Leadership for Lawyers

Appreciative Intelligence: The Power behind Entrepreneurs

You've probably heard of Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence and Howard Gartners's Theory of Multiple Intelligences.  Now, Tojo Thatchenkery and Carol Metzker describe Appreciative Intelligence in their new book, "Appreciative Intelligence:  Seeing the mighty oak in the acorn". 

Thatchenkery describes AI as:

"Appreciative Intelligence is the ability to perceive the positive inherent generative potential in a given situation and to act purposively to transform the potential to outcomes. In other words, it is the ability to reframe a given situation to recognize the positive possibilities embedded in it but not apparent to the untrained eye, and to engage in the necessary actions so that the desired outcomes unfold from the generative aspects of the current situation.

The entrepreneurial environment in the Silicon Valley facilitated the full expression of appreciative intelligence. Seeing a situation from multiple perspectives allowed the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to deal with obstacles with courage and resilience. They reframed situations to recognize opportunities and acted decisively to transform their dreams to reality. Because they could see how the desired future unfolded from the present (perception of possibilities), they had the capacity to face adversity. High appreciative intelligence predisposed them to see the larger picture and the connections between diverse elements. They could shift their cognitive frames to see possibilities, not just boundaries. Due to their higher capacity to embrace ambiguity they had the patience to persevere without knowing all the answers.

Appreciative intelligence provides a new answer to what enables successful people to dream up their extraordinary and innovative ideas; why employees, partners, colleagues, investors, and other stakeholders join them on the path to their goals, and how they achieve these goals despite obstacles and challenges. It is not simple optimism. People with appreciative intelligence are realistic and action-oriented—they have the ability to not just identify positive potential but to devise a course of action to take advantage of it. " www.appreciativeintelligence.com

Stephanie West Allen interviewed Carol Metzker on her blog, www.idealawg.com.  Stephanie further describes AI as:

"The definition of Appreciative Intelligence (term coined by Tojo Thatchenkery) is the ability to perceive the positive inherent generative potential within the present. Put simply and metaphorically, it is the ability to see the mighty oak in the acorn. Successful leaders and innovators see more than a little capped nut that some of us might just step over; they see the possibilities for a strong, healthy tree with further generations of oaks and acorns. Appreciative Intelligence has three components:

1) reframing - seeing situations, people or things in a new way - so that something good is visible

2) appreciating what is good (in that person or situation), and

3) envisioning how what is good now can grow into a great future.

Appreciative Intelligence and Appreciative Inquiry are not the same things, although they both focus on what is valuable or positive. Appreciative Intelligence is a mental ability found in an individual, whereas Appreciative Inquiry is an approach and methodology for strengthening organizations. If a leader with high Appreciative Intelligence uses Appreciative Inquiry, you can expect wonderful changes that are sustaining and significant.'  - 

http://westallen.typepad.com/idealawg/2006/06/interview_of_ca.html

Tojo claims that innovation is critical business success, especially for professional service firms like law firm.  Firms must have people with high Appreciative Intelligence in order to see opportunities, recognizing what is good and unique about the opportunities, and understanding the steps required to turn the opportunities into reality.  Entrepreneurs have this ability, but is rarely found in risk-adverse law firms.   While there are some lawyers with high AI, many of them have either left large law firms or avoided them in the first instance, leveraging their J.D. in a start up company or venture capital firm where they can be more innovative, creative, and see a business concept through to the end.

Law firm leaders need to recognize those attorneys (and staff) with high AI, and connect them with research and development projects such as launching new cross-discipline industry groups, non-legal subsidiaries and consulting services, and other entrepreneurial pursuits.  High AI attorneys can help a law firm develop ancilliary services and value-added legal services that help the law firm differentiate themselves from others. 

Case in point:  Holland & Hart, a Denver-based law firm, has several ancillary services - all launched and grown by high AI attorneys: 

• Persuasion Strategies - a trial strategy/consulting and graphics group that serves law firms and clients worldwide. Founded by an entrepreneurial Ph.D.(now retired) and now has four full time Ph.D.'s on staff.
• HHCMS - an online training and monitoring program used for all sorts of corporate compliance applications. Founded by an entrepreneurial attorney who not only saw a need for compliance training, but the steps required to make it into a value-added service of the law firm.
• Catalyst Repository Systems:  Formerly CaseShare, a secure extranet service founded by an entrepreneurial lawyer who had a vision for the value of extranets as a place to store and manage huge amounts of documents and data involved with modern litigation. 

1) reframing - seeing situations, people or things in a new way - so that something good is visible

2) appreciating what is good (in that person or situation), and

3) envisioning how what is good now can grow into a great future.

