about the hard changes that are critical to a company’s growth and prosperity.
the war horse
Just because partners generate high levels of turnover revenue and have a strong work ethic does not automatically mean that they have the skills and experience to lead and manage the business effectively.
Managing partners who are workhorses can expect others in the company to follow suit. Unfortunately, while leading by example is admirable, it rarely has staying power. The “Be Like Mike” approach may temporarily stimulate increased work activity among attorneys and staff, but rarely results in lasting change. Furthermore, it often provokes resentment from the new managing partner, as he sadly realizes that the firm’s lawyers are not following his example.
A partner shared this experience:
“I rose through the ranks following in the footsteps of our leader. I was always the last to leave and the first to go. I thought being like him would get me to the top. It did. But when I got there, the lawyers managed to make me not mind following my footsteps or emulate my work ethic before they had their backs broken.
“A managing partner should spend time managing, leading and marketing the company, but spending more time managing and less time with clients takes a productive senior timekeeper away from generating revenue. Companies need to think seriously about the consequences of this type of situation.”
the rainmaker
It is a common misconception that a star shower maker will become a star managing partner. In reality, many companies have discovered that just the opposite is true. There is little to support the claim that those who can make it rain will also make excellent managers; in fact, they are generally poor managers. They can be great communicators and sometimes even great relationship builders, but they often lack the patience and discipline to deal with the challenges of building and taking their companies to new heights, and find it difficult to lead in the face of opposition. adversity and rise above firm politics. While it’s understandable that rainmakers wield a lot of power, the reality is that the ultimate success of a company will depend on an entirely different type of leader with an entirely different set of skills.
Let’s take a look at rainmakers as they are usually the replacement of choice.
The Rainmaker’s Legacy
The great rainmakers, simply and affectionately known as the “Great Ones,” have always been valuable commodities. The question is whether or not they are great leaders and managers. It is true that companies have often experienced great growth at the hands of great rainmakers. Almost mythical in stature, some of these mega-lawyers have single-handedly elevated their firms to great heights. In doing so, they became the heart and soul of the company’s personality.
However, in my discussions with lawyers about the character traits of their firms’ rainmakers, a pattern emerged: Rainmakers don’t delegate well. They accumulate knowledge. They are highly political, stubbornly independent by nature, and maverick by impulse.
Rainmakers resemble what business thinkers call “Phase One Entrepreneurs.” These are core level players. They get things done, often imposing their will on others. They never say die. They are obsessive and have great tenacity, but at some point, the managerial and business skills needed to take their organization to the next level just aren’t compatible with their nature or desires. Ironically, the character qualities found in the best rainmakers are often strikingly different from those found in top managers.
In large companies, rainmakers who are also managing partners are famous for letting the executive committee run the business of the company, not because committee action is superior, but because the rainmakers would prefer not to be bothered by such matters. Headaches. However, an executive committee can never replace the leadership and management strength required to take a company to the next level.
A prominent Los Angeles rainmaker described his role as managing partner:
“This company was built on my reputation and to this day is built on my reputation. The main role of the managing partner, as I see it, is to be able to keep the discontent factor of my other partners to an absolute minimum.”
For most rainmakers, marketing means capturing new clients, preferably large ones with substantial, broad-based legal needs. For companies that have a rainmaker as a managing partner, the rainmaker is the company’s marketing. That is, until the rainmaker leaves.
When the “big ones” leave
When the Great Ones leave, a great void is created. The Great Ones leave behind not only their legacy, but also companies without leaders. Too often, the space they vacate is left unoccupied by the remaining partners. The truth is, these types of powerful partners are tough acts to follow, and their absence can be as great and real as their presence once was.
Uncertainty often follows the departure of such personalities. For most partners, it is a very unsettling experience. The next in line, the replacements, often perceive their new positions after such a transition as temporary waiting stations until the next best leader can be resurrected, hopefully in the image of the Great One.
Taking the helm, especially when a company is under stress, has destroyed otherwise promising careers. Some newly ordained managing partners decide to just wait. They are managing partners by default, and their only interest is to stay the course.
These guys hedge their bets, keep an active caseload, serve the big clients and, time permitting, try to run the business. Like good soldiers, they keep their heads down and their ears open.
So what makes a great leader?
If your company is looking for a new leader, look for a team player who is honest, inquisitive, imaginative, cooperative, communicative, and above all, someone who wants the company to rise on many levels. Remember, leadership is a state of mind. These intensely curious people need to know what really helps their business grow and prosper and, just as importantly, what causes it to fail. They want to know what customers think about the company, what customers actually experience when they visit and do business with the company.
Insight-driven leaders seek to discover new ways to serve customers and make them feel valued. They are painfully honest and realistic when it comes to evaluating performance, including their own. These leaders do not pretend to have a monopoly on knowledge. They know that to fully understand a big challenge, they must turn to people who think in a variety of ways; thinking as a team is often more productive than thinking individually.
True leaders have personal visions that incorporate the vision of the company. They believe in the company. They have the courage to make tough decisions, including showing toxic partners the door.
True leaders strengthen the company from the inside out, starting by working with others to define its core values, and then moving on to make those values an intrinsic part of everything the company does and every impression it makes.
They are great listeners; they don’t shout orders from behind their desks. True leaders find ways to develop strengths in the people they work with. They work through people, understanding and evoking their intelligence, creativity and participation. Especially for companies in the midst of major change, leaders need to be able to manage across teams of people, delegate work, and reward performance while encouraging persistence. These leaders foster excellent performance at all levels. The most successful managing partners I have seen rarely dominate the group; rather they support the group by keeping it focused and on task. Such leaders rely on others to help them stay organized. Watch how a trusted leader and secretary interact: can you tell who’s leading whom?
Exceptional leaders work hard to break down communication barriers between their key people. They see their role as smoothing out processes. They are facilitators, not dominators. They think of ways to make others more effective and productive, making it easier for them to do their jobs. And when their effort results in success, these leaders rarely take the credit, but instead give it to the group to which they belong.
Finally, know that finding a partner with all these characteristics is almost impossible, but it does give you a significant basis for predicting which of your partners is best suited to take the helm.
