Leadership for Lawyers

More Leadership Training at Law Firms

Leadership consultant Linda Pennington claims that "only about two or three of Philadelphia's largest 15 firms have seriously began to do this," referring to leadership training in law firms. 

The Philadelphia Business Journal last week interviewed Pennington and others about the growing trend to invest in law firm leaders:

"When law firms think of leadership, Pennington said, they automatically refer to serving as managing partners, chairmen, practice leaders and executive committee members. But her coaching focuses on informal leadership qualities such as social skills. She conducts a few sessions with a lawyer and cross references information gained with his or her co-workers to see if the self-perception jives with the view others have of the lawyer's leadership skills. She then offers a critique and asks the lawyers to implement behavioral changes and report back on progress. " - Philadelphia Business Journal.

The article lists Reed Smith, Blank Rome and Morgan Lewis were mentioned as having some sort of leadership development program.  The article also refers to something close to my heart - community leadership programs:

"Krufka was surprised to see how many law firms had enrolled their lawyers in Leadership Philadelphia -- a nonprofit that works to improve leadership skills of private-sector executives through a series of seminars each year. Krufka predicts that firms will continue to develop more in-house programming.   We just did a program with junior partners from a firm," she said. "And their response to it all was 'Boy, I wish our senior partners had this kind of training.'"

Here's the article.   Frankly, I'm surprised that three Philly law firms have actually started leadership training.  Not a bad start.

Healthy Leadership

Peter McLaughlin, author of Catchfire, and a well-known speaker on executive performance, penned an article on CEO wellness in the most recent edition of Chief Executive Magazine.  Here's an excerpt:

"Most CEOs agreed (and the research certainly backs this up) that exercise improves their mood and light food such as salads at lunch enhances their afternoon energy level.

In order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, follow these best practices:

• Eat breakfast. Most have cereal and fruit or poached eggs, a light omelet, whole wheat toast and coffee (or tea for Elson).
• Eat a light lunch. Salads are number one, some with grilled chicken, tuna or salmon on top. High protein, low fat lunches make for a brisk afternoon and help avoid the “3 o’clock slump.”
• A piece of fruit in the afternoon provides fuel to the end of the day. Lara Merriken argues for her Lära- Bars, which I find to be an excellent source of energy in the late afternoon.
• Some, à la Winston Churchill, take short naps, or at least breaks from the action, especially in the mid afternoon. (I think this is the most important “recovery period” next to sleep you can have.)
• Fish is a staple in the diet of these CEOs, as are fresh veggies. Many agree that a glass of wine is a healthy, fun accompaniment to a light dinner.
• As far as exercise, multitasking seems to make it easier to accomplish their fitness goals. Many combine aerobic exercise with watching sports, the news, or their favorite television show. Most, as you might have guessed, have some exercise equipment at home or at the office. MacDonald says that he needs goals for his exercise. He is always “training for triathalons or long biking events … something to shoot for.”

CEOs are on the whole much more attuned to the value of sleep, though not all are able to regularly attain the required amount. Since MacDonald’s change to a new lifestyle, he sleeps seven to eight hours every night as opposed to the four or five he used to get. “It’s all in the rhythm,” he repeats. A higher priority had been placed on “real vacations” to complement their “working vacations” and a conscious attempt made to achieve more balance in their lives."

-  Fit To Be CEO, Peter McLaughlin, Chief Executive Magazine. (link to entire article)

Peter is an insightful speaker, coach and consultant. He is based in Denver, Colorado, but serves clients across the globe.  He has some good articles on his website: http://www.petermclaughlin.com.

Law Firm Associate Leadership Summit

Stephanie West Allen (www.idealawg.com) and I will be speaking at the ACI Law Firm Associate Leadership Summit in Virginia next month.  Stephanie will be speaking on business development issues on Wednesday and I will lead a discussion and exercise on developing a personal brand and developing leadership skills required for partnership.

The Summit is designed for senior associates who are looking for direction in developing business development and leadership skills as they prepare for partnership.  The course is designed for associates from firms who may not have sophisticated professional development programs in-house.

For more information:   

    - ACI Law Firm Associate Leadership Summit Web Site
    - Ideablawg's post on the Summit (with discount code!)
    - Brochure (PDF)

ALM Chief Marketing Officers Forum

Wendy Bernero, Kevin McMurdo, Norm Rubenstein join Rob Cross (left, top to bottom) to headline the  2006 ALM Chief Marketing Officers Forum in NYC on Dec 5-6, 2006. 

The theme this year is "Marketing to your Network".  Rob Cross is an expert in social networks and will speak on how to leverage social networks for business development in law firms.

I will be speaking on using new technologies to 'market to your network', specifically, Holland & Hart's partnership with Frontier Airlines/Wild Blue Yonder Television and our branded e-zine, Blue. 

With any luck, we'll preview our next "Business Class" show at the event.  We have two great programs in the works now. 

For more information on the event, go to:

http://www.almevents.com/r5/cob_page.asp?category_id=42181

While I have not been to this conference in the past, the three planners - Bernero, McMurdo and Rubenstein - are the best in the business.  Many of the speakers that they have recruited to speak are innovators and leaders in marketing legal services.