Appreciative Intelligence and Appreciative Inquiry are not the same things, although they both focus on what is valuable or positive. Appreciative Intelligence is a mental ability found in an individual, whereas Appreciative Inquiry is an approach and methodology for strengthening organizations. If a leader with high Appreciative Intelligence uses Appreciative Inquiry, you can expect wonderful changes that are sustaining and significant.'  - 

Tojo claims that innovation is critical business success, especially for professional service firms like law firm.  Firms must have people with high Appreciative Intelligence in order to see opportunities, recognizing what is good and unique about the opportunities, and understanding the steps required to turn the opportunities into reality.  Entrepreneurs have this ability, but is rarely found in risk-adverse law firms.   While there are some lawyers with high AI, many of them have either left large law firms or avoided them in the first instance, leveraging their J.D. in a start up company or venture capital firm where they can be more innovative, creative, and see a business concept through to the end.

Law firm leaders need to recognize those attorneys (and staff) with high AI, and connect them with research and development projects such as launching new cross-discipline industry groups, non-legal subsidiaries and consulting services, and other entrepreneurial pursuits.  High AI attorneys can help a law firm develop ancilliary services and value-added legal services that help the law firm differentiate themselves from others. 

Case in point:  Holland & Hart, a Denver-based law firm, has several ancillary services - all launched and grown by high AI attorneys: 

Persuasion Strategies - a trial strategy/consulting and graphics group that serves law firms and clients worldwide. Founded by an entrepreneurial Ph.D.(now retired) and now has four full time Ph.D.'s on staff.

HHCMS - an online training and monitoring program used for all sorts of corporate compliance applications. Founded by an entrepreneurial attorney who not only saw a need for compliance training, but the steps required to make it into a value-added service of the law firm.

Catalyst Repository Systems:  Formerly CaseShare, a secure extranet service founded by an entrepreneurial lawyer who had a vision for the value of extranets as a place to store and manage huge amounts of documents and data involved with modern litigation. 

Best Practices in Law Firm Web Sites

Deborah McMurray (www.deborahmcmurray.com) has recently completed a comprehensive and fascinating look  at the good, bad, and ugly of law firm web sites.  Deborah, a 20+ year veteran of law firm marketing, developed a list of standards for law firm web sites and measured the web identities of the Am Law 100 against the standards.  The results are available in a down-loadable white paper, and on a case-by-case basis for the Am Law 100.  If your firm is not one of the elite 100, Deborah will review your site for a fee. 

After reviewing the web sites of the AmLaw 100, she developed 10 Best Practices for Web Site Design.  Great web sites excel in these areas:

1. Communicate your Message
2. Graphics and Design
3. Navigation
4. Narrative Content
5. Lawyer Biographies
6. Practice/Industry Group Descriptions
7. Contact Information
8. Site Search
9. Site Optimization for Online Search
10. Site "Hygiene"

She scored the AmLaw 100 web sites according to these practices, and graded the scores from "Poor" to "Excellent".  42% of the web sites ranked "Fair" or below.  5% ranked "Excellent" and 53% ranked "Good" or average. 

In addition to the top 10 best practices above, I'd add:  "Substance: Information helpful to buyers and users of legal services." such as newsletters, blogs, podcasts, webinars, and articles. 

The white paper is a must read for any law firm marketer who is planning a re-design in 2007.  If your firm is on the AmLaw 100, it is worth buying the detailed analysis for your firm.  Visit Deborah McMurray's website,www.deborahmcmurray.com for more information. 

Focus on your Strengths

Tim Elsmore writes on GrowingLeaders.com  about hearing Marcus Buckingham speak about how successful leaders focus on building upon individual and team strengths, rather trying to fix what's wrong, or bring a weakness up to an average aptitude.  Read the article here. 

"It Just Sounds Strange
For some reason it just sounds strange to say: Work on your strengths. We feel more comfortable and natural saying: Work on our weaknesses. After all, we want well-rounded people...don’t we? So, we try to shore up what’s wrong. To understand health, we study disease. To understand marriage, we study divorce. We naturally focus on what’s wrong. The truth is, outstanding schools, churches and businesses do just the opposite. Great ones seem to possess two ingredients:

1. They have great managers or leaders

2. Those managers focus on linking talent with goals 

Good leaders concentrate on the strengths of each person on their team. They find out what’s unique about a person and capitalize on it. They help others thrive in the area of their strengths and they manage around their weaknesses. They don’t necessary try to “fix the flaws.” They recognize people will always have weaknesses—and they keep them from work that involves their weakness. They figure: why de- energize a team member that way? These leaders define their job with one phrase: “I turn talent into performance.” They see themselves as catalysts for strengths."  - Elsmore Post

Buckingham has written books such as, First, Break All The Rules and Now, Discover Your Strengths.   His website has a number of resources, including several audio seminars on building on your strengths.

I believe this is an important lesson for law firm leaders.  Too often we put attorneys (and staff) in roles of leadership for the wrong reason.  Perhaps it was previous success in rainmaking, or managing a large client, or as detailed-oriented staff person.  In law firms the desire to success and be recognized for our contribution is very high.  But sometimes we ask people to perform in areas that are not a the right match - we are not building on their strengths. 

What can you do today help your team members build on their strengths?  What are your strengths and how can you build on them, rather than spend more energy improving your weaknesses to become simply average?

Beware of Well Intentioned Dragons

File this under the "No Jerk Rule".  Darryl Dash has a wonderful summary of Marshall Shelley's new book, Well Intentioned Dragons.  Shelley is an editor with Christianity Today's quarterly magazine, Leadership Journal.   While the book is intended for churches, the lessons apply to law firm leaders as well. 

