Leadership for Lawyers

Lexthink

This sounds fun.  A bunch of creative legal thinkers have started a new form of education by bring smart people together in a cool place and have them discuss topics in small groups.  Here's a clip from their home page:

"There is no 'agenda' for a LexThink! conference.  No panel presentations.  No keynote speakers either.  Instead, we bring together really cool, smart and "big thinking" folks to talk about stuff.  Really. 

We're convinced that smart people can be smart about anything.  For many of our alumni, ideas gathered from (and connections made with) people from outside their industries were the most valuable part of their LexThink! experience.  Our facilitators take these interesting people, mix them together, and use collaborative brainstorming techniques to stimulate small group discussions loosely tethered to a central theme."

No surprise that Dennis Kennedy (DennisKennedy.com/blog) and Matt Homann (the non-billable hour) are behind this. 

Game Theory, part 1

I've wanted to post something on Game Theory, now that two economists just won the Nobel Prize for "for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis", but for now, I offer an insightful link to Bruce MacEwen's blog, Adam Smith Esq, on the topic. 

Game theory, such as the Prisoner's Dilemma, illustrates that, " A group whose members pursue rational self-interest may all end up worse off than a group whose members act contrary to rational self-interest. More generally, if the payoffs are not assumed to represent self-interest, a group whose members rationally pursue any goals may all meet less success than if they had not rationally pursued their goals individually."

Interesting implications for law firms, who face individual vs. group decisions on a daily basis.  Have you heard of any law firm using the Prisoner's Dilemma or other games to learn to make better partnership decisions?

CRM Critical for Law Firms

Silvia Coulter and Monica Bay penned an editorial in this month's Law Firm Inc on how important CRM software is to law firms, despite grumbling lawyers and reluctant administrators.  Here's how they ended the story:

"Yes, there are hurdles to overcome before your lawyers will embrace CRM. But trust us on this: If you don't use CRM, you will soon pay the price. Your competitors will not only know the name of BigCompany's GC's latest wife before you do, but they'll also find out that she is the GC of your top client. Don't wait 'til it's too late. "

Solid CRM goes beyond mailing lists and accurate data.  Good data illustrates the connectedness of the people in a firm, and opens doors to "cross-serving", deeper and richer relationships with client and prospect personnel, and can help avoid embarrassing moments, such as when two or more attorneys approach the same client for work simultaneously.  When an enterprise grows so large that its people can't yell across the hall or hang around the same water cooler, it needs a way to know who knows whom.

Here's the link (free registration required):

http://lawfirminc.law.com/display.php/file%3D/texts/0905/dls0905

Interview with Jeff Potter, CEO, Frontier Airlines

A few months ago I had the chance to interview Jeff Potter, CEO of the most creative (and profitable) airlines today, for the online magazine, BLUE.  Potter talked about Frontier's values throughout the interview.  He made a point that while everyone KNEW the values, they were growing so quickly that they felt they had to write them down- to articulate them - so they don't get lost in their rapid expansion.  Everything Frontier does oozes these values. Here's how the interview ended:

BLUE: What’s the best way for somebody to understand more about Frontier?

Potter: Spend a day here. The comments I always hear are, “I can’t believe how casual (in a positive way) and open this organization is!” The animals on the airplane tail characterize Frontier. They are more than just animals. They represent individuals and how each of us are different individuals. I think when you look at our in-flight organization, we don’t go in and ask them to be funny, we don’t ask them to do anything. We ask them to be themselves. When you fly on Frontier you have some people who are comedians; you have some that sing. It is part of their own personality and the individual personalities that make up this company.

BLUE: You mentioned Frontier’s values earlier. What are Frontier’s mission and values?

Potter: Our mission is: We’re in business to be the best loved airline and we will earn it one action at a time, no matter how big or how small, to create a different and better experience.

Our values:

1. We’ll only become the best loved airline through safety and value.
2. People are priceless;
3. Respect the co-worker as a neighbor, a customer as a guest;
4. Trust; we’re only as good as our word;
5. Collaboration; we’re in this together;
6. Value; we don’t charge for the extra mile;
7. Passion; this smile is real.

That’s the mission and values."

You can find the complete interview on BLUE:

http://www.hollandhart.com/blue/PotterInterview.cfm

MLF 50

I got a call last month from Betiayn Tursi, editor of "Marketing the Law Firm", an American Lawyer Media newsletter.   She called to tell me that Holland & Hart was named in the first-ever MLF 50 - a ranking of the top 50 law firms in the US in terms of their success in marketing and communications.   

In fact, our team at Imaginate, ranked 20th!  In addition to the ranking, MLF highlighted the firm's marketing efforts in its editorial, stating that the firm "gets it" and knows how to "support marketing".  True!

I am very proud of the entire team, who have worked very hard over the past four years to make the firm's marketing efforts world-class.  I am very fortunate to work with Carmen, Theresa, Bernard, Brittaney, Tiffany, Susan, Jenny, Bridget and Richard.  They are creative, hard-working, insightful, and very good at what they do.  Congratulations team!

Larry Bodine's Law Marketing Portal re-published the MLF 50 article here.  The compete chart ranks the top 30 firms in the nation.

Key Client Programs

I was going to write a brilliant post on developing a key client programs, but Ed Wesemann of the Edge Group did a much better job than I could.  In his article, "Managing to the Highest Common Denominator", Wesemann outlines 10 critical components of the care and feeding of important clients.  Read the article here. 