Dragons lurk law firms, often with the best of intentions to do something right (according to them) or prevent problems, but are lethal in their criticism, discouraging attitude, and negativity.  Darryl Dash drew the parellel with bloggers as well.  Here is an excerpt from his post:

"I'm amazed as I skim through the book how much of this applies to those of us who blog. Most people who engage us over things we have written are positive contributors to the discussion. But there are dragons, and these dragons, as well-intentioned as they may be, can cause serious damage. So here, borrowed from the book, are some ideas on how a blogger can handle a dragon:

1. Learn to recognize dragons - Learn what a dragon looks like and try to understand why they are acting the way they are. "Most dragons see themselves as godly people, adequately gracious and kind, who hold another viewpoint they honestly believe is right."

2. Don't become a dragon yourself - The worst thing you can do in responding to a dragon is to become a dragon yourself. Don't reciprocate by fighting dirty. "The essential attitude must be spelled out: When attacked by a dragon, do not become one. No encounter with a dragon is a complete failure unless one fights venom with venom."

3. Don't spiritualize the battle - "Nothing is bloodier than a religious war. Issues aren't just human squabbles; everything is elevated to eternal importance...How devilish to believe that disagreeing with me is disagreeing with God."

4. Build a healthy culture - Set boundaries in advance for how to deal with dragons. "The best way to build an atmosphere of cooperation is to model a positive tone personally."

5. Learn to take criticism - "Even dragons can sometimes be right."

6. Confront - Confront with the right attitude, without becoming defensive. Be gentle but firm. Don't just pray about the dragons; pray for them. Don't create a showdown. Don't take the conflict public if you can help it. "Never get in a spittin' match with a skunk...Even if you win, you come out smelling bad."

7. Keep perspective - Things probably aren't as bad as they seem in the moment. Take a higher view. "Our job is to remain faithful to the two greatest commandments: to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love even dragons as ourselves."

Stu Briscoe has said: "Qualifications of a pastor [and, I would say, a blogger]: the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros."

I've talked to a few bloggers who've pulled back because of well-intentioned dragons. It's hard to write honestly (and what is good writing if it's not honest?) knowing that dragons are lurking, and that your motivations may be questioned, and that you may be personally attacked.

It's worth taking the risk anyway. Don't let the dragons distract you from what you're doing. Tell your story with honesty, compassion and a pureness of voice. Put yourself out there anyway.

And when the dragons come, deal with them, but never, never become a dragon yourself. Don't let the dragons stop you from being who you are."    - Dash Post

I like the Briscoe quote, and how adaptable it is.."Qualifications of a law firm leader:  the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros."

Your Honor Awards Webinar

I'm speaking today at a webinar on the Your Honor Awards, which is the marketing awards program of the Legal Marketing Association.    Here are my notes:

Why Enter the Your Honor Awards?

1.  Recognition for your Marketing Team

Our marketing team works hard, we strive for excellence, and we are very competitive.  The Your Honor Awards gives us a chance to see how we rank among other firms and gives our team recognition for doing an outstanding job.  It feels great when you know that you've done your best and the jury decides that the results were outstanding.

2.  Credibility among lawyers

Attorneys in most firms often can't agree on what is good marketing and what is a waste of money.  The Your Honor Awards give us an opportunity to communicate to our 'clients' that our efforts were deemed by a third party jury.  We've set up our marketing team as an 'in-house agency'.  As you walk into our 'agency', you will see our ads framed on the wall and a bookshelf full of marketing awards.  Our 'wall of fame' communicates to all who walk by it that we have a high standard of excellence within our agency, and communicates to our clients that our work is deemed some of the best in the country.  The Your Honor Awards gives us credibility so that our clients feel more comfortable working with us on complicated and important projects.

3.  YHA Standards give us direction for project planning

We begin with the end in mind, that is, we consider the YHA criteria in planning marketing projects. Specifically, we ask, how will we measure the results?  How do we leverage the program so that we get the most out of our budget?  How can we reduce the budget?  How do we integrate the program with our overall branding plan and other marketing programs?  Is the program integrated with other projects?  Does it benefit clients? 

Advice:

• Include budget numbers
• Communicate vision/mission/goals and how the program met the goals.
• Show measurement, ROI, and results
• Make it easy to read.  Use bullet points, charts, graphs, pictures
• Show examples and put in binder
• Communicate what makes your program different, new, exciting
• Make sure electronic submissions work.  Include passwords, usernames, etc.  Give a cell phone number to contact you, just in case the electronics don't work.
• Design your marketing program with YHA in mind.
• Tell a story- why?  how?  results? what did you learn?  Use numbers.
• Tell why it is the best, first, brightest, most effective, etc.
• Be concise.
• Enter only your best stuff.  Competition is fierce.
• Don't argue with judges after the fact.  They have very hard choices to make and you can be sure they did their best to look at all entries award the very best of the profession.

Best of luck.  -  Mark