Here are some key points:

• Admit that some clients are more important than others.  They are your revenue and profit stream for years to come, if cared for properly.
• Realize that competition is fierce, and that if you don't give platinum service, someone else will.  Surveys show that clients are ready to fire their primary law firm if they don't provide outstanding service.
• Tell the key clients that they are important and show it.  Business services like American Express and even airlines go out of their way to express gratitude, communicate frequently, and make working with them easier for frequent buyers.  What can law firms do?
• Learn the client's business inside and out.  Visit them at their place of business. 
• Give clients top management attention.  Send the managing partner to visit. 
• Ask for feedback in a variety of ways.
• Create a service team that is charged with making and implementing a CUSTOM service plan for the client.  They spend a ton of money on you, you should find ways to serve them that meets their specific needs.

Ed's blog is http://www.edwesemann.com

Blawgosphere

This blog started off as a means to learn about blogging, as well as a place to collect my thoughts about leadership for lawyers.  Larry Bodine encouraged me to blog, saying it was a great way to improve my writing skills and attract media attention for my firm.  In the five months since I've started the blog, I've learned a few things:

• At a recent Rocky Mountain LMA meeting, blog expert Doyle Albee claimed that blogs are two-way conversations.  This has been true for L4L, and a nice surprise.  I have received emails, phone calls, and comments from a wide range of people who are interested in leadership in law firms.  I've especially enjoyed corresponding with other bloggers who are exploring issues of restorative justice, culture change, leadership and practice management.
• Conversations lead to cross-linking and reading of other blogs.  I've learned that there is a subculture of lawyers, consultants and coaches who believe that there are alternatives to big-firm, 2100-hour expectetancies, and eat-what-you-kill marketing.  You can find many of these blogs at http://www.blawg.org/  and http://www.renaissancelawyer.com/.  Conversations open doors and connections of all sorts.  It really is all about conversation.
• People actually read this blog.  I average about 125 visitors per week. Most visitors come from other blogs or legal sites that link to L4L.  Less than half find the site via a search engine. 
• Sometimes a post strikes a chord such that people will link to the site.  The popular Whataboutclients.com called L4L "my kind of blog", Renaissancelawyer.com named L4L their Fall "Blogs to Watch", and the Canadian Bar Association chose L4L as their "Pick of the Week".  I still can't believe anybody really reads this stuff.
• I find myself thinking about ideas more.  It starts as the need to update the blog (uhg! Got to feed the dragon!) and ends up as a fun and interesting mental excercise.
• Thanks for visiting.  Drop me a note if you have any suggestions or ideas on how I can make L4L more valuable. 

Levine on Leadership

In this month's Law Practice Today,  Stuart Levine issues a call to lawyer leadership, outlines a path to leadership competencies, and invokes the work of Meg Wheatley and David Whyte to realize his vision to engage lawyers to transform our culture into a more caring world. 

Stuart's call for leadership by lawyers is challenging:

"What is the leadership lawyers can provide? What resource lawyers can be in a time of national tragedy, perhaps even national shame? How can we assert ourselves in a way that fosters thoughtful discussion of issues and concerns? How can we engender a spirit of resolve, resolution and useful action? How can we be a stalwart resource for people close to us? How can we be a symbol, a beacon of hope in a darkened landscape?"

Here's a quote from his article, which is as much a manifesto as a call to action:

"I believe that lawyers can dust off the mantles of leadership we have always worn. I believe that beneath the Am Law 100 measurement of size of firm and profits per partner lie large hearts and deep souls yearning to contribute. I have held a vision that embedded in the 1,000,000 lawyers in the United States is a power and presence that has the ability to transform the culture we live in from consumption to caring, from adversary to dialogue, from accumulation to empowerment and enlightenment. It’s simply a matter of allowing what’s already there to come through. It begins with a courageous conversation that each one of us might have with themselves. It’s a conversation that asks you to be open, vulnerable, truthful, compassionate, humble and thoughtful. The conversation would be about how we can free the intellectual, leadership and spiritual energy trapped in an adversary system whose primary beneficiary is often the lawyer. How can we get beyond the legal cultural imperative of action in the name of “good Lawyering” to action in the name of good “Humaning.” I believe that when we do that we’ll find people are more aligned than different. "

Thanks, Stuart, for engaging us in these courageous conversations.  I wish we had more voices raising these questions and challenging our privileged profession.

Read the article here.

Immoral Marketing

Brian Freeman, former marketing director for Faegre & Benson, has just released his first book.  Immoral is a crime thriller full of violence, sex and intrigue.  I haven't read it, but it is on my birthday list.  The critics have praised the book, and Brian's writing.  In fact, the International Book of the Month club (and others) have chosen Immoral as their monthly pick.  It has been in print only a few weeks in the US, but it is already published in a dozen languages.

I'm reading Immoral because of my respect for Brian.  I met Brian weeks after I started my first law firm marketing job.  He let me pick his brains and figure out how to survive this crazy profession.  Over time, I felt a little competitive with Brian.  Faegre has always had a strong marketing program, particularly on the web.  For years the Faegre web site was named "top law firm web site by internetmarketingattorney.com.   This year, both Faegre and my firm were ranked in the top 5, but alas, his was first and ours was fifth.  Maybe we'll have a fighting chance now that Brian is writing a sequel to Immoral and has left law firm marketing forever. 

Brian is a brilliant marketer, creative writer, and a great guy.  I wish him the best with his new writing career, and look forward to reading Immoral.  Brian's web site is bfreemanbooks.com.